Daddy and kids at fishing lake last winter.
Men are often under-appreciated as caregivers because they have their own way of parenting.
It’s a little different from the way women do it, and there must be a reason. After all, Mother Nature decreed that it would require both genders to make a child, and I think it’s more than metaphorically important. And now we’re learning – finally, for Pete’s sake – how important men are in the optimal development of humans.
Daddy at the loving center of it all.
These are some of the amazing things I’ve learned about what men bring to the lives of children:
- Research shows kids who have a solid relationship with their dad or an influential male figure get along better with their siblings, have more developed social skills and experience less emotional distress.
- Father involvement from birth and through childhood is positively linked with children’s overall life satisfaction and wellbeing.
Formal night on cruise
- Fathers have an outsized influence on the kids’ language development.
- Fathers emit pheromones that delay the pubertal development of their daughters.
Daddy was right there the whole time.
- Fathers can keep kids out of the criminal justice system, as they teach children from a very young age that misbehavior can have serious consequence (or as one police officer told me, if they don’t learn it from Dad, they learn it from the judge.)
Grandpa with angel 2014
I am blessed to have four sons in my life, from biological to steps to inlaws. Additionally, I have Bill, who has turned into the greatest Grandpa a guy could possibly be. To see the men in my family, all strong, manly people, interacting with such tenderness, patience, and humor with their children/grands, makes me teary-eyed with love and gratitude. To Bill, Danny, Sean, Mike, and Carlos, you guys are the absolute greatest, and the little people around you are so blessed to have you in their lives. As am I.
Well-said, Lynne. How blessed we both are to have so many wonderful fathers in our lives. Love your photos which enhance your story so vividly.
Thank you, Kathy!
Beautiful post, Lynne. So well said and I love the photos. You are very lucky to be surrounded by so many good men and I, too, have been equally blessed. Happy Father’s Day to your menfolk.
And to yours, Pat. Very happy day.
I enjoyed your lovely post. Every time I see my son with his daughter, showing her how to do something or even admonishing her, I feel a surge of pride. It reminds me of the great relationship I had with my dad. Yes, dads are much more important than they realize.
It’s such a miracle, isn’t it, Sandy? That we could have created this great person from our own bodies, nurtured them as little babies, and then seen them grow up into this. My son has a son. I ask him, “Can you imagine seeing that little guy as a grown man, accomplishing all you’ve done, and how proud you’d be? Well, that’s me.” But I think he’s too busy and in-the-melée to fully appreciate it, as we were, back then.
So nice, Lynne. And with Father’s Day almost here, such a pleasure to read. My father was so busy running the farm while I was growing up that I didn’t really get to know his gentler side until after I had married and had kids. My children all got to know him well and adored him during their growing up years and I am so thankful for that. Hope all is well with you.
Very well, but hot. And you must be frying out there in the desert!
Such a sweet message – and the photos are priceless!