An Implicated Parent Is Invaluable
Traditionally, parenting was considered a women’s task. It was the mother who was expected to take care of the child, to accompany him and to promote his physical and emotional development. Fortunately, more and more men are deciding to parent with real commitment. And this inevitably translates into healthier and happier children, as an involved parent is invaluable.
This is not intended to be, at any time, an ode to male fathers who choose to be fathers with all the letters. Well, finally, they are not doing more than what corresponds to them in an intrinsic way. What mothers have been doing generation after generation.
However, it is necessary to highlight how beneficial it is for a child to have the love, care and unconditional support of the two people who brought him into the world.
Fatherhood is transforming
We have all witnessed how, in the past, the fact that men are providers and women caregivers was absolutely normalized. Family roles were perfectly defined and delimited. And the father’s chores did not include helping his son with homework, bathing him or reading a bedtime story. And, of course, it was unimaginable that he was involved in the daily life and emotional development of his offspring.
The father used to be an absent, distant and authoritarian figure. The one who provided the money and imparted discipline, but seldom offered a continuous, caring presence to his children. The last generations of parents are a hopeful example of how this dynamic is beginning to change. More and more men are assuming with responsibility and enthusiasm their role in the growth of their children.
Even so, there is still a long way to go until the sharing of housework and parenting is done equally between both members of the couple. Many men consider that everything is going well because they “help at home” or because they are the ones who take care of taking the child to school. However, the definition of an implicated parent goes much further.
What is an implicated parent?
An involved father is one who is fully aware that his job is not to help, either at home or in the education of his children, since he has the same responsibility as his partner. He is the one who strives every day to establish a meaningful bond with his little ones, to let them know that he is by their side to listen, guide and support them.
He is a man who enjoys spending time with his children, chatting with them, knowing their tastes and their fears. The one who wants to know how they are doing in school, who their friends are and how they are progressing in their extracurricular activities.
An involved father helps each afternoon with homework, helps the little one in choosing his carnival costume, prepares snacks and sits on the rug to play with the little ones in the house.
And he does all these things with pleasure and for love. It is not necessary for anyone to insist on them to participate in the lives of their children, since their actions arise from the desire to accompany them in their growth and enjoy by their side. An involved parent understands that parenting takes time, effort, sacrifice, and responsibilities. But still, he sees it as a gift.
An involved parent is invaluable
Children who are fortunate to grow up with one of these parents enjoy better psychological and emotional health. They develop strong self-esteem and establish social relationships with ease and security. They are children who feel loved, accepted and accompanied, and there is no greater gift than a childhood with these characteristics.
It is clear that the mother’s work is equally important. For a child, his parents are the two most important people in his world, his greatest references.
Therefore, receiving the love, presence and involvement of both leaves a positive imprint on their soul that will accompany them for the rest of their lives. Growing up with a distant or emotionally absent parent can generate serious deficiencies in the child that could turn into insecurity, unhappiness and need for approval in the future.
