It's clear that Atticus sometimes struggles being a single parent. In one scene, he is at wit's end and tells his critical sister he's doing the best he can with the kids. .
Under the surface, however, we get a very different picture of Atticus. There's a kind and fair side to him underneath all the strictness. Even though he threatens to tan the kids regularly, Jem says, "Atticus ain't ever whipped me since I can remember"" (75). He is gentle with Scout, calling her "baby"" and "hon"" during scary fire, and even though he is near 50, he's "never too tired" to play keepaway "with Jem. Perhaps one of the best things about Atticus is that he lets tomboy Scout be herself, even though she isn't very ladylike. He's amused by her cursing and tells Uncle Jack, "she's been cussing fluently for a week, now"" (104). He treats the kids intelligence with respect and is willing to discuss law with them - Scout recalls, "never, never, never, on cross-examination ask a witness a question you don't already know the answer to, was a tenet I absorbed with my baby-food" (237). He believes in being honest with children and answering their questions - "When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness' sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults"" (116). Atticus also has a good sense of humor. When the kids make a snowman that looks comically like a neighbor, Atticus "grinned, then laughed. He tells them, "You've perpetrated a near libel here in the front yard"" (90). .
A large part of Atticus's personality is how much he values education and loves to read. Even though he was homeschooled, it is very important to him that his kids go to school and work hard there. He feels like the Ewells live like animals because they are uneducated. Atticus loves to read and can get "so deep in a book he wouldn't hear the Kingdom coming "(69). Often he would wake up during the night, check on the kids and "read himself back to sleep" (76).