The Daily Dad

Every family has an uphill they're climbing, even as we're climbing our own.

Our job as parents is to give our kids access to ideas and worlds, to surround them with books, to encourage them to go where their interests take them—even if we sometimes disagree, even if some of them make us uncomfortable.

Don't wait. Don't hold back. Tell them. Tell them again.

Make the memory. Play the game. Because this is what it's about.

If the point is for our family to be together, if the point is for us to have fun together, to relax together, to get closer together, we need to start much earlier.

Your kids don't need you to pretend you have it all figured out. In this episode, Ryan talks with Jon Gustin, creator of The Tired Dad, about losing your temper, apologizing, repairing after mistakes, and why showing your kids that you're human can make them feel safer, not less secure. Jon Gustin is the founder of The Tired Dad LLC and the voice behind The Tired Dad, a movement built around showing up for what matters most. His book, The Tired Dad.: 100 Reflections on Showing Up for What Matters Most, is out now!Follow Jon Gustin on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.Listen to The Tired Dad & Tired Mom Podcast | Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube

What matters isn't how you see yourself or how others see you. What matters is that you be what, and who, they need you to be.

You can always find a way if you try. And it's going to be an important moment.

It's not our job as parents to give them everything they want. It is our job to help them with these very reasonable feelings. Listen to the full podcast episode with Dr. Becky Kennedy

 How many of us wish we could tear ourselves away from our phones and spend more intentional time with our kids and families?

Children are a ticking clock. They are on their way to not being children.

Family fun hits different when there's a flight to catch. In this episode, Ryan and Sam talk about what happened when a spontaneous stop at a state park turned into tired kids, dragging feet, a looming flight, and Ryan suddenly rushing everyone through the family detour he had been excited for.

It can seem like they don't like what you like. It can even seem like they don't like you. That's what children do, after all, they try to discover what they like.

We say our kids are important—but words don't matter. Our choices are what matter.

They need literature. They need to know the myths. They need to know the riveting moments of human history.

How often are you saying “no” when they want to connect, when they want to do something, when they ask for attention or time together?

Our job is to drag them around, to expose them to things, to get them to where they need to be…but aren't they also doing the same thing for us?

Kids have big emotions. Parents do too. The work is not pretending those feelings are not there, but learning how to stay in the driver's seat when they show up. In this episode, Ryan talks with Dr. Becky Kennedy about deeply feeling kids, why so much “bad behavior” is really a lack of skills, and how parents can respond with more patience.Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clinical psychologist, bestselling author, and the founder and CEO of Good Inside, a parenting platform that gives parents practical tools for raising emotionally healthy kids. Named “The Millennial Parenting Whisperer” by TIME, Dr. Becky is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be and host of the chart-topping podcast Good Inside with Dr. Becky.

Enjoy it while you have it. Because you're losing a little bit of it everyday.

Are you stuck in your comfort zone? Are you practicing good boundaries? Are you challenging yourself to grow and change? Every day presents us with plenty of opportunities to make beautiful choices.

If being understood is not in our control, there is something quite wonderful that is in our control: Understanding.

Their feelings are reasonable. They're just struggling a little bit at dealing with them, at understanding how to express them and how seriously to take them.How to Feel Everything Without Losing Control | Dr. Becky Kennedy

They were kids, just recently! But now they're grown up.

Kids don't come into the world knowing how to handle disappointment, frustration, or overwhelm. In today's episode, Ryan and Sam talk about executive function, big feelings, and the difference between telling our kids something and actually helping them process it. They also talk through something every parent runs into: when do we help our kids calm down, and when do we just let them feel what they're feeling?

They're growing up before your eyes. Make sure you see it.

You might think your house is a mess. You might be a little embarrassed to have people over. But you shouldn't be.

We are not meant to parent alone. We are not enough people to possibly handle this responsibility alone.

Has there ever been a parent who didn't yell, who didn't lose their cool? Probably not.

There are a million reasons not to go. But it's worth asking, as you run through these excuses, how much longer will they want to do this?

In honor of Father's Day weekend, Ryan talks with Lieutenant General (Ret.) Mark Hertling about fatherhood, legacy, and the lessons we hope our children take with them. During a wartime deployment, Mark began writing a journal for his sons in case he did not return home. What started as a way to leave them guidance became a reflection on character, failure, leadership, and what it really means to be a father.Lieutenant General (Ret.) Mark Hertling served 38 years in the U.S. Army, rising from tank platoon leader to commander of U.S. Army Europe and the Seventh Army. His career included combat tours in Desert Storm and Iraq, where he commanded the 1st Armored Division, prepared U.S. and allied forces for deployment, and helped support military transformation across Eastern Europe.

Let them live their life. Let them make mistakes. That's the whole point.

We want to make sure our kids have opportunities in life. But sometimes, we neglect one of the easiest ways to help them get ahead.

You've got a long commute to school and then the office. They never sleep. There's drama in the mom or dad group. It's a lot. It's also nothing!

Plato, with total seriousness (and probably a bit of humor too), said that “of all the wild things, a boy is the most difficult to handle.” A lot of parents would agree to that.

One thing far too many parents have in common is that they are always putting off taking care of themselves. This may come from a good place, but the results are good for no one.

Instead of learning everything through trial and error, we can learn from the experiences and mistakes of others. Nowhere is that more important than in parenting. In today's episode, Ryan is sharing some of his favorite parenting books and the best lessons he has taken from them.

Take the time while you can. Experience new places, new experiences together while you can.

When you look back and wonder where the time went, where their childhood went, it's going to break your heart to have to account for how you spent it, for how much of it you wasted.

They didn't understand you? Of course they're confused. Welcome to being a kid.

One of the great things about kids is that they keep you on your toes. Not just because you have to worry about them all the time, but because they give you so many more things to notice.

Some kids are extroverts. Some are introverts. But every kid needs to know how to be alone.

The kids are fine. The house, on the other hand, has raccoons in the walls and a bird flying around upstairs. In today's episode, Ryan and Sam talk about the illusion of having it all together, how often parents say no without realizing it, and one of the parenting lessons Ryan has taken from The Daily Dad Society.

Their own life is gathering up speed, their own interests and obligations are on a collision course with yours.

They are doing what kids do and have always done. And your job? Your job is to be patient and understanding.

We can get a little bit better each day. And you don't have to do it alone.

It's worth remembering, as we've said, that you'll be nostalgic for this moment later on, that you'll be jealous of this person you are now soon enough.

Look for those things that would make them happy to be with you—and use them as an excuse to spend time together. Whatever it is, get into it to be with them.

The words we say to our kids don't just disappear. They become part of how our kids understand themselves, what they believe they deserve, and what they carry into the world. In today's episode, Ryan talks with Jon Gustin, creator of The Tired Dad, about the small comments parents make without thinking, the messages kids hear underneath them, and how to create a home where they feel safe, secure, and fully themselves.Jon Gustin is the founder of The Tired Dad LLC and the voice behind The Tired Dad, a movement built around showing up for what matters most. His book, The Tired Dad.: 100 Reflections on Showing Up for What Matters Most, is out now! Follow Jon Gustin on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

None of it lasts, and soon enough you will miss it.

If you're in a position to spend, to support, to give—well, now is the time.

Why are you choosing to pick this battle? Why are you on them about something so insignificant?