Strong, united, and loving families are the building blocks that make any society great. I see great families every day. Mom’s and Dad’s and their kids having fun at picnics, ballgames, the library, neighborhood get-togethers, etc. That’s because I live in a great area! But it isn’t a great area that made these families so awesome. It’s the awesome families that made the area great.
I am also familiar with not-so-great areas. Read my book, A VAGABOND LIFE: A MEMOIR OF FATHER HUNGER. I lived in neighborhoods like these for years. There, I didn’t see families like those I described above. I saw homes in terrible shape. There was potential danger around every corner. Trash littered the streets and kids roamed them, often looking for trouble. I didn’t see whole families having fun together if I saw them at all. The neighborhood didn’t make families live like this, although it did make it more difficult to escape. No, it was the lack of enough strong families that made the neighborhoods bad.
Money has little to do with making families strong. Most young families struggle with money. Classically, it’s a father and mother working together teaching values to their children. Other types of families will also succeed if their children are taught proper values and are properly cared for.
So how do we build strong families? We make laws that incentivize them to stay together, not to be apart. We teach responsibility in homes and schools. We teach young people how to run a family by understanding simple finance, having principles, being consistent, understanding each other, and fun. Who does this if the family doesn't? Too often a family fails to teach these things because they came from failed family situations. We must identify these shortcomings and fill the gap. I did my best to help by writing "THE POWER OF DADHOOD". But so much more is necessary. My book and other fine parenting books do no good unless they are read.
Below you will find a video of my extended family taken at my younger daughter’s birthday celebration. My wife, two daughters and their husbands, my single adult son, and my four grandchildren with their aunt and uncle, all having fun together, building trust, and creating memories. You are welcome to watch. Nothing too exciting going on, just a family that loves each other.
Being raised in a loving family has advantages that cannot be overstated!
I am also familiar with not-so-great areas. Read my book, A VAGABOND LIFE: A MEMOIR OF FATHER HUNGER. I lived in neighborhoods like these for years. There, I didn’t see families like those I described above. I saw homes in terrible shape. There was potential danger around every corner. Trash littered the streets and kids roamed them, often looking for trouble. I didn’t see whole families having fun together if I saw them at all. The neighborhood didn’t make families live like this, although it did make it more difficult to escape. No, it was the lack of enough strong families that made the neighborhoods bad.
Money has little to do with making families strong. Most young families struggle with money. Classically, it’s a father and mother working together teaching values to their children. Other types of families will also succeed if their children are taught proper values and are properly cared for.
So how do we build strong families? We make laws that incentivize them to stay together, not to be apart. We teach responsibility in homes and schools. We teach young people how to run a family by understanding simple finance, having principles, being consistent, understanding each other, and fun. Who does this if the family doesn't? Too often a family fails to teach these things because they came from failed family situations. We must identify these shortcomings and fill the gap. I did my best to help by writing "THE POWER OF DADHOOD". But so much more is necessary. My book and other fine parenting books do no good unless they are read.
Below you will find a video of my extended family taken at my younger daughter’s birthday celebration. My wife, two daughters and their husbands, my single adult son, and my four grandchildren with their aunt and uncle, all having fun together, building trust, and creating memories. You are welcome to watch. Nothing too exciting going on, just a family that loves each other.
Being raised in a loving family has advantages that cannot be overstated!
