Fathers often feel as though they aren’t celebrated enough. Mothers are usually the celebrated ones because, more often than not, they tend to be the primary caregiver in many ways.
Today I want to look at the ways in which the parental figure is an important one in a child’s life. Let us be clear that being a father to a child doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be their biological dad, but rather someone who raised and cared for the child. That being said, fathers can be biological, adoptive and foster. To gain the title of father, a man should accept his responsibility for the child and provide them with love, security, protection and, of course, someone to look up to.
Although it isn’t uncommon to see children being raised solely by their mothers in Guyana, there is a fairly significant number of men who either equally pitch in or are single fathers.
Fathers, like mothers, have a significant role to play in a child’s life. For a little boy, a father will be his superhero and someone he can look up. The boy will look at how his father treats his mother and likely mirror that behaviour as he becomes a man. For a girl, her father is her first love and protector. She too will look to her father’s qualities as the same qualities in which she would like to see in her future life partner.
Mothers are loving and nurturing by instinct and fathers are supposed to “balance” that by being fun but stern when necessary. He is supposed to be there to give support when a mother needs it. He is supposed to provide a safe space for his children (both physically and psychologically). They should feel secure, protected and provided for.
The absence, therefore, of a father figure can have negative effects on a child’s life. While every family won’t always be a nuclear one, it’s very important for the child to have someone they see as a paternal figure; someone who embodies what a father should represent, possessing positive values and being a positive influence on that child.
The presence of the paternal figure is both important and necessary in the life of a child. Whether you’re a father, uncle, brother or grandfather playing this role, keep being that positive influence. You will certainly see the impact that your presence has had in the life of that child as they become adults.
