The Importance of the Role a Father Plays
The Importance of the Role a Father Plays
Fifty-two babies will never meet their dads because of the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001. This horrible event shattered the lives of many people. What would have been families, no longer exist. The challenge of raising a baby is now in the hands of the wives who lost their husbands. Women are faced with the task of raising children with out the partners they assumed would always be there. How will these children grow up without a father? How can the mothers assure their babies a normal childhood? I believe these questions can be answered with the use of three family strengths; Communication, Shift in Responsibility, and Support from family and friends.
The first challenge in any family is to establish communication. This is especially true for families with a deceased parent. According to Benokraitis (2000) children around the ages of eleven and twelve start withholding private thoughts and feelings from their parents because they fear rejection. It is important for the parent not to react with any putdowns or sarcasm. Having an absentee father is a difficult situation for any child to be born into; therefore communication is essential in maintaining family structure. Children are going to have questions about their fathers and why they aren’t around anymore. According to Peoples Magazine (February 2002), mothers don’t want their children to feel or see their sadness.
Women now have to learn small and large chores. The same chores their husbands took care of on a regular basis. Things like applying for charity reliefs, making mortgage payments, finding a job, and arranging for childcare, are jobs the mother is now faced with. One family strength that helps out is shifting some of the responsibility to an older child. According to People Magazine (February 2002), Jeannine McIntyre, wife of Donald McIntyre, says her children are eager to comfort the newly born baby. Gigi Nelson, wife of Peter Nelson, says that her thirteen and ten year old children have promised to teach their baby sister everything their father taught them-especially soccer (People’s Magazine, February 2002, p. 52). Shifting some of the responsibility to the older children and taking some of the stress form the mother is an ideal situation for...