My 4 year old came up to me yesterday with a serious look on his face and said 'dad, I need to tell you something very important.' I'm thinking oh no what happened. He goes 'I have powers now' and I ask what kind of powers. 'Butt powers' he announces and then farts. My older kids were losing it. Tha...

Got out after 12 years in the service. Lost the brotherhood, the structure, the clear mission. Some days I still wake up at 5 with that habit. What I gained though is actually being present for my family. I missed my oldest kid's first three years while deployed. Now I'm coaching his soccer team and...

Got some grief from my younger brother for sending a handwritten thank you note after his wedding gift. But here's the thing, anyone can send a text. Taking 10 minutes to sit down and write something by hand shows respect for the person. My dad did it, his dad did it, and I'm doing it. It's not abou...

So we got rained out in the 3rd inning and I'm thinking the day is ruined right? Wrong. We ended up playing arcade games in the concourse for 2 hours, the kids beat me at skeeball like 5 times in a row and they were laughing so hard they could barely stand. Honestly that might've been better than wa...

My ex moved closer to the kids' school so now it makes more sense for them to be with her during the week. We're reworking the agreement but I'm worried I'm going to miss stuff. Sports, school events, all that. Has anyone switched to mostly weekends and summer? How do you deal with missing the day t...

Been working with him all summer and today it finally clicked. He went like 50 feet down the driveway without me holding on. The look on his face when he realized he was doing it... man I'm still grinning. My wife got it on video and I've watched it like 20 times already. This parenting thing is pre...

League I've been in for 12 years. Our draft is Labor Day weekend and I'm already stressed. Had two solid years and now everyone's targeting my good players. Thinking about going RB early this year but I always screw that up. What's everyone's strategy this year?

I was that dad who needed a beer after work every single day. Then two. Then hiding the empties. My wife gave me an ultimatum and I actually listened. Went to AA, got a sponsor, did the work. What changed most is how I parent. I'm actually present. I remember bedtimes with the kids instead of being ...

Took the boys camping last weekend at a state park about 2 hours away. It rained the entire time. Our tent wasn't waterproof. We lost power on the camp stove. By Saturday morning we were all cold and damp and miserable. But then something shifted. We just stayed in the tent, played cards, told bad j...

I left my job as an account manager making decent money to be home with the kids full time when my second was born. Best and hardest decision ever. I miss the structure, the paychecks, and honestly the adult conversations. But I gained so much more. I know my kids actually. I'm there for the small s...

I made them homemade sweet potato fries and they actually ate them. No complaints, no pushing food around the plate, just ate them like they were french fries. My wife thought I did something different but honestly I just cut them the same way and they worked. Calling this a win.

Made a promise to my son months ago that we'd go fishing on a specific Saturday. Had to rearrange some business meetings to make it happen but I did it. He remembered. He held me to it. That's when I realized that keeping your word isn't just about being honest, it's about showing your kids that the...

Made a mistake with my 9yo recently, lost my temper over nothing. Instead of just moving on I sat him down and told him I was wrong. I apologized sincerely and explained that being his father doesn't mean I'm always right, it means I'm responsible for modeling what a good man looks like. That includ...

My 6 year old asked me this morning why I look so tired. I told him it's because I'm not sleeping enough. He said 'Why don't you just sleep more?' WELL KID if it were that easy I wouldn't have dark circles the size of basketballs. Wife actually laughed at that one which means I'm winning parenting t...

Stepped on the scale this morning and my son walks in and goes 'Dad are you getting fatter?' Not exactly the morning motivational speech I was hoping for. I said 'No buddy, I'm just getting closer to the ground.' He seemed satisfied with that answer. The accuracy of children's observations is terrif...