That's men for you Padraig O'Morain's guide to men's health: The other day I came across some American research which suggested that about 40 per cent of fathers curtail their working hours so that they can spend more time with their families.
More than one-fifth of fathers surveyed had passed up promotions rather than lose time with their children.
Time magazine reported that "74 per cent of men said they would rather have a 'daddy-track' job than a fast track job."
The research was done in the early 1990s. Would the figures be very different if similar research was carried out in Ireland today? I suspect not.
I do wonder though, whether 40 per cent of men in Ireland are in a position to reduce their work commitments to spend more time with their children?
Soaring mortgages may have put paid to that option for many.
On average, men spend about twice as much time working and commuting as women, according to an ESRI report which was published recently. Many of these men are fathers who endure hours in traffic to maintain the living standards of their families.
The fact that 81 per cent of men do no housework or cleaning was highlighted in the coverage of that ESRI report.
Far less attention was given to the finding mentioned above, namely that men spend twice as much time at work outside the home as women do, on average.
So perhaps this is the time of year to reflect on some of the good aspects of fathers. After all, it is Father Christmas and not Mother Christmas who has spent months on end making sure the elves get all the toys ready for delivery to the world's children.
And it is Father Christmas who will drive the reindeers around the world on Christmas Eve while Mother Christmas stays home having a Baileys and a slice of pudding.
It is, of course, the fathers of the world who will beam with pleasure when their children present them with pairs of socks on Christmas Day (unless, of course, the child is over 21).
In other words, most fathers do their best to support and care for their children.
They guide them as best they can - though they are well aware that they are not the founts of knowledge that children, up to a certain age, imagine them to be. And they hope their children will overlook their faults as these become apparent to them when they - the children - are growing up.
Clever children, of course, know that their father will sometimes let them get away with things that the mother would never allow. Sometimes it is the other way around.
In all this, children learn valuable lessons about getting around authority.
Absent fathers are of enormous importance in their children's lives, too, if they are interested, committed and supportive - and usually, they are.
Fathering does not always work out well: a survey in Britain in 1996 found that 10 per cent of adults never see their father. (Only one out of every 33 never see their mother.)
That aside, we tend to look on our fathers as having a certain wisdom even when we are old enough to know better.
Perhaps this is based on the understanding that in seeking advice from a father, you are seeking advice from a man who knows you better than any other and who cares about you more than any other.
Of course, we fathers know that we are not wise at all but we may as well benefit from the presumption of wisdom!
Talking of wisdom, and to finish, let me pass on the invaluable advice which Homer Simpson imparted to Bart in a 1991 episode of The Simpsons (yes, they've been around that long).
"Just three little sentences will get you through life," he tells Bart. They are:
1. Cover for me.
2. Oh, good idea boss!
3. It was like that when I got here.
That's Men for You is taking a break until Spring of next year. Many thanks for your e-mails, letters and phone calls.
• Padraig O'Morain is a journalist and counsellor accredited by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.