Daddyless Daugthers

Recently I was watching Iyanla Vazant on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Her show was about Daddyless Daugthers. I was watching and listening to her, Oprah, the panel of black, male guests and the audience comprised of women of all ages, and ethnicity. All the women who spoke each had their own story, their own pain and heartache over being a daddyless daughter. And the ones who didn't speak didn't have to because their anguish was written all over their faces. This one particular young lady stood up and asked a question ( I'm sorry I can't remember her name or the exact question.) She was a young, black woman with 3 kids by 3 different men. She was immediately brought before Iyanla and before I knew it I was in tears for her. She was saying how she tries to overcompensate with her kids to make up for the mistakes she made as a result of being a daddyless daughter. The cycle has repeated itself with her children because they are daddyless kids. ( She has 2 daughters and a son).

I immediately had an epiphany. Daddyless daughters often times raise daddyless daughters themselves. Although I had a stepfather whom I loved dearly even after he and my mom divorced I still considered him my dad but it didn't remove that longing I felt for my biological father. The pain and rejection I felt for years caused me to gravitate towards those who didn't care about me at all. Now I'm a mom raising four beautiful girls but they too are daddyless.

We all know that the first relationship a girl has with a man is with her father. I have always said that promiscuity is procreated when a guy comes a long and shows a girl something she has never seen before. Dads, don't allow a guy to be the first to introduce your daughter to a nice dinner where she can sit down with a knife and fork, or introduce her to shopping sprees, traveling and other nice things of this world. If it's new to her and a guy introduces her to it then she will immediately think she owes him something because no other man has ever treated her special before. Then a cycle will start that spirals out of control with low self-esteem driving that force. That is not what you want for your daughter.

And ladies, life happens. We don't all get Heathcliff Huxtable for a father. It's hurtful and disheartening but we can't allow not having a father be an excuse to make poor choices with dyer, lifelong consequences. It's time to rise above it and show the fathers what they missed out on and can't take credit for. It's time to break generational curses and stereotypes and press forward. And in pressing forward let's forgive. Let's forgive the daddies who weren't there and more importantly let's forgive ourselves.

~Tasha Mac

Who am I?

This is my very first blog post so I thought I'd start by introducing myself. My name is Latasha McGill. I am socially known to the world as Tasha Mac. I've also gone by the name Lady T in the blog talk radio world. I am a 36 year old single mother of 4 daughters. ( Yes, I said 4 daughters.) By me having four daughters I have enough going on in my life too keep me busy. There is never a dull moment in my life. Did I mention that 3 of the girls are teenagers and the youngest is a pre-teen? So you see what I mean by not being a dull moment. However, there is so much more going on in my life than my vivacious, beautiful girls. I work full-time and I go to school at night as a grad student and I make time to attend church regularly. And by regularly, I mean twice per week. And I also have a wonderful guy whom I like to spend as much time with as possible. 

So with all these wonderful things going on in my life, why the blog? As a kid, writing was always a way of escape for me. I escaped into a fantasy world, a world where I could freely and openly express myself and be who I wanted to be. I grew up in New Orleans, La. A wonderful city full of culture, rich history, great parties and lively people. Unfortunately, that's not all it was. Growing up New Orleans meant you grew up fast and was exposed to a lot at an early age. I think writing balanced me out and kept me sane. I have many stories to tell. So welcome to Tasha Mac's world. Enter, share your thoughts and enjoy.

~Tasha Mac