There’s power in being a happy dad! Cultivating happiness in fatherhood in meaningful ways will help you be the best dad your kids could ask for.
Father, Forgive Them: An Easter Lesson for Every Dad
Can a Holy Week teaching help with real-life parenting? Forgiveness can foster more patience and stronger connections with your children.
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.
Dad Tucks In
by Jay Payleitner: The benefits are many. Mom gets a break. Dad gets a clear assignment and a daily chance to spend one-on-one time.
A Gift for Your Ten-Year-Old
by Jay Payleitner: When a child learns one of these household maneuvers, they feel like they’ve been invited into the inner circle.
Spiritual Equipping: Raising Kids to Be Discerning
Children need guidance about right and wrong and why it matters. As dads, it’s our job to equip our kids to prepare our kids for life.
Protecting Our Kids: Body, Mind and Heart
It’s a traditional fathering role that’s still very important. But how does protecting our children look in today’s world?
Effective Fathering for a New Generation
Dr. Ken looks at his research-based 7 Secrets of Effective Fathers and how they have changed through the years.
Do Your Teens Own Their Faith?
For spiritually minded fathers, this is one of the main goals we have as parents. Here are four relevant factors from a research study.
See the Glory
How to Be a Better Dad by Jay Payleitner – Be grateful for each season of fatherhood while you’re in the midst of it.
Leverage Life Moments for Your Kids’ Future
How to Be a Better Dad by Brian Phipps – Paint a picture of a preferred future for your kids, and leverage every life moment to help them accomplish it.
Storing Up Treasures
A father ponders his priorities during the Christmas season. A story by Peter Lewis
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.
Single Dads: Worth Honoring on Father’s Day
by Matt Haviland Did you know that the origins of Father's Day have a connection to single fathers? Sonora Smart Dodd is largely credited with creating Father’s Day. Her father, William Jackson Smart, raised Sonora and her siblings by himself after her mother died in...
The Power of Being a Happy Dad
by Douglas Peake Here’s an early Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there! Even more than celebrating what you do, I want to recognize you for who you are. And according to one researcher, one of the most important ways to be a better dad is to cultivate...
25 Ways to Speak Life to Your Daughter
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC Dads, if my previous blog a few weeks ago felt a bit brutal or negative, this one will be more uplifting ... if you will take it to heart and follow through. Using a similar approach as last time—getting straight to the point and...
Home & Away Dads: Work Travel and Staying Connected with Family
Traveling for work continues to be a challenge for many dads in today’s world, and it probably will be indefinitely. Many of our work routines changed drastically during the pandemic, and we learned that working remotely and meeting by video are actually viable...
10 Meaningful Ways to Honor Her This Mother’s Day
by Ryan Debok Quick Summary: Whatever your relationship status with your children’s mother, here are 10 intentional ways to express appreciation to her on or around Mother's Day: Write a Letter – Honest, personal words that name her value. Let Her Sleep In –...
It’s Not About You: Becoming a Dad Changes Everything
There’s a truth all fathers know. Maybe dads-to-be are getting a sense of it, but new dads are bumping up against it every day. Veteran dads definitely know it, but maybe it’s been so long for them that they’ve forgotten. What is it? Fatherhood changes everything....
Dad Words That Wound: What NOT to Say to Your Daughter
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC During the past 15-plus years of working with fathers and daughters, I’ve grown to understand and appreciate where you dads are coming from. What I continue to hear from men is one of two responses: Tell it to me straight with as...
Father, Forgive Them: An Easter Lesson for Every Dad
What do Holy Week and Easter mean to you? Of course, Christian dads will find many life-changing lessons and truths connected with the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Whether or not you go along with the religious significance of those events, all...
Winning Battles or Hearts? Influencing Your Children’s Character
Dad, do you find yourself “laying down the law” more than you’d like to? Maybe there’s a better approach. Jerry is a partial-custody father who’s going through some big challenges with his 12-year-old daughter, who stole some hair color from a relative and colored her...
Aware Fathering: A Challenge to Reflect and Start a New Habit
Dad, this is a somewhat random day of the year. It isn’t Father’s Day, New Year’s Day or the first day of school for your kids—times when we at fathers.com typically urge guys to recommit to their fathering role. Maybe we could say springtime is when the sun is out...
Chores to Careers: Cultivating a Strong Work Ethic in Your Kids
Dad, here’s one important thought that can help guide your fathering efforts: You’re raising a future adult. It might be difficult to imagine right now, but one day your child will be “adulting” in significant ways. Will she be responsible and kind? Will he follow...
“The Worst Dad Ever”: Patience & Poise for Fathers
Sometimes our children can bring real challenges to us as fathers. Sometimes they say crazy things, but with passion and conviction. Maybe they make decisions based purely on emotion, with no real thought about long-term consequences. As dads, these are real tests of...