Written by Kim Johnson

I was sitting here watching a show about a traditional family deciding to downsize their home. The mother was pregnant with their second child, and she and her husband saw this as an opportunity to create a closer knit family by simplifying their lives. Their decision was intentional, rooted in their desire to build stronger connections as a family unit.

It made me reflect on my own experiences raising children with my husband and how vital it is for the father to be deeply involved in the family. When a father is present and invested in his children and his wife, it creates a foundation that impacts how children grow and thrive. Boys, in particular, learn what it means to be a man by watching their father, how he interacts with their mother, how he leads, loves, and supports. This partnership gives children a model of what a family should be, a framework to refer back to when they build their own families.

Now, looking back 40 years later, I sometimes wonder how different life might have been for my children, especially my boys, if that model had been more consistent in their early years. Would they have faced fewer struggles, avoided trouble, or found more stability? These questions linger, but they also remind me of the importance of those early building blocks and the lasting impact of a father’s active presence in a family.

Brother’s and Sister what do you think?