The Importance of a Mother and Father

     In class last week, my teacher, who was a therapist for several years, said that the best way to know a couple is to know how their dating history. It makes sense that the way people date will affect the health of their marriage. Those who date just to have someone to make out with, I'm sure will have struggles in their marriage. From what I have seen, physical affection tends to decrease as the relationship progresses after a few years. If a couple's dating period of their relationship was all about affection, no wonder they feel that they have "fallen out of love" a few years into their marriage. Love is not all about the physical connection. If you believe that it is, you will be very disappointed. Love goes beyond physical affection. Love is about sacrifice and a holistic connection. It is not all about satisfying our own needs.

    I mention marriage rather than cohabiting to refer to a long-term relationship because studies show that there are many benefits to marriage, particularly marriage between a man and a woman. In a video titled "The Family and Sustainable Development", they share the impact that two biological parents have on the children they raise. These children from these families are more likely to be healthier, wealthier, and have a higher education compared to children raised in a home without both of their biological parents.

    Mothers are often given credit for their children's positive outcomes, as they should be. However, the father should not be in the background as much as they are. The same video, as mentioned previously, showcases the impact of engaged fathers in the home. Without a father present, a child is twice as likely to have a teenage pregnancy. Mothers raising children tend to have lower economic status as well. Pulling from what I have learned in other child development classes, fathers play differently with their children. They typically engage in more rough-and-tumble play than mothers. This helps the children to learn the limits when wrestling with their friends or family members. It helps children to understand the boundaries, what is and isn't okay. In short, the presence of a father in a child's life can positively affect their future.

    People occasionally bring up concerns about raising children. One of these concerns is that having children decreases the health of our economy by using up resources. We do not need to be concerned about taking up space or using up too many resources when we have children. If we stop having children, our resources actually decrease. Think about it, the more people, the more workers. The more workers a country has, the more resources are available. If there are fewer people, there are fewer ideas and less momentum for a brighter future. The bleaker people's view of the future is, the less likely they are to have children. I'm here to tell you that the future is bright. God would not send us to earth if he thought that our lives would be bleak and pointless. Raising children and giving them the tools to be successful in life is the greatest privilege that anyone can ever have.

    I will be posting these blogs weekly covering the material shared in my family relations class. This is a class that aligns with my major (child development). This blog is an opportunity for me to advocate for children and families in a world that has forgotten about them. I'm excited to share what I will be learning. My classmates and I are likely to learn more about the importance of children. I would hope so because children have been put on the back burner in the last several years, and I want to show why they shouldn't be. To see what my classmates have written about what we learned in class, follow the link on my home page "classmates blogs". Please leave a comment below sharing your thoughts on the topics I discussed, how I did on explaining them, and what I can do to improve.