Sfathering

We all know what smothering looks like with too much attention and too much worry. I'm somewhat bothered that a word like smothering exists without its counterpart - sfathering. If a child can be smothered, couldn't a child also be sfathered?

Dads often are the ones who goad their children to climb higher in the tree, to ride faster on the bike, or to attend a college that's just east of East Jesus; sfathering can be just as annoying as smothering. Luckily, somehow our children find that safe and happy middle ground between our desires to smother them in protective bubble wrap and to sfather them to the roof of the car.