The Daily Dad
Episodes
It’s Time To Look in the Mirror
14 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Kids are crazy, right? When they’re hungry, they are rude and difficult to manage. They are demanding and seem incapable, most of the time, of doing...
This Is Proof You Have What It Takes
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Who among us is not insecure? We look around and see people who make more money. Who have bigger houses. Who have accomplished more than we have. This...
This Is Making You So Much Better
10 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We talked before about how MacArthur had a kind of scheduled morning craziness with his son Arthur, who would enter his room promptly at 7am and pumme...
Where Is Your Ego Getting In The Way?
09 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We live in a world awash with ego. We see it every day. We can see the ego of our boss, and how it has turned the office against them. We can see ego ...
It’s a Low Bar, But You Better Clear It
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you haven’t seen the fascinating Netflix documentary about Rachel Dolezal, a troubled woman who pretended to be black when she’s actually white...
All You Can Do As a Dad
07 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You might not think of Tom Hanks as a father, but he is one. He had four kids, two from his first marriage, Colin and Elizabeth, and two from his seco...
Do You Know What You Look Like Angry?
06 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A while back, we talked over at Daily Stoic about one of Seneca’s remedies for a hot temper. Try to catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror some t...
Feelings Are Not Indictments
03 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One of the things you have trouble adjusting to when you first have kids is the crying. Not just because it’s loud, but because it feels like you’...
A Dad Must Think The Unthinkable
02 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s fitting that one of the most important things you can do as a parent would require you to think about a thing that’s very nearly impossible f...
Make Sure You Make Time For Crazy
01 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Douglas MacArthur was a man of routine, most military men are. So it shouldn’t surprise us that he built a family life around routine. But unlike fa...
Teach Them Early—When You Still Can
31 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Cato the Younger was not an easy man to get to do something. If he felt it went against his conscience or that it was illogical, you’d have an easie...
You Can’t Choose Your Parents, But You Can…
30 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One of the best lines from Seneca is that while we can’t choose our parents, we do have the ability to choose whose children we will be. In ancient ...
If You’re Not Getting Better, You’re Getting Worse
27 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a sad sight when you see a dad who has clearly stopped trying. He puts on weight. He checks out of his marriage. Maybe he starts drinking more....
The Stakes Are High
26 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s hard to picture Fred Rogers as a parent. Of course, we can easily recall him as Mr. Rogers, patiently and lovingly explaining things to generat...
Why Are You Rushing?
25 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We’re always in a rush. We have to get them ready for school. We have to get them off to bed. We have to get to the airport. We have to get back ins...
What Kind Of Energy Are You Bringing?
24 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The ubiquity of the word “energy” these days is probably a sign of how pervasive pseudo-science and charlatans have become. We are inundated with ...
If You Want Your Children To Turn Out Well
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s easy to think that money is the solution to most of the problems of parenting. After all, we remember our own childhood and the things that mon...
You Have To Mean What You Say
20 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s so easy to make threats as a dad. If you don’t stop that, I’m going to turn the TV off. If you don’t start being nicer to your brother, w...
There Is Nothing Better Than This
19 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Falling in love with your spouse is great. Making a lot of money is awesome. Crushing it at work is too. It’s nice to have a big house or to go out ...
Kids See Through To What Matters
18 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
You can sit your kids down to watch what you think is the greatest movie of all time, and they’ll get bored and fall asleep. You can get floor seats...
Always Think About How Other People Are Doing
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Perhaps you’re familiar with the scene in the Bible where Moses—aided by God—parts the Red Sea. It was a miracle of epic proportions that allowe...
Teach Them It's Figureoutable
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a story that occurs constantly in the biographies of many creative and brilliant people. It goes something like this: As a kid they had a qu...
Don’t Just Protect Yours
13 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We take care of our own, we say. Family is family. Blood is thicker than water. These are noble sentiments that have encouraged beautiful sacrifice, f...
There Are Things Better To Just Not Think About
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Oster is a writer and a thinker after our own heart. Frustrated with all the bad parenting advice—most of which seems to be based on old wives...
Who Cares What That Idiot Thinks?
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There are going to be moments in fatherhood—when you’re dancing to Baby Shark to entertain your kid, or you’re way into the third book in the Tw...
They Don't Feel as Old as They Look
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Do you remember when you were in fourth grade and you looked across the playground and saw the sixth graders? They looked so much older. So much bigge...
Teach Them to Choose
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It makes sense that you and mom would make most of the decisions for your kids. You guys know more. Your kids basically know nothing. About life. Abou...
Let ‘Em See You Work
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One of the unusual side effects of our modern lives is how siloed work is for most people. “Work” is a place you drive to in the morning and come ...
Don’t Give Them an Ego
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
You love your kids more than anything. You think they’re God’s gift (which they are, to you!). You want them to know how you feel about them, and ...
Curb Sometimes, Spur at Others
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca was a father, though we don’t know much, if anything, about his son. We know he was a wonderful uncle, and that he struggled valiantly as a t...
Your Kid is Not a Status Symbol
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know DJ Khaled has a son? And his name is Asahd? Of course you did, because if you’ve heard of DJ Khaled even once in the last couple years,...
How to Get Them to Read (Or Do Anything)
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We want our kids to read. We want them to read instead of watching so much TV or playing with the iPad. So we make up rules or create incentives to mo...
Help Them Carry the Fire
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There are brief moments where you get a glimpse inside your kid’s soul. When they meet their baby brother or sister for the first time and start to ...
What are Your Rules?
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In her memoir, Composed, Rosanne Cash talks about how she wished she was as a parent of small children and how different that was from the reality. Sh...
Epithets for Your Kid
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most interesting passages in Marcus Aurelius is this one:Epithets for yourself: Upright. Modest. Straightforward. Sane. Cooperative. Try no...
Is It Really Time to Go?
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Even the most patient dad gets bored. Or has somewhere to be. Or really doesn’t see what makes this flower--the 400th one drawn in a row--so special...
Your Kids are Not a Reflection of You
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The philosopher Stilpo of Megara had a daughter who had a bad reputation. We don’t know what for, it could have be deserved or it could have been on...
This is a Fresh Start
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We were all deprived or hurt in our childhoods. Even the best parents left something to be desired. Maybe we were ignored. Or maybe we were pressured ...
Practice the Pause
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In her famous and controversial book Bringing Up Bébé, the author Pamela Druckerman talks about Le Pause—The Pause—as the secret to French paren...
Blow Their Nose, and Your Own
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Because women can seem so much better at this parenting stuff, because historical gender roles have often decided for them that most household duties ...
Punishment Should Make Them Better
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Punishments aren’t supposed to be fun. They’re suppose to deter bad behavior. That’s why kids get grounded or sent to their room. That’s why w...
It's All Quality Time
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
You’ll hear other dads talk about the need for “quality time” with their kids. It’s sort of a strange phrase, if you think about it. Because i...
Why Kids Like Their Grandparents
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Even if it wasn’t such a relief for overworked dads and moms, it’d hurt a little to think about how much our kids love their grandparents. It almo...
What a Good Sport Looks Like
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As we’ve said before, Seneca was a father and a father figure to many people. Even today, through his writing, he remains an inspiring, patient, and...
An Important Rule for Dads
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The economist Russ Roberts is a guy who understands how the world works. He knows about the laws of the economy and government. He knows about philoso...
No, This is the Special Part
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In her wonderful book On Looking, Alexandra Horowitz takes a series of walks in different environments. What does a geologist see on a city block? Wha...