Here are ten landmines to avoid if you want to raise a healthy, vibrant, loving, and spirited daughter. Think of these as a field training manual to support your deep desire to truly dial in to your daughter’s heart.
First Hero, First Love: A Dad’s Role for Sons and Daughters
“To a girl, a father is her first love. To a boy, a father is his first hero.” How can you do your best in each role?
How to Bond with Your Daughter
The best bonding times for dads and daughters—and what often become positive turning points in those relationships—are shared activities.
Family Challenges and Issues – Father of the Bride
Fatherhood has plenty of rewards and great times that come with it ... and it throws you a fair share of curve balls.
Daddy-Daughter Date Ideas for Committed Dads
Jay Payleitner: You can’t force deep, meaningful, life-changing conversations. But if you keep showing up … they’ll happen. And you’ll be glad you were there.
Meeting Your Daughter’s Date (see Video)
We’re excited to have exclusive access to a clip from the movie Courageous. In this scene, a dad meets a young man who has come by to take his daughter out for a ride.
Dating Dangers for Teens
A report by the US Department of Justice states that one in every three teen girls is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse — not by a stranger but by a dating partner. That figure far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.
Date Your Daughter (and Other Ways to Connect)
As daughters grow, it's common for the distance between fathers and daughters also to grow.
Jerry’s Wake-Up Call (and Maybe Yours)
His daughter shared that she felt like he usually wasn’t really listening when she talked to him. That revelation really shook him at first.
Video: “It means everything to have integrity”
A dad in Houston got together with his two adult daughters and made a video to help promote one of our events.
Ten Tips for Dads to Promote Daughters’ Sports
Why should your daughter or stepdaughter participate in sports and physical activity? To be more healthy (in mind & body), feel better about herself, learn new skills, stay off alcohol & drugs, defer sexual activity, and … TO HAVE FUN!
The BEST Thing for Your Kids
Building strong relationships with our children starts with spending time with them. The more difficult part is the follow through.
Categories
Welcome to the fathers.com fathering library.
9 Ways to Leap Beyond Father’s Day to Dad Awesome Day
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...
What to Do When You Dread Father’s Day
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...
A Script for Your Call with Dad on Father’s Day (Or Any Day)
by Jay Payleitner Traditionally, Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year for phone calls. So where does that leave dads on Father’s Day? Well, maybe fewer calls are made because talking with the old man is more frustrating than talking with mom. Too often...
Each Child Is Different! 3 Important Truths for Dads
Each of your children is unique and special. You had your first baby and had the incredible privilege of relating to and learning about that one for a few years. Then a second one came along, and that child was totally different in hundreds of ways. Maybe you had some...
Important Father-Child Interviews
Dad: are you ever confused or frustrated as you try to figure out what makes your kids tick? One of the key fundamentals of fathering is Awareness of our children—simply getting to know them better. As dads, we should make it our mission to gain insight into who they...
Mother’s Day: Tips for Dads to Honor Moms
Dad: you have some remarkable women in your life—your mother and your kids’ mom. And you can play a big role in making Mother's Day truly memorable for them. Ideally, you would already have some plans in place by now. Maybe you have thought through what she...
What Dads of Daughters Need to Know in 3 Words
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC Dads: In the past few weeks I’ve had a 47-second video go viral, with nearly 2.6 million views and counting on Instagram! (And honestly, I suspect a good number of the views, likes and shares are coming from daughters and wives...
Young Kids & Behavior Issues: Mean What You Say
Darren is a frustrated father of a two-year-old. You might be thinking, Yeah, so? That’s normal. In many ways, it is normal, and it’s easy to understand why parents came up with the phrase, “terrible twos.” Many young children go through that phase where they need to...
Dad: Look Below the Surface
When was the last time you were surprised by your own impatience or insensitivity? Maybe you were in a store or a restaurant and the people on duty were not very attentive to your needs. The situation dragged on long enough to make you pretty frustrated—you deserved...
Your Fathering Journey in 6 Stages
by Ken Canfield, Ph.D. Once a father, always a father. That simple truth reveals that fathering is a process that lasts from the birth or adoption of your first child until the day you die. And really, we could say it begins when you start preparing for fatherhood....
A Gift for Your Ten-Year-Old
by Jay Payleitner There are a ton of things you take for granted that would be empowering to a ten-year-old son or daughter. That includes stuff you learned so long ago that you don’t even know you know. Examples? How to reset the circuit breakers. How to shut...
Don’t Miss the Good Stuff
Has springtime arrived for you yet, dad? During the past few weeks, we turned our clocks back for Daylight Savings (at least most of us did), we’re enjoying tournament basketball and all its madness, and this week came the first day of spring. Maybe that isn’t a big...