"Welding with Children" by Tim Grauteaux is an easy read and has a humorous feel throughout, but also brings light to social issues, such as children being raised without fathers. Burton is father to four unwed daughters which have one child each. While babysitting his grandchildren one Tuesday afternoon, Burton notices the impact that not having both parents has on the children 's lives. Throughout his story, Gautreaux ties in the acting out of the children with being raised without their fathers, showing his readers what this could look like and how even grandfathers can step up and help raise their grandchildren. Just as most children from single parent homes, these children displayed acts such as disrespecting authority figures, lack of
…show more content…
Children without father figures tend to "act out" quite frequently, but a lot of it stems from the father 's absence in their lives. As I read the story of "Welding with Children" I began thinking about Burton 's relationship with his daughters, and it becomes obvious that he was not much of a father figure in his own girls ' lives. He comes to this realization while sitting on a bench talking with Mr. Fordlyson about what to do about the children. In the conversation Mr. Forldlyson told Burton to take the children to church and keep them as much as he could, "I shook my head. "I already raised my kids." Fordlyson looked at me hard and didn 't have to say what he was thinking."(Grautreaux 209) According to the Father Involvement Research Alliance, "girls with involved fathers have higher self-esteem, and teenage girls who are close to their dads are less likely to become pregnant." This could shine the light on not only his grandchildren misbehaving, but also on the reason his daughters got pregnant in the first place. Raising children can certainly be difficult, but Mr. Fordlyson gave Burton some good advice on the matter, he said, "Burton, everything worth doing hurts like hell." (Grautreaux 209) After his conversation with Mr. Fordlyson and going to church that Sunday, Burton made a choice between his grandchildren and his belongings. "The next morning, a …show more content…
I believe the story "welding with children" proves this while still being a heart warming story. Though Burton and his grandchildren struggled to get along at first, once he realized how the children 's life situations have affected them, he learned how to be the grandfather they
Children without father figures tend to "act out" quite frequently, but a lot of it stems from the father 's absence in their lives. As I read the story of "Welding with Children" I began thinking about Burton 's relationship with his daughters, and it becomes obvious that he was not much of a father figure in his own girls ' lives. He comes to this realization while sitting on a bench talking with Mr. Fordlyson about what to do about the children. In the conversation Mr. Forldlyson told Burton to take the children to church and keep them as much as he could, "I shook my head. "I already raised my kids." Fordlyson looked at me hard and didn 't have to say what he was thinking."(Grautreaux 209) According to the Father Involvement Research Alliance, "girls with involved fathers have higher self-esteem, and teenage girls who are close to their dads are less likely to become pregnant." This could shine the light on not only his grandchildren misbehaving, but also on the reason his daughters got pregnant in the first place. Raising children can certainly be difficult, but Mr. Fordlyson gave Burton some good advice on the matter, he said, "Burton, everything worth doing hurts like hell." (Grautreaux 209) After his conversation with Mr. Fordlyson and going to church that Sunday, Burton made a choice between his grandchildren and his belongings. "The next morning, a …show more content…
I believe the story "welding with children" proves this while still being a heart warming story. Though Burton and his grandchildren struggled to get along at first, once he realized how the children 's life situations have affected them, he learned how to be the grandfather they