Sue Schellenbarger at the Wall Street Journal has put together a great article on the importance of dad-style parenting. 

As an estimated 70.1 million fathers prepare to celebrate Father's
Day in the U.S., recent research shows that their distinct style of
parenting is particularly worth recognition: The way dads tend to
interact has long-term benefits for kids, independent of those linked to
good mothering.

Beyond rough-and-tumble play, men tend to challenge crying or whining
children to use words to express themselves. Men are more likely to
startle their offspring, making faces or sneaking up on them to play.
Even the way parents hold babies tends to differ, with men cradling
infants under their arm in a "football hold" and moms using the "Madonna
position" seen in Renaissance artwork—tucked under their chins
face-to-face, says Kyle Pruett, co-author of "Partnership Parenting" and
a clinical professor of child psychiatry at the Yale School of
Medicine.

...

Because fathers have had to learn to manage their own impulses to strike
out or react physically to frustration, they may be better equipped
than mothers to help children manage their own urges to behave badly,
Dr. Pruett says.

Read more of this article at the Wall Street Journal. 

HT to Brad Wilcox. Picture: Dave Whamond / WSJ