Parenting: The important Role Fathers play in making kids happy
Remember how we used to play in the rain, race with friends then sing “rain, rain go away, come again another day…little children want to play.” when dad wouldn’t let us go out to play, yet we could see some of our friends playing in the rain?
The rainy season is here now and kids these days do not really get to experience some of the memories we had while growing up. Back then, there was no covid-19 to restrict kids from playing, and even though we were taught to wash our hands before eating, we did not have to wash them at intervals during the day.
I remember one remarkable incident that happened when I was 6-years-old. It seemed a rather interesting Saturday afternoon because all the kids in the compound came out to play. However, a bit cloudy, it was still okay to run around since the rains had not started pouring yet.
That’s how my friend Salome, suggested that we should all play “catcher” and me being so eager to run around, I jumped right at it. We were four kids playing that game. I, Sally, and two other kids from the flat directly below ours. We started the game and guess who was the catcher...me! As we were running and screaming, enjoying ourselves, I attempted to catch Sally so that she’ll be the next catcher. With so much adrenaline rush, I made an effort to jump, and stomp my feet on the ground while catching Sally…but little did I know that there was a piece of broken brick on the ground.
As I jumped to catch her, I landed on the brick, lost my balance, and fell to the ground. I was quite an energetic child, but that instant I fell, I knew I had hurt myself. My friends were in the rare waiting for me to stand up and continue running so I can catch Sally…but they soon realized I was hurt. Our parents were watching from the balcony, so it was easy for them to see us. My friends noticed I was sobbing, trying to hide my tears and instantly started telling me sorry. But it wasn’t enough.
From the balcony, my dad had noticed I was down and quickly called out to me. I couldn’t respond since I was already crying...he knew I was hurt. A few moments later “daddy” rushed downstairs, calling out to me. “Nono…Nono, did you fall?” he raised me, looked in my eyes, and said to me “don’t worry daddy is here…sorry, ehn”. At that moment, I knew my hero came to my rescue. I wore a big smile and gave daddy a big hug and that’s how “catcher” ended that day. This and many other things made realise that my dad’s soooooo kool.
We know that Fathers are regarded as providers, leaders, and guardians in the home. They’re the patriarchs and bread-winners and it is their responsibility to provide for and cater to their family’s temporal and spiritual needs. My dad will literary deprive himself of many things just to see that we get the best of everything we needed and more.
The important role fathers play the lives of their children contributes to a child’s mental, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. Because Fatherhood is a lifelong journey, throughout that expedition, fathers are saddled with the responsibility to provide the necessities required to create a balance in the development of their kids and advance the child’s happiness. They also provide love, support, leadership, education, counsel, and guidance in every aspect of a child’s life.
There is a global attention towards taking care of kids against predators and fathers have their responsibility to play in this regard, to secure the happiness and confidence of kids so they are properly guided.
In the spirit of the upcoming ‘Father’s Day Celebration’ themed ‘My dad’s sooo kool, Ruff 'n' Tumble will be having an Instagram live session with Praise Fowowe, this Saturday the 20th of June 2020 at 10 a.m, where he will be speaking on ‘Parenting a happy kid: The Role of Fathers in Making Kids Happy.’
We have unveiled our Father’s Day Collection, and they are available on our website at https://www.ruffntumblekids.com/collections/fathers-day and at our Ruff ‘n’ Tumble stores. As a gift to you, in partnership with Prasie Fowowe, we will also be giving out FREE copies of his book ‘Out of the Box Parenting’ when you shop our new collection in-store.
Sources: allprodad.com pediatricsoffranklyn.com
