Did you realize that:
(Visit fatherhood.org for more statistics)
One in three kids living without their father…that sounds like a crisis to me – a large piece of the bigger breakdown of the family that I talk about here.
Did you realize that a child’s relationship with their father can impact all other relationships in their life, now and in the future? Girls will generally look for characteristics in men that mimic what they have grown accustomed to seeing in their own fathers. If they have a loving and understanding father, they will look for those qualities in men. Boys tend to emulate their father’s behavior, whether good or bad. If their father shows love and compassion, they will tend to do the same. If their father is abusive and cruel, they will be more likely to follow in those footsteps as well. (source)
Ronald Rohner, the director of the Center for the Study of Interpersonal Acceptance and Rejection at the University of Connecticut, along with his colleagues, after reviewing decades of research on parental acceptance and rejection across the world, said: “Knowing that kids feel loved by their father is a better predictor of young adults sense of well-being, of happiness, of life satisfaction than knowing about the extent to which they feel loved by their mothers.” (source)
This basically says that Dad’s love may be even more important than Mom’s love in the overall picture of how kids turn out. Is that surprising? To me is was. Perhaps that is why there is a campaign going on right now through the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse that is trying to teach about the importance of fathers, and provide resources for those who are looking to improve their fathering skills. I love this cute video that features Matt Lauer:
http://youtu.be/0VgbDL62ar0
You can read about his thoughts on fatherhood and why he chose to do this public service announcement here.
This one is pretty awesome too:
http://youtu.be/Yvv2SJ4VORE
You can visit this website to watch several more short video clips, as well as access a bunch of information about why fathers matter, because the fact is that they DO MATTER.
Although my heart goes out to all of those kids who do not have an involved father, or who have one who is involved in a negative way, I am grateful that my kids have a father who cares deeply about them. He spends time with them. He teaches them. He is silly and fun. He tucks them in every night, and sings them their favorite songs over and over again. He tells them awesome stories that he makes up as he goes. Here are just a few pictures that melt my heart:
Of course, no father is perfect, including this one. Perfection, however, is not required, nor is it even possible. Being a positive influence on your kids is simply a matter of love, time, patience, willingness to admit when you are wrong, trying to do better the next time…and we can ALL work on that, not just the fathers.
Now, let me make it clear that I am NOT discounting the importance of mothers here, because the impact of their work cannot be ignored. Mothers are AMAZING and VITAL and often under appreciated. There are MANY single mothers who do a FANTASTIC job, and their children turn out wonderfully. However, today I am celebrating all of the amazing fathers that I know, because their importance cannot be understated. Keep up the great work! You are making more of an impact than you know.
