Fathers everywhere struggle to protect their children against poverty. The fortunate ones manage to provide a certain degree of comfort and material security. Both groups try to fulfill what they naturally perceive as a fundamental role-that of provider. It seems to me that this role has tended to be all too easily minimized. It is as though in the effort to recognize the father who is affectionate, who acts as teacher and companion, and who is committed and interactive, the role of breadwinner has been neglected, if not actually ignored and even scorned. And yet fathers themselves have not forgotten this role, as evidenced by their vulnerability and distress when they fail to fulfill it adequately.

Colleen has sent the following question to DIYFather.com:

My husband and I have been trying to gain custody of his special needs son and we have run out of money and do not have the credit to loan ... Is there any programs/agencies that will help?

Colleen, Grabill, IN

Money and Children sometimes go hand in hand depending on your wealth, If you’re like most families having a child means that your family will drop in wages, and usually the father will continue working. Why would you teach children about money? When is best to teach children about money? Who is going to teach them?

This is something that is close to my heart, being that I wasn’t taught what to do with money but I grew up around money and from a family with money! My grandfather had money and taught us to stand on our own feet and to earn it for ourselves, so at the time I thought he was “tight” but it means that through my teens and adulthood I have also been very frugal with money. Therefore I want to make sure Pyper grows up with an appreciation of money. It’s like water it slips through your hands very fast, so make sure you don’t carry too much at once.

Greetings! Today I’m sharing an interview with Abel Cheng of www.parentwonder.com on fathering from May 24, 2007:

1. Usually children are closer to mom for some reason. For a dad, how does he overcome this and form a closer bond with a child?
It’s important to understand that Dads get close to kids in their own way. It all depends on how we define “closeness.” Dads form a bond with their kids by doing things with them and sharing experiences. Mothers often are the ones that kids will go to when they have a problem or when they want to share their day, but Dads can be involved in that too. All they need to do is to listen well, not judge too much, and to share some of their life with their kids too.

2. How do we not lose our temper when our kids misbehave?

Expectant fathers have a lot of decisions to make when getting ready for the arrival of their first or new child. Many people create checklists to try and help them prepare, but it is impossible to make ready for every situation or need. There are many decisions during the pregnancy that dads really care about expressing an opinion but some are avoided at all costs.

Here are Five Decisions Expectant Fathers Tend to Avoid:

1. Choice of doctor or hospital - we're not the ones who need to feel comfortable being poked, probed and examined, so why should our opinion matter?

2. Room decor or bedding set - dads want kids to have cool rooms, but the only things we really care about when it comes to decor are how much it costs and the amount of work it will be for us to paint and set-up all of the furniture.

3. Formula or breastfed baby - as long as we can be involved in feeding the baby in some way, we don't really care where the milk comes from.

4. Natural or 'pain relieved' delivery - some dads may quietly think they have a strong position on this leading up to the big day; however, that quickly changes when they get in the delivery room with a screaming mom. In most cases, dads understand that they aren't the ones pushing the baby out, so they really don't have a say about epidurals or pain medications anyway.

In July of last year the Government’s retirement savings initiative KiwiSaver was launched. So far, the uptake has been higher than anticipated with over 200,000 accounts already opened. And in April of this year, it’s expected that there will be another surge of interest as employer contributions become compulsory. New Zealanders have warmed to the idea of “free money” – a $1,000 kick start, $1,040 per annum tax credits, and soon employer contributions.

So this raises the question – should we all be opening accounts for our kids? The reality is that there is no right or wrong answer. It’s just a matter of weighing up the pros and cons. Some of these include:

Pros:
* They are entitled to the $1,000 kick start

Did you know that many people retire broke?

It's true. After a lifetime of hard work and having earned literally hundreds of thousands of dollars, they end up with nothing.

So where did all their hard-earned cash go? The answer is, it passed right through their fingers.
While schools are great at teaching algebra, calculus, and geometry... how many of us learned about the basics of personal finance and creating financial security for ourselves?

The truth is, the earlier you learn to handle money, the more likely you are to manage it properly and live a prosperous life.

So why not provide a little home schooling for your family and teach them the basics? Here are 7 important lessons to instill in your kids about money:

1. Save something of what you earn
Acquiring the savings habit is one of the smartest things you can ever do.

Here are a few things to consider.

1. Don't get life insurance for your baby
There is no need for it and if someone tries to sell it to you they are taking advantage of your emotions. One rule of life insurance - get it only if the loss of the insured person would have a financial impact on the surviving family members.

Now that I have two young teenagers, it has dawned on me when is a good time to start earning money, at what age should they start working?

I believe it is very important for our young to learn the value of money and to appreciate that time and effort is put in earning that money, as well as there are possible smarter ways to make money. I also believe that it is possible to teach them when young that ‘what you do with your money’ is more important than the amount you earn.

The following information has been published with kind permission from Barnardos (taken from Information Sheet No. 37).

One of a teenage males biggest fears can be getting a girl pregnant. What do I tell my friends and family? How will they react? Do I want to continue to be involved with the mother? What’s the story on child support? How can I afford it? What about sport, further study, future career, my mates and all that stuff?

Being a father means there are a lot of issues to sort through and many conflicting demands to balance. You may be unsure if you are the father. Or you may be thinking seriously about what your responsibilities actually are, whether you want involvement in your Childs life, whether or not you want to commit yourself to a long term relationship with the mother and so on.