Isn’t that real life for dads? Accepting your role, whether you’re in the middle of a challenge or just doing what needs to be done?
4 Ways Dads Can Help Hurting Kids
Sometimes life leaves emotional scars on children. How can we dads help them most effectively? A stepdad named Eric wrote to us about this. He said that the greatest difficulty he has faced with his children has been dealing with the hurt they brought with them from...
Don’t Be a Disney Dad
by Scott Moore What is a Disney Dad? A "Disney Parent" actually has a legal definition: "a noncustodial parent who indulges his or her child with gifts and good times during visitation and leaves most or all disciplinary responsibilities to the other parent." It's...
Daily Tips and Reminders Can Help You Be a Better Dad
Dads benefit from tips and insights about what our children need from us and how to make the most of our efforts.
Your Relationship to Your Child – Father of the Bride
Take advantage of the good times that come along with your children, and share your heart with them. Open up about the deep feelings you’ve developed through the years; communicate your most earnest desires for them; praise them for the developing character...
Conflict Resolution – Fly Away Home
Resolving conflicts means telling the truth, admitting wrong, and seeking forgiveness as you try to move forward.
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.
Conflict Resolution – My Family
As a father, making up for past mistakes takes a lot of humility, never-give-up perseverance, and sometimes heroic patience.
A question you should ask your kids …
A lot of dads want to connect with their kids, they just aren't sure how. The truth is, dads and kids can connect at any time — while doing dishes together, driving to soccer practice, or while running errands.
Why Great Fathering Does NOT Involve Sacrifice
“Sacrifice” isn’t the best way of describing what a dedicated father does.
Are you connecting with your kids?
How engaged are today's fathers? Recent data analysis from the Pew Research Center is encouraging … and discouraging.
Are You a Rich Man? (See Video)
The movie doesn’t open in theaters until the end of September, but there’s a buzz about Courageous — and that’s appropriate as we approach Father’s Day. The movie, from the producers of Fireproof and Facing the Giants, follows the stories of five different dads and the challenges they face, and challenges all dads to raise their level of commitment and become the fathers their children need.
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Welcome to the fathers.com fathering library.
Single Dads & Consistent Words: 5 Things to Avoid
by Matt Haviland How often do you think about the words you use? Even more: Do you understand the long-term impact that your words are having on your children? I was a single father for more than nine years, sharing parenting time with my daughter’s mom. As my...
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...
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...