Bedtime is a common challenge for dads. How can we keep it peaceful and positive, and avoid making it crazy and confrontational?
3 Reasons to Honor Moms
Mother’s Day is something we should all throw ourselves into, because moms deserve it—and it’s good for us and for our kids.
Ways to Fight Fathering Commitment Erosion
You’re a devoted dad, but there’s a problem: your commitment level erodes over time. Here are three suggestions to help you fight it.
What Makes Your Child Laugh?
Many dads just naturally bring out the funny, playful side in their kids. Keep celebrating those relationships with lots of laughter.
Dad: Your Faith Matters to Your Kids
Dads, we might feel inadequate, but our kids are listening to what we say about faith issues and watching how we live it out.
A (Re)Vision for Fathers & Society
Dr. Ken Canfield revisits some dreams and visions about the state of fatherhood, and challenges each dad to make a difference where he can.
Dad: Harness the Power of Sibling Competition
Jay Payleitner: Dad, you can use competition between your kids to help shape and motivate them. (And to get things done.)
Fathering Is Worth Doing Badly
Fatherhood is hard for many of us, but it’s very much worth the struggle. Growing as a dad is a lifelong process.
Questions to Help Dads Connect Heritage & Legacy
As dads, our present and future are critically linked to our past. Use these questions to gain perspective on your fathering.
Tension with Our Kids’ Mom Deeply Affects Our Fathering
We aren’t alone in this fathering task. Disagreements with our children’s mother can’t help but spill over into how we relate to our kids.
A Dozen Activities to Help You Win Your Daughter’s Heart
Dr. Michelle Watson Canfield: Dad: give your time, energy, and creativity to communicate to your daughter that she’s worth celebrating.
One Way to Restore Hope to Your Fathering
All dads feel hopeless sometimes, and a great way to become a positive, confident father might seem simple, but it definitely isn’t easy.
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.
The Myth of Quality Time
Dad: how are you doing creating quality time with your kids? For many years parents have used that phrase when referring to their best intentions with their children: spending quality time with them. Through the years there have also been pro-fatherhood campaigns that...
Connecting Through Fashion: Understanding Your Daughter’s Unique Style
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC Dad, you’ve surely noticed some things about your daughter that you may never fully understand, often due to the built-in differences between male and female. And as a committed and dialed-in GirlDad, part of connecting with your...
Walking with Your Kids Through Tragedies
Our world—and here in the U.S., our nation—has endured another tragedy in last weekend’s assassination attempt and the death or injury of bystanders. You’ve probably heard and seen a lot about it, and details will continue to emerge. Sadly, this is one more incident...
4 Habits of Dads Who GET IT
Do you get it dad? Are you actively doing the habits associated with great fathering? Here at fathers.com, we put a lot of stock in empirical research about fathering. Much of our research is quantitative: social science data that can be measured, categorized and...
A Summer Fun Checklist for Dads
by Dr. Ken Canfield Happy 4th, dads! I hope you’re able to enjoy a long weekend celebrating our nation’s freedom (if you’re in the U.S.). There are many good reasons to look forward to Independence Day, and I hope you go all out with celebrating and enjoying time with...
A New Life and a Vote for the Future
by Dr. Ken Canfield My family is celebrating a new life with the birth of another grandchild. That makes sixteen grandkids total, although it’s the first child for one of my adult children—the last of the five to become a parent. It’s an incredible and joyful time,...
Father’s Day: Your Kids Are Worth Your Very Best
by Dr. Ken Canfield Dad: It’s Father's Day! How will you celebrate? There are probably as many options as there are unique dads. But we all share a few things in common, and there are positive things for all of us to keep in mind. This Father’s Day, I hope you feel...
Honoring Your Dad is a Privilege
The U.S. Census Bureau regularly releases interesting statistics related to various holidays. For Father's Day, many of them focus on gifts to get for a dad: As of 2021, there were 6,000 men's clothing stores in the United States, 15,000 hardware stores, and 20,000...
Creating Summer Memories: Intentional Fatherhood
Officially, summer is still almost a month away, but for many families the end of the school year is the start of summer vacation and a time of definite change in the routine. Maybe this summer your kids have a busy schedule of sports, camps and sports camps, music or...
Staying Calm at Bedtime: A Dad Needs Tips
This week we’re addressing a question we received from a dad. He wrote: Looking for some tips on staying calm at kids' bedtime. Having to ask them to do their teeth and put their PJs on 50 &#%?@! times kills me, and then they get upset, then I get upset. Happens a...
3 Reasons to Honor Moms
by Dr. Ken Canfield Dads, you’re ready to honor your mother and your children’s mother this Sunday ... aren’t you? I hope Mother’s Day is something you throw yourself into, because moms deserve it—and it’s good for us and for our kids. By now you have probably made...
Ways to Fight Fathering Commitment Erosion
How do you maintain your motivation and commitment as a dad? According to our own research on fatherhood, high commitment is the number-one sign or predictor of an effective father. And if you’re reading this, then there’s a good chance that describes you—you’re a...