Many are saying that today’s boys are “fragile.” Here are some suggestions to help you invest strategically in your son.
Boys Need Men to Teach Them About Life
by Rick Johnson: When boys are brought up to feel competent and capable, they have a much better chance of succeeding at life.
Crush Your Son in Driveway Basketball
by Jay Payleitner – In just a few years, he will beat you. And that victory will be ever-so-sweet because it was earned.
Goodnight Upside Down
A man gets a birthday call from his father, and the two of them are transported back in time. A story by Peter Lewis.
Valentine’s Day Tips for Dads of Daughters – and Sons
Your Valentine’s Day shopping and planning for your wife might be well under way—and that’s good! Some may view this as just another excuse for greeting card and flower companies to make money—as well as jewelry, candy and clothing companies, etc.—but it’s also true...
3 Tips for Becoming a Good Listener to Your Son
We all want to be listened to. But truly listening isn’t always easy. Here are a few tips to help you become a good listener to your son. For more resources on understanding your son, read: Just understand your son. Just be DAD - 5 Things Your Son Wants to Tell You
Learn (and Pass On) Authentic Manhood
A Dad’s Stupid Quest for Masculinity by Mike McCormick Recently, my 14-year-old son and I were riding ATVs in the Rocky Mountains on a father-son bonding weekend. At one point, we encountered a particularly treacherous incline. It had snowed that morning, and the...
How to Give Your Son a Positive Identity
by Tim Brown: Boys today need to be taught by their dads the true value of who they are—and affirmed for who they are.
5 Things Your Son Wants to Tell You
by Steven Cessario What did you want to tell your father when you were a teenager? Maybe you had feelings for a girl and you wanted some advice, or maybe you were frustrated with school, a friendship, or even life at home. Did you want your dad to hang with you, to...
How to “Build” a Better Dad: Invest in Your Sons
by Tim Wright These are interesting days to be a dad. On the one hand, research overwhelmingly tells us that dads play an essential role in the lives of their sons and daughters. On the other hand, certain voices in culture not only question the necessity of dad, but...
Believe in Miracles: 5 Lessons from Raising a Cancer Survivor
I would never say that I have handled the various challenges perfectly, but there are some important things I have learned along the way
Conversations to Have With Your Teen Son
Your conversations are important to your son, whether he expresses that or not. Make sure you are having these conversations with your teen son before he leaves home. Check out Tools for the Journey: Conversations You Need to Have With Your Teen Son. Here are 5 tips...
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.
Is Your Father an Example or a Lesson?
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...
Daughters and the Power of Listening
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...
Fatherhood and the Waiting Game
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...
Mars, Venus, and the ABCs of Fathering Daughters
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...
The Power of Knowing Your Child’s Needs
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...
Dad: Communicate High Value to Your Kids
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...
Dad, Help Prepare Your Kids for the School Year—Here’s How
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...
A Public Commitment to Fatherhood
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...
Summer and Free Time
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...
Military Dads & the Price of Freedom
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...
4 Things I Learned as a Single Father
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...
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...