The Legacy a Good Father Leaves for His Children
Rousseau used to say that one good father is worth a hundred teachers. In fact, if we really think about it, few people leave such an early emotional mark on our memories, such a deep and decisive fingerprint
Our fathers leave a legacy full of the kind of lessons that help us face life with more courage and security.
When a father takes his children in his arms, he protects them and gives them strength. He calms their fears, consoles them, and puts a smile on their little faces.
Few places are more comforting and peaceful than this perfect little spot between a father’s chest and his arms. It’s that special place where we feel the strong beating of his heart.
Something we all know is that the job of parenting doesn’t pertain to just one gender. Both mothers and fathers are guides for their children. They are teachers and powerful role models in the lives of their sons and daughters.
What’s more, today, more and more women are taking their places in the job market and the business world. As a result, men are taking a more active role in caring and educating their children.
Many dads now do their share of housework and other household chores. There are even men who choose to be single parents.
In the past, a man’s role in the home was seen more as that of a “provider” and an “enforcer.” They would lend a hand when needed or step in to discipline.
But, for the most part, their role in raising their children was quite passive. But that is now changing.
Although fathers can’t breastfeed, they’re playing a more and more active role in the feeding of their little ones.
They too wake up a thousand times during the night and get little sleep. They change diapers and cradle their offspring with the same love and tenderness as a mother. And they feel the same need to hold their children close.
This is what we want to talk about today in You Are Mom.
The virtues of a good father last forever in a child’s heart
We live in a world where it seems like nothing lasts forever. Just as the recently deceased sociologist Zygmunt Bauman said, we are determined by a liquid society that recycles everything. Things last very little and are replaced by others in our ultimate ambition to consume and experiment…
Now, once our children grow up, they may become carried away by this consumerist tendency. But here’s something that will always keep them rooted – our children will always carry the lasting legacy of a good father that always guided them.
A father’s influence never wears out and can never be replaced.
Each piece of advice, meaningful memory, embrace… These moments are like sugar cubes that dissolve in a child’s heart, filling it with sweetness, magic, and determination. This is something lasting, constant and eternal.
It is a wise father that knows his own child
William Shakespeare left us this phrase: “It is a wise father that knows his own child.” Without a doubt, Shakespeare was expressing a great truth.
Raising children is nothing less than molding minds, sewing firm ideas, and guiding tendencies, desires and passions. A good father is he who makes an effort every day to get to know his children.
He guides their emotions and helps his children channel them. He knows their interests, their passions, and their dreams. He helps them form their own strong, healthy, free and unique identity.
Being a father is remembering that you yourself were once a child
We’re often reminded that we should never lose sight of our inner child. A good father is a man who understands the responsibility he carries very well.
He knows he also needs to take care of himself emotionally and psychologically in order to give his best. At the same time, a good father always stays connected to his inner child.
- In doing so, he maintains the ability to enjoy the moment. He sees the present as a place where everything is possible. His children live in a world of excitement, hope, improvisation, joyful play, laughter and ease…
- Children love to play with that giant hero who is their dad. A good dad enjoys spending time with his children, remembering his own childhood. He makes faces, runs around with his kids, sings, and makes them laugh to the point of exhaustion…
The best legacy a father can leave his child is TIME
In You Are Mom, we are constantly stressing this point. The best gift we can give to our little ones is the gift of our time.
Our children need our attention, meaningful moments. They need to create the kind of moments that stay forever in the memories of their hearts.
A good father knows this, and he knows how to separate work time from family time. He makes it a point to set aside time for showering his children with care and affection.
He understands that this is his greatest priority. A good dad knows that his life is meaningless if he doesn’t spend quality time with his children each and every day.
All that a father gives to his children is a treasure they’ll remember forever. A child will never forget those protective embraces that made him feel so sure, so protected, so loved…
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Bowlby, J. (1986). Vínculos afectivos: formación, desarrollo y pérdida. Madrid: Morata.
- Bowlby, J. (1995). Teoría del apego. Lebovici, Weil-HalpernF.
- Garrido-Rojas, L. (2006). Apego, emoción y regulación emocional. Implicaciones para la salud. Revista latinoamericana de psicología, 38(3), 493-507. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/805/80538304.pdf
- Marrone, M., Diamond, N., Juri, L., & Bleichmar, H. (2001). La teoría del apego: un enfoque actual. Madrid: Psimática.
- Moneta, M. (2003). El Apego. Aspectos clínicos y psicobiológicos de la díada madre-hijo. Santiago: Cuatro Vientos
