Today we celebrate the role of the father in our lives. The science is settled, intact families with a father present and involved produce better, healthier, more successful children, are more financially successful, and generally do better.
Does that mean every father is a paragon? Hardly, while some are losers and some are monsters, most are neither. The science is based on comparing intact families as a group to those without a father present. Comparing group A to group B, A wins. Nobody is saying every intact family in A does better than every single parent family in B, rather that if you were placing bets, that’s how you’d bet.
My own father taught me plenty, took me fishing, modeled responsible behavior, and was devoted to my mother. One of my favorite memories of him was him wisely saying “Ladies are nice, but their ‘thermostats’ don’t work very well so they’re often too cold or hot.” Nailed it in one.
I see lots of parallels to my parents’ relationship in how the other DrC and I get along after 48 years of marriage. Thanks for everything, Dad.
