FATHER

Happy Father's Day

PARENT PARENTHOOD PATTERN PATER

PATERNALISTIC PATRON

PARENTS who truly engage in PARENTING are like authors of a new being. PARIR in Spanish is to "give birth" and PARTir implies a dePARTure from the shelter offered by the maternal uterus or matrix. Matrix points to maternal which implies that only mothers can, from inert matter, materialize life.

Paternalism.

Non-marital conceptions were referred to by the ancients as PARThenon. PARThenogenesis referred to conceptions by virgins and not to sex-free conceptions as upheld by some modern religions. In any case, having a father or PADRE is important in PARENting because they have much to contribute toward the development of social and cultural PATterns.

First Steps.

As is the case with "mama", "papa" and "dada" are also early words easy to vocalize by babies who seek to charm their parents. These words paint a complex and lyric landscape. In the interest of brevity, the list of words in the left column provides access to a detailed landscape which is summarized below.

Padre, Pope, Papa, Potato, and their Pets.

Father ........ or in Greek
Peter           or in Latin
Pater           or male parent or
Paternity       and
Paternalistic   which flows into
Pattern         and
Patron          and
Patrimony       and
Patriot         ideas which link with those in
Parere          childbirth or
Parto           as in depart from a female
Parent          who then engages in
Parenthood

Fathering.	Parenting.

Some illustrations by talented painters may augment the scope of ideas about PATTERns of PATERnity without, I hope, being PATERnalistic, in the current unfortunate sense of implying disdain or condescension. Such negative bending of the meaning of PATERNAL and PATERNALISM may suggest that in the USA, fatherhood has become devalued. Perhaps this negative shift reflects the large increase in "single parent households" or PARThenon births, a euphemism for children solely raised by a mother. In any case, the importance of a father in parenthood should be self evident, particularly during puberty when a PATER or PETER may have to be as firm as PETRA or stone. (Peter is also a euphemism for the MENtula or the sexual MEMber of MEN also called PENis.)

"A Community without Fathers Asks for and gets Chaos."
Attributed to Senator P. Moynihan

Patterns of paternity change with time.

Note the Hapsburg jaw, often a sign of paternity.		Alike but unrelated  (shared paternity ?).