Fathers are a mystery to many.
   

Children grow up usually either in awe or in fear of them. Unlike mothers whose role in our life is well defined from the moment we are born, fathers are normally, and also unjustly, perceived as taking only a supporting role in the parenting equation.

     Unlike mothers who show their affection to their children in a lavish sort of way, from the way they cook, launder, keep the house clean and making one’s bed, fathers take credit and comfort in such titles as the pillar of strength, the anchor of his family, the captain of the ship.

      Beyond these lofty descriptions that children can’t initially figure out, out of sheer innocence, fathers fade into the background and are often lost in the humdrum of everyday domestic life. They are pictured in media, movies, biographies, and real life itself as either absent or too busy making money, serious or strict, stoic and macho.

      In other words, they are so often contained in their own big world and lacking in emotions, specifically, empathy with their own children. They are said to be afraid of showing their soft, human side, wary that showing weakness can hamper their role as the family’s resident disciplinarian. But, are all fathers? Is this an accurate, or even fair, description of fatherhood?