During our conversation with Sheri Olsen, director of Path of Life in Spokane, Sheri spoke about her gratitude for the value her husband provides to the family in his role as father to their two daughters.
Above is a 3-minute video which shows excerpts from our conversation with Sheri Olsen. Below is an edited transcript of the content in the video.
Our kids benefitted from having a mom and a dad
I’ve always felt like it was such a blessing that my children had a mom and a dad. There were those times when I was too tired, or struggling in certain ways, and my husband was walking the halls with a crying baby, or cleaning up after our daughter threw up all over. We did that stuff together.
Different types of reactions from dad and mom
It was always kind of an exciting thing on Saturdays when daddy was home, because when the baby would wake up, we wanted to go up and see her together.
One morning he’s busy, and I go up to see our daughter…and there is blood everywhere! It’s all over her crib, it’s on the wall, it’s all over her. I remember standing at the end of the crib shouting, “Chuck, I need you right now!”
He comes right on up the stairs, and interestingly enough, he goes, “Oh, wow — she had a nosebleed.” He picks her up, takes her in the bathroom, and cleans her up. And so, the difference in how a man — I mean, he’s like, There’s a problem. Let’s solve it. Me, I was like, Oh my goodness! I thought my child was safe when sleeping, but apparently not! That’s where my brain went. It didn’t dawn on me it was simply a nosebleed. It was just a fearful thing for me.
That’s one of the reasons I’m always thankful they’ve had two parents. In that situation his response was so very appropriate, and mine was quite over the top.
Dad is good at fun!
He plays better with them than I do. I mean, he still does, and they’re in their 20s.
The four of us are going away this weekend as a family, and he’s been planning out the kayaking and the fishing for us. The girls love to fish with their dad. I’m not really into fishing, but I’m happy to sit and play a game with them, and that’s less interesting to him. Our daughters love both of those things.
Neither of our kids have debt from college thanks to their fathers’ planning. I can plan, but I don’t know that I would have done as good a job.
‘I don’t need anybody. I can do it myself‘
We can all get in the mindset of, I don’t need anybody. I can do this myself. It’s that prideful self-sufficiency thing, and the reality is we live in communities. We do need one another.
The studies are clear: children benefit from being raised in a stable home with a mom and a dad. I’m not saying the relationship has to be structured any particular way; that’s up to each couple. But when a child knows I can count on my mom and my dad, that child has a much better chance of success, however you may define that.
(Image obtained from Pexels)
View our blog post and video with Sheri Olsen explaining how some dads suffer
after abortion and how they seek healing.