GroshLink

Co-parenting makes the research (Journal of Family Psychology), news and blog front for Father's Day! Note: brought to my attention by Fathers.com weekly newsletter (thank-you to Jim for encouraging me to sign-up).   Not bad to be only 1 week behind with a newborn ;-)

What's the big surprise?  Raising children involves shared intentionality, communication, time, and prayer in the home and in the village (extended family, local congregation, community, school, and larger society/culture).  Here's a quote from the WSJ blog post.

In the closest look yet at how mothers’ behavior may shape dads’ involvement in parenting, a study of 97 couples with infants links both encouragement and criticism from mothers to fathers’ level of engagement.

Encouragement from mothers seems to have the most powerful impact, says Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, lead author of the study, which appears in the June issue of the Journal of Family Psychology. Complimenting a man’s parenting, setting aside time for him alone with the baby, asking his opinion and praising his fathering in the presence of others, were strongly linked to greater paternal engagement and nurturing.

Further comment: fathers (and mothers) require more than encouragement.  Men and women benefit from a variety of proper training/mentoring received in humility, e.g., accountability, books/on-line materials, caring for siblings/relatives beginning at an early age, conferencing, conversation partners/groups, training.  For some of us, such as myself, which lack a lot of experience with children, it is a humbling learning process. 

Any hints for raising a family of four?  As we'll have four boys visiting next door in a week, any suggestions for outings with a eight kids and a mix of parents, aunts/uncle, grandparents?