Fathers and Finance

My father is one of my many role models. There are many reasons why I look up to him and adore him. Let me just take a few more minutes to brag about how great he is. He is selfless and loving. I have never met a more humble man who serves not only his family, but all those around him. He is a very hardworking man. Why is this so important? He instilled qualities and morals in me that no once could have. My mom was obviously a part of raising me, but my father was and is still an important part in my development. There have been studies put out there expressing the importance of having fathers in the home. To some people this might offend them, but this is simply the truth. No matter how hard a single mother, or same sex parents try to raise kids, raising a kid in a home of a father and a mother is the best possible environment for a healthy development. I have always wanted to raise my family after the same manner I was raised. My father went to work at 8am until 5pm. My mother was a stay at home teaching dance class and being the cheerleading coach for the high school. My father works for a company that manufactures farm equipment. My father has always worked so hard to provide for his family so that my mom could stay home and raise her children. Call that old fashioned, but I eventually want the same. I think it's very beneficial to have a stay at home parents to nurture and care for the children. Even though most of the time it's usually the mother that stays home to watch the kids it's still important for the father to have a say and relationship in raising his children. Something that I am so grateful for was when I was in high school and playing sports my parents were so supportive. My dad made it a goal to be done with work at 5 so they he could make it to be basketball games. He also didn't work on Sunday or Saturday so he was able to go to sport events on Saturdays and church on Sunday. My father's job always gave us enough money to afford the things we needed, but not always give us the things we wanted. What is important in this is that he could have worked longer hours and more days, but he choose to sacrifice those things to spend quality time with his family. This always meant a lot to all of us kids. Sure it would have been nice to have nicer things and all the fun things, but looking back at my childhood and being a teenager, those quality hours are what matter most. Money is a huge problem that causes a lot of stress in a lot of families. Some families have too much money and some don't have any money at all. How can having too much money be a problem? I have seen many families not be as close because they have nice things that take place of those personal relationships. I once met a kid my age who was telling me all about his family. We were showing each other pictures of our home towns and houses. He showed me his huge house in Newport, California. He then showed me their family's beach house in Costa Rica that was absolutely huge. I was sitting there thinking that would be so nice to have such nice houses. He then told me that he has never had a good relationship with his father. His father and mother were currently going through a divorce because his father has slept with other women and has been cheating on his mother. His younger brothers are atheist and have completely different beliefs and morals. His family has never been close and the relationship of their family was just sad. I then showed a picture of my house. It is located in a very very small farm town. My neighborhood is in a dumpy part of town. Even though my house is nice and big and surrounded by nice white picket fence it still isn't a huge mansion in a nice area. Before I was feeling sorry for myself, but after hearing his story I realized I had two parents who loved each other very much. Not only do they love each other but they love their children and grandchildren. All of my siblings and I are happy and living a good life. Dealing with the normal struggles and stress that life brings, but having good standards and working through problems in a healthy way. My siblings and I all love each other and are the best of friends. Our family relationship is very good. I realized that money doesn't always mean everything. We are happy and we don't need money to do that, even though sometimes it would help, it's not the most important thing. So once again just think of your goals of your family. If your family does have money how are you letting money affect your family relationship. What are things you could do better to bring your family closer without using money? Until next week!