Angela's Ashes: Father's affect of maturity on Frankie?

I have to write a paper on Angela's Ashes, and I sort of want to talk about how the father of the story really sort of made Frankie grow faster than he should have as a child. There was a lot of worry in is life, and he felt like he had to take responsibility and then when his father left he sort of had to step up. I need a few examples from the book though. Just a few good examples of his increased maturity due to his father. Any ideas?