Happy Father's Day!

Research continues to support the notion that fathers are important to children, not only because of the financial support they provide but because of the unique perspective men contribute to the development of children. Dads play differently with their kids than moms do, are concerned about different things, and help their kids in different ways. The key is “different” not “wrong.”

Too often mothers get the idea that they have the one right method of parenting. This notion probably starts when the newborn comes home and parents are confronted with the possibility of making dangerous mistakes. In fact, of course, babies are pretty resilient – if they weren’t the human species would have died out long ago – and most parents do a decent job of keeping kids safe. But this impulse to impose the “one right way” to parent often freezes out fathers, who naturally do things differently than mothers do.

The point here is that moms and dads provide complementary support and guidance to their kids. Children need both perspectives. While general agreement on household rules and expectations for kids is good, parents’ interaction styles can be quite different. This is ok.

Today, when we honor fathers, honor also the unique contributions dads make in the lives of children.

... happens first at home.