The Daily Dad

Things could be so much better. This could be a world that takes care of parents and families. It could be a world with a better safety net. It could be a world where we don’t shrug after a school shooting, or as democracy is dismantled by fanatics and nut-jobs. We could use more support. Inflation could come down. Your spouse could get their act together. Things could be better, they should be be...

Kids have always been like this. They’ve always been crazy . Always had trouble sleeping at night. Always liked to play and explore. They’ve been overwhelmed by hormones. They’ve been driving their parents crazy a long time. ​ We talked a while back about Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Children’s Games painting which depicts a loud and raucous scene of kids playing outside. It’s 463 years old and yet,...

It’s easy to forget it when you see them hitting a sibling. Or when you catch them in a lie. When you hear them say something mean. When the call comes in from school, or worse, the police station. It’s easy to forget that our kids are good. That they have good morals. A good heart. That they are still that same innocent and pure little thing we brought home from the hospital. It’s easy to forget...

We used to need so much to be happy, as we talked about recently . We needed things to go well. We needed excitement and success. We needed people to like us. We needed people’s approval. But now? Now, not so much. Conan O’Brien, who like any performer has some part of him that craves attention and validation, has explained how his insecurity has lessened as he got older and had a family. “Oh as l...

On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad,  Ryan talks with his wife Samantha on staying consistent to the system,  the results to bad decision making, and comparing ourselves against ourselves. ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com 📱 Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , YouTube      See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://a...

“This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/dailydad and get on your way to being your best self.” 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...

We talked recently about some of the folks who comment on the Daily Dad Instagram (do follow us!) or reply to these emails. Sure, some of the responses are nice, but so many of them are self-righteous and hectoring, judgmental and superior. There is something profoundly sad about these commenters too. Because, whether they know it or not, they are the punchline in that famous old cartoon , “Sorry,...

Gandhi was a saintly man, but he was not a particularly great father. He was too demanding of his children, too controlling, too quick to push them away when they were not exactly what he wanted them to be (which was impossible). It is sad that the man who was so kind and patient and forgiving, such a father figure to so many, could not be those things for the people who loved him the most , who m...

“This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/dailydad and get on your way to being your best self.” The author Rinker Buck (he has an amazing book called Life on the Mississippi where he travels the entire river in a homemade flat boat) remembers vividly what would happen when his father came home. We talked recently about what kind of feeling the sound of...

The thing about parenting is that it’s always thrusting us into situations we have to deal with, we have to solve, we have to correct, we have to stop. Our kids aren’t listening . Our kids did something dangerous. Our kids failed a class. Our kids are drifting in a direction that worries us. Of course, there are some parents who are oblivious to all this , just generally hands-off. But the rest of...

On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad,  Ryan speaks with organizational psychologist and book author Adam Grant on seeing things in the context of where they actually sit, learning to be pleased but not satisfied, current sports culture, perfect parenting and his new book Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com 📱 Follow Daily...

What gives you the right? What’s your purpose on this planet? Why do you work so hard, why do you fight for the causes you fight for, why do you put up with all the crap you have to put up with in this life? ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com 📱 Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , YouTube     See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice...

You think it’d be pretty non-controversial. Over on the Daily Dad Instagram (you should follow us!) we’ll post something about having fewer opinions and judgements when it comes to your kids. We’ll talk about loving them unconditionally –even when you don’t understand, even when you disagree. We’ll put up a video about letting your kids be who they are , not trying to make them into something you...

You give your kids a lot. You pay for everything. You sacrifice so much –parts of your career, your health, your hobbies. You drive them around, you build your schedule around them. And you give them your most precious resource –time, so much time. No one is questioning that. It’s indisputable. ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com 📱 Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , Y...

“I do it all for them,” we say. We tell ourselves that’s why we’re getting on the plane, that’s why we’re spending another long night at the office , why we’re taking that big risk, why we’re starting that next venture. It’s for them, we’re doing it all for our family…those people we rarely see. It’s a good motivation to be sure, and it’s also a very flattering one. It’s ironically, a rather self-...

It sort of sneaks up on you, doesn’t it? For years, you literally fell asleep next to this person. They fell asleep on you. You were the last thing they saw, the last person they talked to, the one they begged for one more story , one more kiss, to do the blankets right one more time. And then suddenly, they’re like “Goodnight, Dad.” “Goodnight mom, close the door on the way out, will you?” ✉️ Sig...

On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad,  Ryan talks with his wife Samantha on the difference between expressing pride and relief, and practicing motivated intrinsically  vs extrinsically with our kids. ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com 📱 Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , YouTube      See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

Stoicism 101: Philosophy for Your Actual Life   It’s an awesome, accessible, and practical two-week deep dive into philosophy that every parent (and even older kids) can benefit from. We’re teaching the Stoic secrets to success, resilience, and productivity, as well as how a Stoic masters their emotions (something useful for both parents AND kids!). The course includes 2 live Q&As with Ryan Ho...

On their deathbeds, fathers think about a lot of things. They think about the world they’re leaving to their sons and daughters. They think about how they parented. They think about the mistakes they made. They think about what they did right. They are warmed by the thoughts of their children, and, if they are lucky, they find themselves surrounded by them, the hospital bed serving as the final cr...

We all have some version of this memory: We didn’t feel well. We fell awkwardly on our wrist. We hit our head. We told our parents, but they didn’t believe us …they told us we’d be fine. They told us we’d feel better soon. Then a few days later it turned out that we had scarlet fever or shingles. Our wrist was broken. We’d sustained a concussion. ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com 📱...

Aristotle wrote his famous Nicomachean Ethics for his son, Nicomachus. Seneca was given a philosophy teacher by his father. Cato too, was given the philosophical education his parents felt the promising boy deserved. Marcus Aurelius tried to give Commodus a group of philosophical advisors, and we can imagine that one of his great disappointments in life was that his philosophy and his example didn...

Being a parent is terrifying. Joan Didion’s famous line, as we talked about recently, is that once you have kids you are never not afraid . We are hostages to fortunes now, always worried that something could or will happen to our kids. ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com 📱 Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , YouTube      See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy...

You are not perfect. Nobody would argue that–least of all your kids. But are you better? Better than you were when they were younger? Better than you were a couple years ago? Better than yesterday? ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com 📱 Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , YouTube     See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https:...

On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad,  Ryan talks with his wife Samantha on the unexpected things in life we can’t prepare for, the anticipation of things often being worse and solving the problem first. ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com 📱 Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , YouTube      See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notic...

Your kids are going to make bad decisions. They are going to do things you disagree with. They may well grow up into someone you don’t understand. That means calming down . It means trying to see their perspective. It means giving them space. It means asking questions and withholding opinion. It means offering help. It means providing resources. It means acceptance. It means unconditional love. ✉️...