Blended Families

This week we talked about the challenges that come with divorce and remarriage. It is a really difficult process for many individuals to go through. One of the hardest positions fall on the children. They feel like a go-between in the family. They don't want to hurt the feelings of either parent when it comes to where they want to live, but many parents do get offended anyways. Something interesting is that girls actually handle divorce within the family better than boys do. Part of this might be because usually the children live with the mother, and they don't have that constant male role model anymore. Then comes the complications of blending families, and stepparents who want to be a positive influence in their step-children's lives, but are unsure of the best way to approach it.

Are You There

This last week was about the importance of parenting and being involved with your child. Talk and listen and spend time together. I thought this Mormon Message was perfect.

Fatherhood

This week in class we were actually given an assignment to find a journal article that had done research to find the importance of fatherhood. That was actually the title of my article, The Importance of Fatherhood. In this article is discussed the various benefits that fathers brought to the family. One of the things that fathers provide to their families is the economic support. It was researched and found that “in homes where a father is present, those in the household are less likely to be poor (Importance p.1).” Children that live in homes with an involved fathers also show higher academic achievement. Fathers are also extremely important at showing the benefits that come from having a positive, well-developed adult relationship. He does this with his relationship with his wife. With the children “boys who witness their father treating their mother with respect and affection are more likely to treat women with the same respect, and girls who witness these positive relationships are more likely to look for that type of positive relationship (Importance p.2).” It is important to recognize that fathers have a huge impact on their families, and to never let there work and importance go unnoticed and under appreciated.