Time is perhaps your most valuable fathering resource and your most precious gift to your children. We have to make sure today counts.
Video: 3 Challenges for Dads for 2020
Did you make fathering resolutions earlier this month? Consider these three suggestions from our long-time friend, Rick Wertz:
Smile, Dad!
As dads, our smiles can bestow confidence and approval upon our children. If a child knows that his dad delights in him, then already the world is a better place.
Are You Coasting, Dad?
Renew your commitment to your kids every morning. There’s so much at stake, especially when it comes to your children’s future.
4 Ways to Ring in Your New Year of Fathering
Think of Father’s Day as a milestone, the start of a new year in your fathering, when you end one season and begin another.
A Heroic New Title for Dads
Children bring out something unique in a dad, and dads bring out something unique in their children.
Are You a Multi-tasking Dad?
Since multi-tasking can be a valuable skill in some areas of life, that can easily bleed over into areas where it isn’t always positive, like with our kids.
5 “Main Things” for Busy Dads
It’s so easy to get distracted and off track from our families. Here are 5 tips to help you stay focused on the family while living in a busy world.
Make Every Day Like Father’s Day
We’re about inspiring and equipping men to be the best dads they can be. So just about every day should feel a little like Father’s Day.
Home from Work: 15 Seconds
“The most important fifteen seconds of a man’s day is when he walks in the door after work.” A dad recently made that comment to one of our staff members, crediting one of the pioneers of the fathering movement, the late Dave Simmons, for making the point. What’s the...
Use Your Words Wisely: How to Use Your Speech to Build Up Your Children
Dads, our words have so much power to heal or to hurt. But too often we forget how powerful they are.
Stay Plugged In When it Comes to Media Choices
Have your kids seen the latest must-see movie yet? If your children are 10 or older, they're probably aware of the "cool" movies that are coming out. It was like that a few year back when The Hunger Games came out. The film raised some important concerns for fathers...
Categories
Welcome to the fathers.com fathering library.
On the left you will see how our blogs and articles are categorized. Choose your stage in the fathering journey under Your Kids, click on a specific situation that applies to you, or browse through the items in our hot topics and fathering fundamentals. Also, check out Tools for the Journey – short downloadable pieces with tips for specific challenges.
Divorced Dads: Two Thoughts to Keep in Mind
“When people ask me about my father, I tell them I don’t have one.” That’s what one boy said after his parents divorced. Mike is that dad, and he told us those words cut him to the heart. A few years back, he moved to another state to pursue better work opportunities,...
Fathering and Our Kids’ “Unalienable Rights”
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As those of us in the U.S. celebrate another year in our...
4 Ways to Be a More Committed Dad
by Ken Canfield, Ph.D. We all celebrated fathers and fatherhood last week, and I hope you were able to enjoy some time with your family. I hope they honored you in a meaningful way. Did you spend any time reflecting on your fathering role? It seems like a natural...
Father’s Day: Redefining Your Role
Who defines your role as a father? Around Father’s Day, we see all kinds of stereotypes about dads. Maybe you’ll receive a card with a joke about neckties, grilling, tools or golf. Maybe one or more of those apply to you, and maybe the joke will even be clever. It’s...
Honor Your Dad Like a 5th Grader
For many years at NCF, spring gave us opportunities to recognize deserving kids and dads as part of our Father of the Year Essay Contests. We selected winning essays written by kids in markets around the country, and then chose dads to be honored as finalists and...
On Father’s Day: Promote Responsible Fatherhood
We’re right in the middle of what we call “Father’s Day Season,” which really kicks into high gear in early June. Maybe you barely even think about Father’s Day until that weekend, but this week the challenge is this: Start anticipating and planning for it now. And...
Teaching Your Kids to Drive – and Other Skills
Got a student driver in the house? Or one that’s a few years away? For kids, that first driving lesson with Dad is like a rite of passage. For dads, it’s like a trip to the dentist, only the dental chair is on a roller-coaster. Okay, it’s not that bad, but sometimes...
Hold Your Daughter Safe Through the Downpours of Life
by Dr. Michelle Watson Canfield If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I’d say this one is valued at a million. When I first saw this photo posted on Facebook, it immediately melted my heart. There’s just something about seeing a daddy protecting his little girl...
Giving Our Kids Focused Attention
We try to encourage dads to “seize the day” with their kids—to recognize that life is short and we don’t want to miss out on the most important things. That means living with purpose and intentionality every day. It isn’t easy in today’s world, but it’s vitally...
Mother’s Day: Could This Be the Best One Ever?
We didn’t talk to your mom or your kids’ mom, but here's some wisdom from a group of ladies who are probably a lot like the moms in your life. We asked these moms, “What happened on your best Mother’s Day ever?” Here’s what we learned: Gifts are fine,...
This Mother’s Day, Swing for the Fences
Don't look now, but Mother’s Day is only about ten days away. And we all know how moms are, God bless ‘em: they'll smile and be genuinely happy with nearly any gesture of appreciation. But as a son and a husband or co-parent, don't settle for a “bloop single” when...
Boys Need Men to Teach Them About Life
by Rick Johnson Early in the movie GoodFellas, Ray Liotta’s character is a teenage boy working for the neighborhood “wiseguys” or members of the Mafia. When he is arrested for the first time, he is greeted as a conquering hero by all the older “made” wiseguys after he...