“One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.” –George Herbert
The first model of masculinity a child sees is their father. From the deep voice to how they interact with the mother to how they carry themselves around others, the father figure a child experiences from before birth will shape their perceptions and expectations for their entire existence.
Yes, their friends will be around them for a significant amount of time, but it is the family that they start and end their day with, that they spend weekends with, and that they will return to throughout their life as friends come and go. And their father is the foundation.
The father is the first taskmaster and hero, the protector and patriarch. It is a responsibility few are ready for but most men secretly desire, to be in that awesome position of power and potential and servitude and authority and obligation, because fatherhood brings out the best in a man more than a hundred schoolmasters ever did.
Thanks for sharing this Joe. As an RN, I facilitate a Boot Camp for New Dads quarterly and this post is the essence of what my class is attempting to instill in the new father’s to be. As a father, I can attest to the impact that “We” dads have on our children. My girls seek my approval in all they do because of the very description of fatherhood you lost in the last paragraph. Again, thanks for sharing!