“Even if fathers are more benignly helpful, and even if they spend time with us teaching us what they know, rarely do they tell uswhat they feel. They stand apart emotionally: strong perhaps, maybe caring in a nonverbal, implicit way; but their internal world remains mysterious, unseen, "What are they really like?" we ask ourselves. "What do they feel about us, about the world, about themselves?” IfsKnowsWorldWayFeelsChildrenAsksFatherStrongTeachingRemainsCaringMysteriousInternalsHelpfulUnseenEnd TimesSpend TimeImplicitNonverbal Author:Augustus Napier
“The ubiquitous and acutely conscious presence of our adolescents is a major problem, especially since much of their consciousnessseems to be focused on sexuality--ours and theirs. They expect us to ignore them if they are kissing their dates in the family room; but let us so much as wink at one another, and they whistle loudly.” IfsProblemSexRoomsKissingMajorsConsciousSexualityFocusedMajor Problems Author:Augustus Napier
“Parenting is a profoundly reciprocal process: we, the shapers of our children's lives, are also being shaped. As we struggle to beparents, we are forced to encounter ourselves; and if we are willing to look at what is happening between us and our children, we may learn how we came to be who we are.” IfsLooksMayChildrenProcessStruggleIdentityWillingHappeningsOur ChildrenEncountersWho We AreReciprocal Author:Augustus Napier
“Not only do our wives need support, but our children need our deep involvement in their lives. If this period [the early years] ofprimitive needs and primitive caretaking passes without us, it is lost forever. We can be involved in other ways, but never again on this profoundly intimate level.” IfsWayNeedsYearsChildrenLostLevelsSupportForeverWifeInvolvedPeriodsOur ChildrenIntimatePrimitiveFatherhoodInvolvementCaretaking Author:Augustus Napier
“Even if society dictates that men and women should behave in certain ways, it is fathers and mothers who teach those ways to children not just in the words they say, but in the lives they lead.” IfsMenWayShouldChildrenMotherCertainFatherInspiringTeachMen And WomenBehaveMothers Day Book:The Fragile Bond: In Search of an Equal, Intimate and Enduring Marriage Source: The Fragile Bond: In Search of an Equal, Intimate and Enduring Marriage