One of the most important things a dad has to learn is balance- balancing work, friends and extracurricular activities with being a husband and father. Here are NCF's top 5 Tips to Balance Being Dad in our weekly Tools for the Journey!

One of the most important things a dad has to learn is balance- balancing work, friends and extracurricular activities with being a husband and father. Here are NCF's top 5 Tips to Balance Being Dad in our weekly Tools for the Journey!
Are you a dad who travels for work? Download our FREE Tools for the Journey: 5 Tips for Dads Who Travel! Five Tips for Dads Who Travel
The new song "Daddy Phone," by country artist Marty Raybon, portrays a divorced dad who only gets to see his son occasionally. To stay connected, the dad gives his son a cell phone and tells him, "When you're missing me, or feeling all alone, just push '1' on your daddy phone. I'll be on the line when I hear that ringtone. We'll talk anytime on your daddy phone."
Are you a busy dad? Like you, I often rush through each day trying to keep up with a slew of deadlines and responsibilities. Before I know it several days have passed and sometimes it seems I haven’t connected with each of my children.
With supper finished it was mom's time for a break from her children. It was our time to be with dad. Cindy, my eight-year old sister, got the book while Tom, my six-year old brother, and I (four-years old) climbed on our gray couch. Book in hand, Cindy joined us on the couch and we all waited for mom to start the old reel-to-reel tape player. Dad was piloting airplanes in Vietnam for the Air Force. His one-year isolated tour would be over soon and he would be coming home.
For many dads, the challenging task of fathering is made even more difficult because we spend so much time traveling. If you're like me, there are times when your job demands that you be in Chicago tomorrow, and out on the west coast by next Tuesday. There's no getting around it.
Recently, Sue Shellenbarger, the work and family columnist for the Wall Street Journal, wrote about “Undercover Moms”—women who find themselves changing outfits on the run several times a day as they juggle their various roles. In her article, Shellenbarger included this statement: “It’s been a long time (read it: never) since I’ve seen a dad changing from a suit to soccer shorts in a parked car.”
Every month or so, we hear about someone else “retiring” to spend more time with his children. We applaud him and perhaps even hold him up as an example for all fathers. But in reality, these people are usually politicians, professional athletes or business CEOs. Not all of us are in a position to choose outright between work and family, but must somehow reconcile these often-opposing forces.
Should your job ever take priority over your family? Ever?
Bill is a successful attorney, but he’d tell you it’s much more important to be a successful father. But he didn’t always think that.
Dad, are you really plugged into what’s going on in your children’s lives? Do you have a good handle on what happens in their typical day, who is influencing them, and how they are processing the things they see and hear? In today’s world these can be unsettling...
by Dr. Ken Canfield Dad, are you instilling in your children a strong “internal locus of control”? You’re probably thinking, What does that mean? And I get it. It’s a term that I’ve come across as a researcher from time to time through the years. Some years ago, one...
by Donald Calkins That’s right, dad. Your children believe the world revolves around you; they see you as holding the universe in your hands. While that may be exaggerated, the truth is that most dads have extraordinary influence over their children. I remember going...
Dad, what will it take to make this year the best ever for you and your kids? The media has a New Year tradition of remembering well-known people who died during the past year. A few years back, one of those people was a man who really seemed to “get it” as a father,...
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC One December back in the late 60s, a father-daughter tradition began. One afternoon, my father drove my younger sister and me—seven and five at the time—two hours away in our turquoise station wagon to cut down our family...
by Matt Haviland If the holiday season ushers in an assortment of emotions to most people, that’s even more true for single dads this time of year. Joy, laughter, and anticipation may be at the forefront. What about dread, anxiety, or doubt? “Yes” to all of the above,...
How do you decide what gifts to give your children this time of year? Maybe your family has settled into an annual routine that seems to work pretty well. Maybe the kids create lists to help you know what they want. Maybe most of the gifts have already been bought...
What’s the secret ingredient of good fathering? And maybe more importantly for many dads: What can you do if you never saw that kind of father as you grew up? Jeff is a committed dad who has a great perspective on fathering. He’s passionate about being the dad his two...
by Ron Nichols There’s a common expression that we use all the time. It’s pretty harmless in itself, but as fathers we need to think differently with it. It’s the simple concept of spending time. We always say, “I spent a lot of time on that project,” or, “I spent 20...
by Dr. Ken Canfield Don’t worry. This isn’t about politics. It’s about being a father. The election is over and we’re all left to deal with it, whether we’re happy, a little angry, or mostly indifferent about the results. Maybe our lives will be significantly...
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC Dad, how powerful are your words in your daughter’s life? As you might suspect, I believe they are extremely important. Like a plant needs water, your girl needs your encouragement and affirmation. Allow me to illustrate further...
by David Tucker - Founder, DigitalParenting.com We are bombarded with new studies almost daily illustrating how technology can have life-altering adverse effects on our children. From distraction and depression to predators and pornography, technology has evolved into...