"Normalizing" Partner's Behavior: Good or Not Good?

As I see my children deal with certain struggles as young adults, I question whether it was a good idea for me and my husband to attempt to minimize the effects of (and thus "normalize") things such as his extended unemployment.  I didn't think arguing was a good idea, but maybe that would have been better than allowing the issues to be buried (for the most part) but not resolved.  My daughters have issues with insecurity, perfectionism, and trusting men, and it seems to me that some of their issues might derive from, for lack of a better term, lack of a strong father figure.  Your thoughts?( I made mistakes, too, as do we all, but I generally made strong attempts to right my wrongs, so please spare me the "we always hear about your husband's faults but not yours, Rosered" comments.)