Dad creates special core memory with 3-year-old daughter upon finding her awake at 2 in the morning

Parenting is all about the approach you take. It is a known fact that the reaction of a parent to any behavior will decide the future actions of a child. That is why it is important to consider how you correct a child when they make mistakes. However, as much as it is about correcting the child, it is also about unlearning your perspective and looking at the situation from a different point of view. u/Gokus_Hairdresser shared a wholesome parenting approach that helped him create a beautiful core memory with his child.

Taking to the r/daddit forum, he shared: “I think I made a core memory with my daughter last night.” u/Gokus_Hairdresser went on to recount the incident. He said that he found his daughter awake sitting on their couch at 2 am looking at the stars. “My first instinct was to get after her about being up at such a late hour and to shoo her back to her room,” he admitted. Most of us parents would do that. Our first thought would be: "My child is awake late at night. Her sleep will be disturbed. She’ll develop bad sleeping habits."

However, u/Gokus_Hairdresser decided to take a different approach. He shared, "After walking over and talking to her about how pretty the stars were, I got the idea to take a few blankets and go look at the stars on the trampoline in the backyard.” What followed for the father-daughter duo was a homely star-gazing cozy night. He went on to say, “We've never done that before since she's always in bed by 8 and it doesn't get dark in the warm months until 9 or 10.” 

The father further said, “She loved it and has gone on and on telling everyone she's seen today about how we went stargazing. It was worth the single night of sleep deprivation!” As a father, he could have been more concerned about his child's sleeping hours and acted on his impulses. The change in his reaction is what caused him to develop a core memory that he and his daughter will cherish. He could have corrected her and sent her off to sleep. However, apart from missing a core memory, his daughter would have pictured him as a “stern father” over a friend and now a “stargazing” partner. 

He concluded his post saying, “I'm now chasing that feeling and thinking of all the special things we can do together.” Several fellow parents commented on the post agreeing to his decision and reaction. u/heymistahmistah said, “This is so wholesome. I tend to be too strict with my daughter at times, hence her preference for her daddy who's more laid back, but this is food for thought for me. You proved there is another way of handling things.” u/bm8722 said, “That’s awesome and good for you for doing it, but she is 100% waking you up the next time she’s awake at 2 AM to go do it again.” 

Nothing feels more wholesome than having special dates with your kids. Something only you and your kids do. Something they’d fight the world to do only with you. But to earn that position in their lives, as parents we have to be understanding rather than correcting. If the father hadn't stopped to understand his daughter’s curiosity for the stars and reason for being up, he would have sent her back to bed.  But he stopped and gave it some thought. And that’s just the trick. To choose a calmer, more thoughtful reaction than the one pressured by typical parental views.