10% Beneficiary to @steemit-family.

INTRODUCTION

Warm greetings to my fellow Steemians in @steemfamily community. It is with great delight that I wish to participate in this contest organized by @peachyladiva. The family is the Nucleus of every society. For that reason it needs to be well guided and guarded.
It is a well known fact that no family exists in isolation. No single(one) person can start up a family. That means a family starts by the coming together of two matured minds who are opposite sex. That is a male and a female. No woman can singlehandedly start up a family as well no Man can singlehandedly start up a family. Likewise, procreation or reproduction can not take place without the coming together of these opposite sex in a unanimous agreement to bring life into this world. As a matter of fact, it would be tantamount to great injustice and a heinous crime and of course sheer wickedness to Leave and abandon the Care of the children you both came together to reproduce in the hand of one parent - the mother. Although over the times, mothers have always been on the receiving end of this great injustice deliberately and inconsiderately unleashed on them by some fictitious traditions and the superstitious belief that "THE MEN ARE THE BREADWINNERS AND THE WOMEN ARE THE SOLE HOME MAKERS AND MANAGERS."
Having said all these, I will like to be answering the questions posed in this contest by marshalling out my points one after the other according to each question:

Should Mothers Be the Ones with the sole responsibility to take care of the children?

The answer is a capital, unequivocal NO. Because no law in the world enshrines such or prohibits fathers from taking care of their children too. Child care is a very cumbersome and Herculean task that should not be left in the hands of the mother alone. It should involve a collective effort of both parents. For the fact that the children are carrying in them the genetic traits of both the Father and the mother that makes it more reasonable and irrefutable that both hands should be on deck to ensure and enhance a wholesome upbringing.
Women naturally possess a very soft voice that may not be strong enough to repel an erring and rebelling child but the fathers possess both the lion-like voice tone and a dove-like voice tone that can rebuke, scold and of course advice and instruct the child.

Should the practice still continue?

What practice is being referred to here is the practice and tradition that women alone should be left to take care of the children. I will posit here that this is a mere superstition and myth that is baseless. The first family to ever exist on earth was instituted and inaugurated by God the Creator Himself. And after the Fall of Man, God specifically stipulated their respective Share of the punishment consequent upon their Rebellion.

For the woman He said:

I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: IN SORROW THOU SHALT BRING FORTH CHILDREN ; and thy desire shall be to thy husband he shall rule over there.(Genesis 3:16)

For the man he said:

Because thou hast hearken unto the voice of the wife and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt vnot eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the day of the life. Thorns and thistle shall it bring forth to thee........
IN THE SWEAT OF THY FACE SHALT THOU EAT BREAD : till thou shall return to the ground.(Genesis 3:17-19)

It has come to my notice that the fathers often capitalize on the idea of BREADWINNING for the family to evade the responsibility of caring for their children. But considering the above Holy Scripture text, CHILDBEARING and BREADWINNING are juxtaposed.
Therefore the pain a woman undergoes during childbirth is equivalent to the stress and pain a man undergoes during BREADWINNNG. No wonder God blessed the men with very prominent and strong muscles to till the ground and engage in strenuous labour and gave women the soft, tender and fragile ones. But it's quite unfortunate today that mothers after undergoing the travail of childbearing without the father partaking therein will still come to join in the acts of breadwinning.
Permit me to say this as a matter of debate that, if the mothers must win bread for the family then the fathers must also bear children for the family. But in a situation where this is not obtainable, which I know of course is not and can never be , then everyone of them should humbly and wholeheartedly accept his and her God apportioned role after the Fall.
All things being equal ,when the mother has bore the children whereas the father has won the bread for the family then they both must come together to care and carter for them for a well balance upbringing.
It is a common phenomenon that when a child is of good behavior band decent character the kudos and credit is ascribed to the father. You will hear sayings as "you look like your father and the father will beat his chest in pride and take the glory. But the moment the child is of naughty and notorious behavior, they blame is apportioned to the mother and they will say "he /she took after the mother"
My Clarion call therefore is that both hands should hands should be on deck in caring for the children. As a father some of the ways I take care of my children apart from providing their financial and material needs includes
•
Going to the kitchen myself to prepare dishes for them not waiting for my wife.
•Feeeding them when hungry.
•Bathing them.
•Dressing them for school.
•Washing their clothes.
•Spending quality time with them.
• Cuddling and lulling them to sleep.
•Protecting them when the need arises.
•Ensuring they are healthy by observing and taking cognizance of any possible signs and symptoms they manifest. And this can only be achieved by a caring father who is always close to his children.
Feeding my son as he is ready for school

Is a there any advantage when the male gender takes care of the children?

The answer is YEs. Advantages that comes with fathers partaking in caring for their children are numerous and enormous.
• Children that are cared by both parents perform better academically, morally , spiritually and mentally. Studies have shown that the children fear their fathers more than they do their mother. And this fear or respect makes them to be soft headed and morally behaved.
• When the father takes care of the children, it allows the mother to have some respite and that will allow her to do other chores, pray and study God's word.
• The mother and the father will live healthier and longer to care for the children and watch the grow into adulthood thereby reaping and enjoying the fruit of their labour
• As it is said that Two good heads are better than one in the same vein two good and capable hands in caring for the children are better than one.
• It brings the father closer to his children and consolidates the father-child relationship with them. The father needs to go extra miles to win the love and confidence of the children whereas the mother already has it in her palm because of the nine months ties they enjoyed from the womb. As a result, the are naturally glued to their mothers.
• Fathers not caring for the children are inadvertently widening the gap and creating a vacuum in their relationship with their children and doing the otherwise close the gap.

My Take on the contest topic

Both the father and the mother should collectively care for their children so that their upbringing will not be lopsided.

One can chase a thousand, but two can chase hundreds of thousands,

so when both parent put hands together in training and caring for their children the result will be greater and unequalled .

Conclusion

Fatherhood is an ordained responsbility. Motherhood is also an ordained responsibility. And it takes the two to tangle.

I hereby invite @dearon, @petersdebby and @terdoo to participate in this contest.

My Esteemed Regards
@pato84