She’s your precious angel, a perfect piece of porcelain, crafted from your own miraculous DNA, and you’re determined that nary a tiny crack will ever mar this rare treasure. At first glance, you may appear mild-mannered, but let even a hint of a threat-either physical or mental-appear in the same zip code as your baby girl, and you will let loose your inner Godzilla, reigning destruction down upon any and all who dare to come near her.

You’re the Dad. You’ve seen it in your daughter’s eyes, since she was a tiny baby. Oh, sure, she runs to Mom for the basic needs and for comfort, when she’s sick. But, when fear is present, she turns to her Guardian Warrior, knowing that his size and strength and frightening temper will protect her from all that’s bad in the world.

That’s your job, right? Well, yes and no.

It’s true that daughters and fathers have a unique relationship, at least partly based on the fact that dads are bigger and stronger than moms, and present greater possibilities for protection against danger.

Another factor, though, is the emotional connection daughters have with their mothers-in general, females tend to process emotions more quickly than males. A baby learns that Mother is more likely to understand emotional needs sooner than Father. As well, Mother offers comfort in the face of adversity, while Father tends to attack the source of the adversity, in an effort to remove it.

So, you’re hard-wired to protect your daughter. And research shows that fathers are more protective of daughters, in general, than they are of sons. There’s nothing wrong with you being her knight in shining armor, as long as you acknowledge it’s not your only job, as her dad.

Daughters need fathers for lots of reasons, in their development, and the closer the emotional relationship between dad and daughter, the more well-rounded and successful she will be. You may be reluctant to do the kinds of things with her you’d do with a son-don’t be. If you want to play catch, teach your girl to play with you. If you like to work on engines in your spare time, ask her to help you. Get to know her in the same ways you would a boy. Girls who have close father-daughter ties develop healthier relationships with men, as they grow older. They have fewer unwanted pregnancies and are less likely to be involved in abusive relationships.

When you realize that she may not be quite as fragile as you first imagined, let your “fatherly” instincts guide you, with your daughter. Dads teach different skills than Moms:

Problem-solving, which leads to higher grades in school and less intimidation in the work-place; Risk-taking (not necessarily the dangerous kind), which helps women pursue careers in non-traditional fields; Task-mastery-the ability to see a project through to the end, despite roadblocks. Daughters with active fathers tend to be more successful, self-confident and self-reliant.

So, go ahead, be her avenging angel, when you need to be. But if you take an active role in all parts of your daughter’s life, don’t be surprised if you raise a daughter who only needs you to be her Dad.

Brought to you by Imaginary Greetings, a regular contributor of valuable family oriented content. For safe, family-friendly games and activities visit the official santaclaus.net” target=”_blank Santa Claus Home Page.

One of Santa’s favorite traditions around Christmas time—and surely a favorite tradition of men everywhere during Christmas —is that of mistletoe. When a man catches his wife or special someone under the mistletoe, he gets to plant a kiss on her. Of course, with all other Christmas traditions, this wonderful habit is almost as old as the snow that falls around Christmas time.

It actually all started with an ancient myth from the Nordic people of Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Hundreds of years ago, the goddess Frigga had a son named Balder who was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe. Frigga was so sad that her son died, that she cried and cried, but instead of tears, white berries poured down her cheeks. These were no ordinary white berries, and they actually worked to bring Balder back to life by stripping the poison from the mistletoe. That made Frigga so happy that she blessed all mistletoe, and anyone walking underneath it was given a free kiss.

Of course, the Nordic folks were not the only ancient people who used and believed in the magical powers of mistletoe. The ancient Druids of the United Kingdom were big fans of the evergreen plant, and would distribute it to all the people in their villages. They would hang the plant over the front door of their homes, because they believed that the plant would protect them from evil spirits, goblins, and even thunder and lightening. Druids also believed that mistletoe stood for peace, so if Druid warriors ever met underneath a patch of mistletoe in the forest, they could not fight. They would call a truce and meet somewhere else to fight.

Put all of these traditions and beliefs together—and then mix in the traditions of Christmas and Santa Claus—and you have what would become today’s modern tradition surrounding mistletoe and kisses.

It was not that simple for guys and gals and the magical mistletoe in the 1700s. Back then, kissing was a very serious thing to do with a girl. There was no spin the bottle or truth or dare. If you kissed a girl under the mistletoe, you meant business. Basically, a kiss under the mistletoe meant you were prepared to marry her. On the flip side, if a girl stood under mistletoe at Christmas time and no man kissed her, that meant she would stay unmarried for the entire next year. But the lucky man who would be brave and kiss her could expect a lasting friendship, a deep romance, and happiness with the lucky woman.

We cannot know for sure if this is how good old Saint Nick got proposed to Mrs. Claus, but we can be sure that the jolly old man hangs a piece of mistletoe in his home in the North Pole. Come to think of it, he probably also hangs a bunch of mistletoe in the reindeer barn, the toy factory, and anywhere else Mrs. Claus might find herself!

Thomas Easterday is the Director of Marketing for Letter By Santa. Letter by Santa offers memorable letters from Santa Claus that help keep the Christmas spirit alive. For more information about Letter by Santa and to purchase