The Daily Dad

“The question hits you in a soft place. It hits you when you least expect it...and yet it’s there constantly. Am I a good parent? Am I doing enough? Am I screwing this up?” Ryan explains why your anxiety about how good of a parent you are is actually a good thing.  Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com...

Ryan discusses the way children look at their parents. Magic Spoon is an adult version of what you loved as a kid—without the sugar, carbs, or guilt. Go to magicspoon.com/DAILYDAD to grab a variety pack and try it today. Use our promo code DAILYDAD at checkout to save five dollars off your order. Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook See Pri...

“It was a surprisingly easy decision to make: No posting kid photos on social media. My wife and I made this decision not because, like everyone, we’ve been bored to death by endless baby photos from friends. Not because I’m worried about anyone’s safety (though as a writer I’ve had a few creepy encounters). But to look at a sleeping baby, defenseless and pure, and think, How many likes do you thi...

“The defining feature of this parenting life is how much stuff goes wrong. Plans dash to pieces. Your kids change their mind. They get hurt, stuff comes up, stuff gets cancelled. If you’re an anxious person, a stressed person, a fragile person, this stuff will kill you.” Ryan explains why you always have to strive to get better.  If you want to lead your family better, sign up for the new 9-week l...

Ryan explains how you should lead your family. If you want to become a better leader, sign up for the new 9-week live course The Daily Stoic Leadership Challenge today! This is a masterclass in leadership with the cadence and rigor of a boot camp. It is also a live course, which means all participants will join the course together and move through together at the same pace to their own version of...

“There’s no question that the last year and half has been tragic. Millions of people have perished in a merciless pandemic, millions more are still dealing with the consequences. Businesses were destroyed. Jobs were lost that will never come back. Relationships were subjected to unimaginable strain, institutions were stretched to their breaking point.” Ryan asks you what you learned from the last...

Ryan explains how the particular circumstances of your children’s life are all that matters. Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at ht...

Ryan explains why you should cherish all of the time that you can with the people that you love. Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice a...

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks about the difficulties that your children face, why it’s so important to put yourself in their shoes and try to remember how you felt as a child, how the pandemic has been even tougher on young kids, and more. BetterHELP will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist and you can start communicating in under 48 hours. Visit betterhe...

Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

“We’ve told the story a bunch of times, but it’s so good, it’s worth repeating. In high school, Jim Valvano told his dad he was not only going to be a college basketball coach, but he was going to win a National Championship. A few days later, his dad pointed towards the corner of his bedroom, “See that suitcase?” “Yeah,” Jim said, “what’s that all about?” “I’m packed,” his dad explained. “When yo...

“Have you ever left Twitter feeling better about humanity? When was the last time you had a productive discussion with someone on Facebook? How often does Instagram bring out feelings of jealousy or envy in you?” Ryan explains what you do and don’t have to do.   Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pr...

“Parenting is very hard. Keeping your kids safe. Keeping them fed. Keeping them in the best schools, making sure they get good grades in those schools. We have to do all this as we navigate a world where Murphy’s Law is real, where bills have to get paid, where we have our own crap to deal with that no one is going to handle for us.” Ryan explains how to be a great parent right here right now.  Si...

“It’s tricky to understand this because before you had kids, everything in your life seemed permanent. It just was. If your job sucked, it was never going to magically start not sucking. That was simply an element of the nature of the thing: it was a sucky job.” Ryan explains why you have to be patient with this part of your child’s life.  Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily...

On today’s podcast, Ryan speaks with Dr. William Stixrud and Ned Johnson about their book The Self-Driven Child which they wrote to help parents and educators nurture a sense of agency and purpose in children, how to define and give your best effort in all of the things that you do, the difference between a healthy drive for excellence and having enough, and more. Ned Johnson is the president and...

“They want you to get in the pool with them. They want you to let them ride on your back. They want you to drive them to their friend’s house. They want to watch that awful movie. They want you to do that funny voice again.” Ryan explains why you can never turn your kids down.  Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook See Privacy Policy at http...

“You know, your parents weren’t always like this. They were young once. Hopeful, open-minded, even adventurous. They weren’t always so conservative, so stuck in their ways.” Ryan explains why you should be the change and not get in the way of change. Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Ca...

Ryan explains why this is all you have to do. Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twitter , Instagram , Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

“Maybe you haven’t been as good of a dad as you would like to be lately. You were on your phone too much. You let your short temper get the best of you. You prioritized work over family. You got too wrapped up in your expectations, you were too harsh, you didn’t see things their way.” Ryan explains how to bounce back from failure. Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com Follow Daily Dad: Twi...

“While we have talked recently about the dangers of multitasking as a parent—because it makes you distracted, because it gives you conflicting priorities—that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t look for efficiencies. In fact, that’s one of the secrets of this whole job: Always looking for how to get more juice for your squeeze.” Ryan explains how to get more out of what you already have. Sign up for t...

On today’s episode of the podcast, Ryan contrasts his life pre-pandemic, during the pandemic and now on the brink of post pandemic, how your routines as a parent shape and mold your children, how to follow the path of Stillness and why it’s so important, and more. BetterHELP will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist and you can start communicating in under...

“Kids are so sweet. So innocent. Which makes the famous photo all the more haunting. A young boy dressed in a white robe and a tall, white, conical hat touches his reflection in a riot shield held by an African American State Trooper named Allen Campbell. The photo was taken in 1992 at a Ku Klux Klan rally in Georgia. “Me and this kid, neither one, made a choice to be here,” Campbell said sympathe...

“The author Sebastian Junger does not own a stroller, even though he has two young kids. When we had him on the Daily Stoic podcast recently , he explained that he doesn’t really need one—because he can carry them both, or carry one while the other walks. It makes for good exercise. But it was also a philosophical issue for him.” Ryan discusses why you should always work on being close to your chi...

“Of course, they can be annoying. Painfully so. They scream in your ears. They ruin your clothes with their food and dirt-covered hands. They can cut off your air supply as they crawl onto your back for a piggyback ride. Yet you have to absorb this. You can’t thrust them away. Even though it hurts. Even though you love this shirt. Even though you can’t breathe. ” Ryan explains why you must control...

“Ten or twenty years from now, they won’t remember the Princess breakfast that you spent hours and hundreds of dollars arranging for the first morning of their first trip to Disneyland. It’s more likely that they’re going to remember something you can’t possibly predict. Something small, and seemingly insignificant to you right now.” Ryan explains what your kids will actually remember.  Sign up fo...