Dr. Ken Canfield and NCF introduce the 7 Secrets Master Class, featuring a self-scoring profile and videos that go deeper into each area.
6 Positive Dad-Responses to Crises & Difficulties
How we respond to difficulties or crisis situations will create a reference point that our children will remember and carry forward into the future.
3 Ways Dads Have Grown: More Pandemic Survey Results
“As a result of the pandemic, how have you grown in your fathering role?” These past months have shone a light on our relationships with our kids—revealing the good and bringing us face-to-face with some areas where we need to grow.
Survey Results: Dads & Pandemic Challenges
“What barriers or obstacles have you faced in your fathering as a result of the pandemic?” No less than 11 common themes surfaced that are worth mentioning—which reflects the wide variety of situations and challenges experienced by today’s dads.
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Welcome to the fathers.com fathering library.
Dad: Harness the Power of Sibling Competition
by Jay Payleitner Competition between siblings (or cousins) is a great tool for dads. While you can still outsmart them, there are all kinds of ways you can shape and motivate your kids and they won’t even know it. Got a pile of bricks that need to be moved from here...
Fathering Is Worth Doing Badly
Here at fathers.com, we want all dads to do their best. Be devoted to your children. Make them a top priority. Commit yourself to being there for them through all the ups and downs of life. Give them lots of encouragement and affirmation. Teach them skills and...
Questions to Help Dads Connect Heritage & Legacy
by Ken Canfield, Ph.D. Becoming a father is life-changing in many ways, as all dads know. At some point, often during the first few weeks or years of fatherhood, there is a kind of nexus between the past and the future in each man’s journey. Regarding the past,...
Tension with Our Kids’ Mom Deeply Affects Our Fathering
When there’s tension with your child’s mother, it impacts everyone. That might be an odd message to convey so soon after Valentine’s Day, but we all know what real life is like all the other days of the year that aren’t our anniversary or a special date night. And for...
A Dozen Activities to Help You Win Your Daughter’s Heart
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC With Valentine’s Day less than a week away, here’s a reminder that the holiday isn’t reserved only for romance between sweethearts. It’s also an opportunity for a girl to be treated in an extra special way by her dad, thus...
Winning and Losing in Father-Child Contests
by Ken Canfield, Ph.D. Bob’s two teenage sons were challenging him in many ways physically—arm twisting and wrestling and so on—and they talked about racing him to see if they were faster. It leads to a common question for dads: What’s the impact of winning or losing...
One Way to Restore Hope to Your Fathering
by Ken Canfield, Ph.D. What keeps a dad motivated and hopeful? That’s a key question that I’ve been pondering and researching for some time, and I’ll have more on this in the coming weeks and months. I’m more and more convinced of this: Hope is a powerful force and...
Birthday Reflections: A Father’s Legacy
by Ken Canfield, Ph.D. I recently gathered with many of my children and grandchildren to celebrate a birthday: my 70th. It was a wonderful and sometimes wild time together. During the days before that celebration, I came up with a sheet of reflections that I handed...
Game Time! Have a FUN Family Christmas
Are there gamers in your family? Actually this isn’t the kind of gaming you’re probably thinking of. And it has very little (if anything) to do with phones, computers or keyboards (unless you come up with one that involves a piano). This is about playing games with...
3 Fathering Insights from Joseph
by Jeff Zaugg Have you ever had dreams or expectations that fell flat or didn’t materialize the way you hoped? That happened to my family and me a few years ago when we were on an RV trip in Texas. We had plans to spend a few days at a lake that looked beautiful on...
Perfume Day: A Powerful Dad-Daughter Holiday Tradition
by Michelle Watson Canfield, PhD, LPC Per·fume [pərˌfyo͞om] · a fragrant liquid typically made from essential oils extracted from flowers and spices, used to impart a pleasant smell to one's body or clothes. Day [dā/] · a period of twenty-four hours as a unit of time;...
What’s Your Plan for the Holidays, Dad?
It’s the week after Thanksgiving, and in case you didn't know it, dad, last week was a test—or maybe a warm-up. How did you do? It’s good to ask yourself questions like: “Did I help make the celebration all it could be? Or did I just kind of show up and let things...