Dad asks Reddit for advice on helping his daughter through her first breakup—and they delivered

Reddit can be a sounding board for a lot of things. From relationship woes, like asking if you’ve been wronged by your partner, and even, parenting advice.

Recently a dad posted on the “Parenting” subreddit channel about how to help his daughter through her first breakup. Besides the fact that he’s already winning points for asking for help, (Could you count on one hand the amount of men who would do this?) it’s beyond sweet that he’s looking to care for his little girl.

Breakups are hard. There’s no ands, ifs or buts about it. When you’re 16 and it’s your FIRST breakup, well, it can be a rough time. The OP (original poster) writes that his daughter, the oldest of three, is 16 and she’s just been cheated on. He asks the Reddit community for advice on how to proceed.

OP is a single parent. He writes that his wife passed on 11 years ago, he hasn’t dated since and he’s at a loss with the current situation. He explains, “Needless to say my baby is in a very bad place. I know this was bound to happen one day but I am not ready or equipped for this. I have zero dating experience or relationship experience relating to this.”

He continues, “I got her her favourite snacks, and things she would enjoy I know it’s not much but I don’t know what to do to make it all better.”

Parenting can be hard for so many different reasons. Guiding your child through relationships might be one of the many reasons why you don’t want them to grow up. Who can blame you? This whole scenario sounds heartbreaking.

Toddlers deal with big feelings but I’d argue that teens do too. They’re emotionally overwhelmed and they might not always understand the world around them—even if they’re trying their best for you to see them as adults.

This dad is on the right track with the snacks. A girl needs her favorite munchies! And, I love that Reddit showed up for the rest. Here are a few of the top comments.

This dad’s mindful parenting is great. He also posted an update to his original post and explained that he talked to his daughter, took her for an STD test and made a therapy appointment with her. OP shared that he’s a physician so, “pregnancy and std tests were going to be covered anyways, she knows this of course which is why she knew she could trust me with this.”

Kids learn by example. Seeing their parents show affection to each other is just one way to learn about healthy relationships. So, it’s also heartwarming to see this dad model what a loving and caring partner looks like.

It’s lovely to see the father-daughter bond!