Throughout the week we’ve heard from the perspective of a family lawyer, a father and a mother when it comes to Father’s Day. Today we hear from psychologist and family consultant, Rosa Silvestro, on something that is really important for everyone to keep in mind.
“A morning news program caught my interest this week as they discussed the importance or lack thereof regarding Father’s Day compared to Mother’s Day. In an environment where parents tend to compete for a role in their children’s lives, where they espouse the importance of one over the other, the debate over the relative importance of one day over the other is hardly helpful.
Surely each parent is different and together they are able to bring a broad range of experiences to their children. They don’t have to compete. They complement each other. On Father’s Day, rather than competing and comparing, let’s highlight and celebrate all the wonderful and different things that father’s bring to parenting.
Even at my age (and I’ll only admit to being a grandma) I still remember my father playing “horses” with me and my sisters. He’d be down on all fours and we’d climb on his back, one at a time or even all three at once and he’d be the “horse”. I can still hear the squeals of delight and joy when the horse bucked! We never did that with our mother.
Or going to work with him on a vegetable farm, or making paper aeroplanes – we never did that with our mother. I could go on for ages… and as an adult I look back to his deep love and sacrifices and I increasingly appreciate what he did for me, for us, and for our family.
He was no better or worse than my mother, he was different and he added to my life in a way my mother couldn’t. So let’s celebrate Father’s Day and father’s for being who they are – different.”
– Rosa Silvestro, Psychologist and Family Consultant.
