As I stated in my earlier post The Women in Our Lives we also need the men in our lives. When it comes to a new baby in the family, what can be more needed in the life of that baby or in the life of that baby’s parents than the wisdom of older generations? In my family, we are blessed with the presence of my husband’s grandfather.
At the age of 96, he provides a stable reminder of the previous century. He unites four generations and our babies universally adore him. Though he is slower than he once was and his hands grow numb from time to time, the babies listen to his gravelly voice and seek out his company as eagerly as all the older children do.
We Need Our Fathers
We need our fathers, our uncles, our older brothers and our cousins. We need them because they’ve done this before, they’ve been in the situation where they didn’t know what was going on and where they’ve felt helpless. More often as not, they can give you advice on how to cope with the worst of the problems and even when they can’t provide a solution, they can tell us that sometimes problems don’t have easy solutions – you just have to get by day by day, love your family and it will work out.
I didn’t grow up with a dad and my uncle was thousands of miles away in Great Britain. My grandfather died before I was born and I never knew my father’s extended family. So I know how much we need the men in our lives, because I know what it’s like to grow up without the men in our lives and I know how much these men have meant to my baby and to my nephews.
How much have the men in your life helped you and your baby?
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