Fathers’ interactions with their children have been relatively understudied and their contributions to child development have, in consequence, been somewhat undervalued. Recently, studies have explored a shift in the role of fathers in Italy and elsewhere (Arcidiacono & Pontecorvo, 2010; Klein et al., 2005). We have observed, through an innovative visual methodology, thriving thirty-month-old girls, also an understudied population, during one Day in their Lives (Gillen & Cameron, 2010). Variations between families in the masculine nurturance of their children can be expected, depending on personal characteristics, gender, family structures, and cultural contexts in which they are situated. The present ecological research observes four toddlers in Italy, the UK, Peru and Thailand wherein transactions between them and their fathers and grandfathers were observed, described and analyzed during one day in their lives. In this paper we only discuss one of them. The study is qualitative, focusing on probing the nature of the exchanges between family members, to gain an understanding the dynamic nature of their interchanges. The case study of this little girl demonstrates agency in her interactions with her caregiver and the caregiver showed a highly promotive (Sameroff, 2010) nurturant style.
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