Right now, you and your family are stuck at home. Or you trying to dig yourself out of the wreckage of a situation that wasn’t your fault, that is stressful, confusing, and overwhelming. There is a lot that is uncertain right now, a lot that we just don’t know. But one thing is a given:…

Last week, we talked about some words that become magical when you become a dad. Although “I love you” is always powerful, suddenly, when you have kids, the phrase “as a family” becomes one of the most meaningful expressions in your life. It sets your priorities. It defines your existence.  But there is another short…

Sometimes it can feel like being a dad is just an endless series of errands. It’s the call from the bedroom that they need a glass of water. It’s the call from college for you to come to take them shopping for something they need for their apartment. It’s the running around town getting soccer…

We talked before about Kipling’s poem “If,” which was written as advice for Kipling’s son, John. It’s a beautiful poem about toughness and virtue, honor and duty. But there is one line that doesn’t get as much attention, maybe because it’s a bit confusing: If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth…

Most schools and most parents teach reading all wrong. They bully kids into doing it. They pressure them. They tell them, “Reading is what smart and successful people do.” Then they’re surprised when kids who struggled with reading don’t think they’re smart, and they wonder why kids almost wear illiteracy as a badge of honor….

Before you had kids, “I love you” was that powerful three word phrase. You said it to your future wife or your future husband and you loved hearing it. But now there is another phrase even more beautiful. It’s these three words: as a family. As in, “Let’s go for a walk as a family.”…

It’s a noisy world out there… and most of us add to the din. We chatter on social media. We chatter on the phone. We chatter over email.  Even as parents, we tend to do a lot of talking. There are all the things we tell our kids. The things we remind them about. The…

Family is wonderful. None of us would be here, the writer Aaron Thier once put it, if people hadn’t taken care of us when we were small. Somebody birthed us, raised us, drove us to school, kept us safe.  So naturally we feel an affinity and obligation to our family, as we hope our own…

Family is wonderful. None of us would be here, the writer Aaron Thier once put it, if people hadn’t taken care of us when we were small. Somebody birthed us, raised us, drove us to school, kept us safe.  So naturally we feel an affinity and obligation to our family, as we hope our own…

There is so much we want to teach our kids—so much that fathers are expected to teach their kids. How to ride a bike. How to swim. How to throw a punch. How to tie a tie. How to read. How to get up the guts to talk to someone.  All of this is important,…