“A boy needs a father to show him how to be in the world. ” –Ian Morgan Cron
A child growing up without a father is statistically much more likely to have early sex and run-ins with the law. They will on average have lower educational attainment and lifetime earnings. Because a father is the first judge, and teaches right from wrong, and holds a child accountable in ways that a mother does not. Neither parent is better, they are merely different and both manners of guidance are necessary.
A daughter’s first love is their father, and they will always seek subconsciously a man that emulates him. But a boy wants to BE his father, and not just wear his ties as a child. He wants his father to be proud of him, whether playing T-Ball at five or in his profession at 35. A man will still seek the approval of his father even when old and grey, because the sire sets the standard we spend our lives judging ourselves against.
Our father is the exemplar of what a man is, for good and ill. Be the man you want your son to try to grow into, and you will have done your job.
So very true!