When Dad Is Away: The Challenges Of Long Distance Fatherhood

Working away from home can be tricky. It provides financial rewards for families, but it can also cause challenges in intimacy and communication.

This is the reality: not all fathers are fortunate to spend a lot of time with their children. They get to travel a lot for work and get paid a lot for it, but it is at the expense of their relationship with their children. Distance can be substantial enough to cause distant family relationships as well. Children can have an unstable household, and parents will have to adjust caregiving roles. Here are some challenges fathers face when they work away from home.

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Children’s interest

Having an absentee parent can be a traumatic experience for a child. They could develop anxiety and insecurity issues. The child’s academic success and mental health could also be at risk because they were not able to form good relationships with the people who should’ve been there for them from the start.

Unstable marital relationship 

When a parent (or a spouse) is often out to work, the marriage could bear the brunt of the distance. The home-based parent will have to deal with a lot of responsibilities around the house, and it can cause resentment over time.

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Household security

Security will be a concern, especially when the “protector” is not in the house. When the mother has to work too, the children’s safety will inevitably be in the hands of babysitters or relatives. Parents will not be around for medical emergencies, turning points, and needy moments of their children.

The challenges of working away from home are many, so parents should help kids understand the situation. Parents should always make time to communicate with their children—be it through Skype, Facebook, e-mail, or text messaging. Just because a job requires a parent to be away, they don’t have to be an absentee parent.

Joseph Cianciotto is a creative business leader. He is also a dedicated family man. Visit this blog for similar articles.