I never said father issues. If you want to frame it like that, mother issues would be more accurate.
The story is that Skynet is trying to defend its existence by killing John Connor. In order for John and crew to defend themselves against Skynet in the past, they prevent Skynet from ever existing. Skynet's folly was thinking that it could change the course of history to its benefit.
But this is also John and Sarah's folly. When we get to T3: Judgment Day is delayed, but it _does_ happen. They merely postponed the inevitable.