These years don’t have to be terrible. You can help minimize difficulties with a commitment to consistency in what you say and what you do.

These years don’t have to be terrible. You can help minimize difficulties with a commitment to consistency in what you say and what you do.
As dads, sometimes we get upset and blow things out of proportion when there’s really so much to the picture that we don’t see.
When kids misbehave, why do some dads leave it for Mom to handle? As dads, we need to sign up for the entire role of being a father.
By controlling ourselves, we can foster a closer relationship when it seems like our teens want to pull away.
Kids say and do some pretty crazy things, and it’s good for dads to respond to teach and correct them. But there also needs to be balance.
How to Be a Better Dad by Brian Phipps – Paint a picture of a preferred future for your kids, and leverage every life moment to help them accomplish it.
Disciplining kids when they already feel bad for their actions is tricky. Here are two tips for teaching kids to be responsible when they’ve messed up.
As fathers, we want our kids to learn to get along. But often our goal becomes ending the ruckus as soon as possible rather than helping them learn.
A calm father makes his children feel comfortable and secure, and increases the opportunities to experience the real joys and rewards of fatherhood.
Sometimes you’ll get lucky and have great success by going with your gut. But since you want to give your kids the very best, it makes a lot of sense to look outside for help.
Have you ever said one of these to your kids? Dads, our words have power to tear down or build up. We can learn better ways to get the message across.
It isn’t that teens have lost their minds, or gone berserk. They’re really just figuring out what life is all about, testing what they’ve learned from Dad and Mom.
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...
Getting ready to go back to school impacts the entire family... For kids, a new school year means new teachers, new classrooms, and possibly new responsibilities. Sometimes it means new friends. The first days at a new school—or first days in middle school or high...
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...
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC Father’s Day is an occasion to celebrate, no doubt about it. It might even be a day for dads to recommit themselves to loving and investing in their children in meaningful ways. That’s what all of us are about at fathers.com. But...