Staff writer – Maureen Gordon
Another Father’s day has come and gone a special day to focus on our fathers, I believe for many it is often a bitter sweet time, depending on the memories you have of your father, whether they are alive or not. Unfortunately this is how some children may experience their fathers.
Authoritarian: Strict disciplinarian, bound up in rules and regulation.
Aloof: The father who has a distant personality, could be unemotional (maybe from the way he was brought up) provides materially but not emotionally.
Absent: Not around/or he is present in the home but passive, taking no part in the parenting role or other aspects of a child’s life this is an absent father.
Abusive: verbal, emotional, physical, sexual.
Accusing: “You will never amount to anything;” or “you will never be as good as your sister/brother”
However the other side of the negative coin is a loving father: providing both emotional and material security for their children.
Father’s day celebrates fathers and the immense role they play in their
Photo courtesy Lisa Mosley
children’s life and this cannot be underestimated. Fathers what you think is the most important thing that you can give to your children, and it is more than money can buy. Children love gifts and they will appreciate the material things that you give them. But the most important thing that they will value is your availability and the time that you spend with them. Nothing can be a substitute for this.
The traditional role of men working long hours or working away from home, and seeing very little of their children, I believe is still prevalent. However in many cases today both parents have to work to keep the family going and have to juggle work and family life. Unfortunately it is usually the children that lose out because a parent is too tired or too preoccupied with their own interest to spend quality time with them.
Some of my most enduring memories were our family night, when I was a child. It took place every Saturday without fail and this is where I felt I got to spend quality time with my parents. My father was a quiet, unassuming man but it was during these times I felt I got to know him better. One thing we are not guaranteed is time, and the years go very quickly, so we owe it to our children to give them the best of our time both in quantity and quality, whilst there is still time.
Let me know what you think
