The saying goes something like this: “there’s nothing quite as special as a love between a father and his daughter,” or “…between a mother and her son.” Or vice versa.

Any proud parent of each gender can attest that those sayings are only partially true. While you probably possess a deep love for your children, you probably don’t have any extra special bond with, say, your daughter that makes it superior to that of the relationship with your son. Hopefully, you love them all equally, and there is no unspoken or unexplainable sparkle that makes the daddy-daughter dynamic superior to another.

But if you’re a dad, you can say this: you and your daughter share a distinction that you and a son can never replicate. It doesn’t make your relationship more special. It only makes it different.

And that obvious distinction is that you’re not female, and your daughter is not male. Men offer certain characteristics by way of their gender, and you can never experience the other – except through each other. That makes a daddy-daughter relationship unique, to be sure.

As a dad, you likely appreciate the feminine traits that a girl brings to your family. You notice that femininity in your wife, your mother and in any sisters with whom you grew up. But to witness your daughter moving from different stages of play, styles in clothes and probably someday to new relationships that may shape their lives – it’s all new to you.

Men’s and women’s basketball essentially look the same, but any coach from kids to the pros will tell you that they coach male and female players a little differently. Their players’ attitudes are different. The locker room has a different vibe. Even the game is different. So it goes with the daddy-daughter relationship.

The bond is also unique is because a dad is the first male his girl will meet, and hopefully admire.

When we meet anyone of the opposite sex, we encounter humanity. We see life through a different lens.

A boy can certainly look up to and emulate his dad, but he’s also male and probably shares some of the same masculine characteristics that will be fully developed someday.

A daddy-daughter relationship is almost like a dress rehearsal for life. She’s getting to relate to the opposite sex from the get-go. That’s valuable experience and makes any dad’s job an important one.

If you’re lucky and blessed to have a daughter, you get to witness the feminine side of child rearing, and she gets to witness you as a male father figure. It’s so obvious, but a wonder to behold when you reflect upon it.

So while you can’t say a daddy-daughter relationship is any more special, you can say it’s unique. Here’s to all the dads and daughters that make the world go ‘round.