by Jay Payleitner As my beloved Cubs surprisingly chase a playoff spot, my mind drifts back to a summer day at Wrigley, circa 1967. I was nine years old. It was the annual Payleitner pilgrimage to the shrine at Clark and Addison. When I was growing up, my dad made...
Dads are so important to each and every child. But there are many children out there without a father in their life, and countless more with a father who is physically present but not engaged at all. To change this culture, it is going to take teamwork from a team of...
Dad, you're an influential person in your daughter's life. Make sure you teach her the most important things that she needs to know before she grows up. Teach your daughter to love herself. Teach your daughter to change her oil. Teach your daughter respect. See what...
“Fine.” That’s probably the answer you’re used to getting after school or at the dinner table when you ask “How was your day?” or “How was school today?”
This is the year, the year your kid goes off to college. How is it already time? It feels like they were just an infant yesterday! Dropping your kid off at college is an exciting, but hard time. So here are our tips to help you get through the day dad. Check out NCF's...
by David Serwitz All dads should be very involved in their kids' education. However, each family is different, and a growing number of families are taking full control of their kids' education by teaching them at home. The home-schooling movement has gained traction...
Straight from our new, FREE downloadable Back to School Kit! Here are 17 of the 35 Ways to be Engaged in Your Child's Education! Don't sit back and watch this school year, be involved in your child's education! Children thrive at school when dads step up to the plate....
Back to school dad! Don't leave your child's education solely to the teachers dad! You should be supporting from home (and in school through WATCH D.O.G.S.) Use NCF's 10 Tips for Creating a Study Friendly Home and help your child be at the top of their class! Be on...
While you're planning that last trip of the summer before the kids head back to school, keep these tips in mind! Traveling can get stressful, but you set the pace and attitude for your family dad. Make sure you're setting a positive one that is open for new ideas and...
Many times, the message we’re trying to get across to a child isn’t bad; the harmful part is more about the words we choose and our tone of voice
This short but powerful video "Dad & Me" was contributed to us by Vincenzo Giovannini, who wrote the screenplay. He wrote about this project: We wanted to bring awareness to the importance of being part of your child's life. As technology has progressed and has...
You remember being at that age dad, when girls are definitely the hot topic. Make sure you’re the one having the important discussions on girls with your son.
by Matt Haviland Is it possible to be a great father as a single dad? The short answer is, “Absolutely!” However, since being a single parent brings a variety of outside factors and dynamics, we may have to take a slightly different approach. It will surely look...
All fathers start out as sons. Many of us probably didn’t even think about becoming fathers until it was just a few years or months away. But once we did start imagining ourselves as fathers, the obvious and natural role models we thought of were our dads. By that...
When dads and daughters get together and focus on each other, good things happen. We saw it over and over years ago when we hosted father-daughter events all over the country, and it’s a big reason why we’re starting them up again. We heard incredible stories of...
by Ken Canfield, Ph.D. If you’re a dad, you know that waiting is part of the gig. {And please note: this is a somewhat lighthearted look at fatherhood, but I don't want to minimize the very real and difficult waiting that many couples do when they're trying to...
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase before. Maybe you’ve even read the book by John Gray, though it first came out more than thirty years ago. I find his book title to be fitting in...
How well do you know your child's developmental milestones and progress? A study at the University of Rochester discovered that about one-third (31.2%) of parents of 9-month-olds are "clueless" about child development milestones, such as when babies talk, learn right...
Rick and his family were out at the lake, staying in a cabin for a week, getting some well-deserved vacation time. One morning they were getting ready to go fishing, and Rick was walking along the dock toward the boat with his arms full of gear. He stumbled on a loose...
by Ken Canfield, Ph.D. Some years back, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal set out to write a story that she believed would really impact her readers. She wanted to interview a CEO of a publicly traded company who was committed to his family and actively involved...
Ahh, the sounds of summer. No, this isn't about the crack of the bat, or fireworks, or even the sizzle of the barbecue. This is about the droning whines of your offspring. Maybe this summer you've heard statements like: “Dad, There’s nothing to do around...
A few years ago, one of our staff had the chance to talk to an active military dad during an airport layover. Jim, an officer in the Air Force, had been away from his wife and kids for four months, and he had missed Christmas with them for the second time. It was...
by Matt Haviland I was a single father for almost a decade. They were challenging years, but looking back I realize that some of my hardest moments taught me the greatest lessons. That doesn’t mean everything got easier as time went on, or that I achieved some level...
by Jeff Zaugg I’ll never forget the joy that swelled up inside my 9-year-old heart as I watched my dad leap into a swimming pool from a raised perch in front of hundreds of cheering cruise ship passengers. It was the biggest event of the four-day cruise: the Belly...