City Dads Group is proud to be a longstanding sponsor of HomeDadCon, which brings together caregiving dads from across the country. This years gathering will take place from October 17 to October 19 right next to the St. Louis arch!

Why join us in Saint Louis?

• Professional development for dads who embrace parenting – networking with other active and engaged dads
• Recharge with an opportunity to take a break from the daily routines

Announced Sessions include:

• Hacking Communication with Your Kids
• Bulk Cooking to Save Time and Money
• Tools 101
• Surviving the College Application Process

The festivities start with Convention Eve at City Museum at 7PM CT on October 17, and elective events before and during HomeDadCon will highlight the best of Missouri with a craft brewery tour, kayaking in a cave, a local community service event, and the DadsRun5k.

Note: Ticket purchases require a Membership of The National At-Home Dad Network. Annual Dues are $35 per year and included in registration. Get your membership and more HomeDadCon details at http://HomeDadCon.org.

Our support for HomeDadCon is part of the #NoDadAlone campaign. Fathering Together/City Dads Group, the National At-Home Dad Network, and Fathers Eve are joining forces to amplify messages and events that help dads recognize we are not alone! Follow #NoDadAlone on Instagram, and learn more at NoDadAlone.com.

City Dads Group is proud to be a longstanding sponsor of HomeDadCon, which brings together caregiving dads from across the country. This years gathering will take place from October 17 to October 19 right next to the St. Louis arch!

Why join us in Saint Louis?

• Professional development for dads who embrace parenting – networking with other active and engaged dads
• Recharge with an opportunity to take a break from the daily routines

Announced Sessions include:

• Hacking Communication with Your Kids
• Bulk Cooking to Save Time and Money
• Tools 101
• Surviving the College Application Process

The festivities start with Convention Eve at City Museum at 7PM CT on October 17, and elective events before and during HomeDadCon will highlight the best of Missouri with a craft brewery tour, kayaking in a cave, a local community service event, and the DadsRun5k.

Note: Ticket purchases require a Membership of The National At-Home Dad Network. Annual Dues are $35 per year and included in registration. Get your membership and more HomeDadCon details at http://HomeDadCon.org.

Our support for HomeDadCon is part of the #NoDadAlone campaign. Fathering Together/City Dads Group, the National At-Home Dad Network, and Fathers Eve are joining forces to amplify messages and events that help dads recognize we are not alone! Follow #NoDadAlone on Instagram, and learn more at NoDadAlone.com.

Three leading fatherhood organizations are undertaking a yearlong “No Dad Alone” campaign to help more fathers find support and an understanding community.

Fathering Together, of which City Dads Group is a part, The National At-Home Dad Network and Fathers Eve will cross-promote each other’s work to amplify information, resources and events available to dads through each entity. The groups plan to use their organizations’ platforms, including social media, newsletters, blogs and podcasts. The three organizations combined have more than 180,000 followers on various popular social media channels.

“The No Dad Alone campaign aims to address the ever-growing stats surrounding men’s health, specifically, the negative stigmas and untrue portrayals of fathers in the home and beyond,” said Cordan James, executive director of Fathering Together. “The web of resources this collaborative provides will instantly increase the positive impacts of fathers. It will also give people language to address, engage and support fathers in need and elevate the spirit of fatherhood.”

No Dad Alone arose, in part, from increasing U.S. media attention to male loneliness, particularly among fathers. Societal pressures about maintaining traditional masculinity (for example, remaining strong, stoic and independent in difficult times) and fewer resources and attention devoted to helping dads as opposed to moms contribute to these issues.

“Fathers are often isolated and they are not always sure what to do or how to alleviate it,” said John Francis, a co-organizer of the Twin Cities Dad Group and founder of Fathers Eve. “I think this campaign brings awareness to an important issue many guys have trouble with.”

Keith Nagel, president of The National At-Home Dad Network, said, “By highlighting and showcasing each of our organizations’ great work, we can create and build a much larger network of support for all our dads than we could individually. We hope to make other dads aware of our support offerings while connecting our members with ones we don’t provide.”

The ambitious campaign, using the social media hashtag #NoDadAlone, starts Father’s Day weekend 2024 to the following one in 2025. A key kickoff and celebratory ending point will be the annual Fathers Eve celebrations those weekends.

“From my work in the fatherhood area for the last dozen or so years, I see lots of people and groups doing good things to try to help their audience or their local market, but I don’t see a lot of connectivity,” Francis said. “They’re great guys all doing good work. When we work together I know we will make a much larger impact on this important issue.”

About the No Dad Alone organizers

Each organization involved in No Dad Alone has embarked on similar, though separate, missions to provide support and community to dads. At various times, each has worked with the other on a campaign or event.

The National At-Home Dad Network was established in 2003, initially under the name Daddyshome Inc. The first national nonprofit for at-home dads, it focuses on advocacy, education and support for families with fathers as primary caregivers. The network offers a variety of online communities, webinars and virtual opportunities to connect throughout the year. Its annual conference for at-home fathers, HomeDadCon, marks its 28th year this October with a three-day event in St. Louis.

Since 2012, Fathers Eve has gathered groups of dads — formally or informally in public or private spaces — the night before Father’s Day to celebrate each other and the joys and challenges of fatherhood. The event, held in dozens of U.S. towns and cities, lets dads offer support to each other and help foster a positive fathering environment. It culminates in a toast, in person and online, at 8 p.m. local time in each U.S. time zone.

Fathering Together started with the “Dads with Daughters” Facebook group in 2018. It quickly grew to have more than 125,000 followers supporting each other’s efforts to be great fathers. In 2020, the founders created the current nonprofit. It offers Facebook communities, a podcast, and a variety of webinars and resources supporting dads.

City Dads Group began in 2008 as a playgroup for at-home dads and their children in New York City. It now consists of groups of fathers who meet, with and without their kids, in 40 cities across the United States and one in Canada. City Dads Group merged with Fathering Together in 2023.

Stay-at-home dads and work-at-home fathers are scheduled to gather in St. Louis this October for HomeDadCon 2024, the annual conference for these dads to add to their parenting skills, support each other and socialize.

Speakers and topics have yet to be announced for the event, which runs Oct. 17 to 19. Breakout topics at past conventions ranged from dealing with picky eaters to teaching children about sexual consent. Outreach or social activities, such as attending a sporting event, are often part of the program.

The National At-Home Dad Network (NAHDN) event is for stay- and work-at-home fathers who embrace parenting as their most important job. It allows them to network with other active fathers, learn from experts about various parenting and social issues, and take a brief respite from parenting duties. (DISCLOSURE: City Dads Group has been a long-time sponsor and partner with The National At-Home Dad Network for the at-home dads convention.)

HomeDadCon 2024 ticket, hotel information

A ticket to the HomeDadCon 2024 costs $230 for members. It includes access to all event programs, three meals, and a T-shirt. Tickets are only available to NAHDN members. It costs an additional $35 to join the organization for a year.

Discounted hotel reservations are available while they last at the Drury Plaza Hotel St. Louis at the Arch, which doubles as the event venue. The cost is $169 a night for double occupancy. For people wanting to split the rooming costs, the organization has a Discord group to help attendees find a roommate.

+ Buy a St. Louis HomeDadCon ticket +

The nonprofit National At-Home Dad Network offers advocacy, community, education, and support for families where fathers are their children’s primary caregivers. Its stated purpose is to empower fathers and champion a culture that recognizes them as competent parents.

The organization has expanded its work in recent years. It now runs parenting webinars and podcasts plus regular online gatherings for members to discuss issues. The National At-Home Dad Network has also recorded some of the past HomeDadCon sessions, some of which are made available only to dues-paying members.

Editor’s Note: We’re digging into our archives to find great articles you might have missed. This tale about an at-home dad finding new friends comes from 2018.

Someone at the park handed me their phone number today. I’m planning on calling tonight!

If you are a little confused, that’s understandable. I am a 35-year-old man with an amazing wife of six years and three awesome kids. Why am I still getting girls’ phone numbers?

I never said I was getting a girl’s phone number: the digits I’m getting these days are of fellow stay-at-home dads.

Finding new adult friends as an at-home father is no day at the park. If you thought it was difficult to ask a girl for her phone number in a bar when you were 21, try asking another grown man for his phone number at the playground. It is not just awkward, but a little creepy.

But that is exactly what it has come to. Finding friends as a stay-at-home dad means you start at your new hangouts: the local park, school playground or zoo. You see other dads at these places, too. Since most dads with full-time jobs are also not able to push their kids on the swings at 10:30 on a Thursday morning, so it quickly becomes apparent who the other stay-at-home dads are.

The interactions with other fathers usually start small, with some type of primal grunt in the general direction of the dad. That is most likely the only interaction the two of you will have at that time. If you see each other a couple more times, one of you may even get up enough courage to muster, “Hey, how’s it goin’?” After a few more encounters the conversations begin and usually happen in this order:

1. Which ones are yours?
2. So how old are your kids?
3. Do you stay at home with them full-time?
4. What did you do before you stayed home with your kids?
5. So what does your wife do? (Probably the oddest question of them all.)

After the obligatory questions have been asked and answered, then snap judgments must be made about this guy’s entire family.

Could I really see myself hanging out with this guy?

Do his kids seem a little weird? I’m not sure I want my kids hanging out with somebody’s weird kids.

What if all he is interested in are shotguns and NASCAR? Will we ever have anything to talk about?

What if this guy is really a psycho? I don’t want to invite some psycho to come to my house and hang out with my kids.

And I sure hope he’s not a Yankees fan.

After this quick assessment has been made and the dad is deemed acceptable, it’s time to make a move. Want to get our kids together sometime? Deep breath … here goes … “How ’bout we exchange phone numbers so we can set something up for next week?”

And that’s it. You and your kids have found some new friends to play with, even if they are weird, gun-toting, NASCAR-loving, psycho Yankees fans.

A version of this first appeared on Indy’s Child. Finding friends on a beach photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Editor’s Note: If you’ve ever considered attending HomeDadCon, the annual fatherhood conference held by The National At-Home Dad Network, then this might help make up your mind. It was originally published here in 2014.

When I became a stay-at-home dad in 2008, I was terrified.

My wife and I had just moved from Chicago, where I had lived for 33 years, to upstate New York. I had resigned as a public school teacher after 10 years to stay in our new home and raise our kids, who at the time were 21 months old and 3. I left family, friends, babysitters I knew and trusted, and a community I loved. It meant resetting everything about my life.

The first week was rough. Our son broke his collarbone. Here I was, in a strange city where I was unfamiliar with where the hospital was and I couldn’t get a hold of my wife or her parents who lived in the area for help. I felt lost. I questioned if I really could do this.

A few weeks later, once I got the lay of the land, I sought other dads like me but without luck. I kept seeing the same moms at the gym and at pickup for their kids. Most accepted me as a parent but I still needed guys to share my experiences with.

Then, at church one day, my wife and I met a couple who had kids of similar ages.

“What do you do for a living?” the husband asked.

“I am a stay-at-home dad,” I said, dreading his response.

“No kidding!” he said. “So am I.”

What resulted was a friendship with me, him and his brother-in-law, also a stay-at-home dad. We regularly met on Fridays, which we named “Dads and Subs.” One guy would bring the Wegmans’ sandwiches and the kids would have an instant playgroup while we got to talk to one another about our week.

An at-home dad conference? Really?

In August 2011, my wife received an offer to relocate again, this time to Philadelphia. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity. This was the first city, however, where we knew no one and the first city where we couldn’t rely on family to bail us out of a jam with the kids.

I looked for dads’ groups after we got settled but kept coming up empty. I found plenty of groups for stay-at-home moms of little ones, but nothing for dads. Once, I even tried to join a moms’ group but was quickly rejected because “they didn’t feel comfortable with a man there.” I was on an island with really nowhere to turn.

Then I came across The National At-Home Dad Network’s conference, an event for stay- and work-at-home fathers who embrace parenting as their most important job. It was billed as a chance to meet other active and involved dads, learn from experts about various parenting and social issues, and take a brief respite from parenting duties.

I made plans to go to their convention in Washington, D.C., that next year. My wife and I worked out a schedule with her parents to come while I was gone and watch the kids. I piled into the car by myself and drove to D.C., not knowing what to expect.

It turns out these guys — a fraction of the tens of thousands of at-home fathers in the United States — were just like me.

Focus on being great parents, bonding

The dads came from all over. They stayed home with their kids because it was what was best for their families. They focused on trying to be the best dads they could be.

At the conference, we listened to people who had written books on parenting, a psychologist studying the rise of male caregivers in our society, and a person who had a website devoted to helping male military spouses who were at home.

In break-out sessions, we had honest discussions without judgment. We could share and be heard while dads helped other dads. Panels discussed popular issues with other men just like me. Guys talked about isolation and everything from discipline to diapers and bottles to breastfeeding.

Being around your peers in any field will give you that sense of self-worth. You see that you aren’t the only one dealing with a kid who won’t eat or how your teenage daughter won’t talk to you. I never laughed so much in my life and, at its end, I cried. I didn’t want this feeling of acceptance to end. Finally, I found my people — all in one place, no longer scattered but uniformly united by fatherhood.

The shared moments with them socially and the sessions on parenting were just what I needed. When I returned home my wife saw a change in me. I was dedicated and rejuvenated ready to be back with my kids and be the best dad I could be. It inspired me to start my own dads’ group, which eventually became the Philly Dads Group.

The men I met at the dad conference and of the At-Home Dad Network, an all-volunteer organization working toward the betterment and acceptance of stay-at-home dads everywhere, helped me when I needed it most. These guys became my friends online and in real life. They lifted me higher than I could have imagined.

If you are an at-home dad on the fence about going to the convention, I say take a chance. You never know where it will lead. The National At-Home Dad Network saved me, and it can save you too.

A version of this post first appeared on DadNCharge.

When you search the term “best parenting podcasts,” one thing sticks outs immediately: the resulting lists of shows are overwhelmingly aimed at moms. Well, there’s another half to the parenting equation. Here’s a list of some of the best parenting podcasts where fathers figure prominently in the mix.

The Art of Fatherhood

Art Eddy knows dad podcasts. He’s produced or hosted them for the Life of Dad social network for years. His baby these days is the Art of Fatherhood. He interviews dads from the worlds of entertainment, music and sports about their latest projects and … being a dad, duh! Recent guests have included former MLB pitcher (and father of a certain two-time Super Bowl MVP) Pat Mahomes, actor Paul Dooley, and comedian Tom Papa.

Black Fathers, NOW!

City Dads Group contributor Mike Dorsey is an author, business entrepreneur, community organizer, speaker and — yes — podcaster. Dorsey aims to redefine and uplift the image of African American dads through inspiring discussions with engaged black fathers.

Dad, Can We Talk?

Creator Anthony Ray started this podcast to combat the negative stereotypes about black dads. Dad, Can We Talk? features black fathers with diverse backgrounds who share their journeys to provide, nurture and love their families in the face of today’s challenges for men — especially men of color. Ray chats with father friends, a few celebs (including actor Taye Diggs) and even brings his two sons for a heart-to-heart.

The Dad Central Show

Dad Central is a Canadian nonprofit organization working with the Peterborough Child & Family Centres in Ontario. In business for two decades, it bills itself as the “most trusted name in fatherhood in Canada” with the goal of helping dads so they can “improve the lives of children.” Their parenting podcasts feature candid conversations with fatherhood role models, topical experts and real dads to inspire and assist others in this worthy pursuit. (Note: A recent one featured Amar Lohana, founder of our Toronto Dads Group.

Dad House

City Dads Group contributor Shannon Carpenter, who also is a co-organizer of our Kansas City Dads Group, and four of his at-home father friends yuck it up on any and everything. They also bring on friends and experts to add to discussions on topics such as your child’s first cell phone, the life of a rural father and where to go to check out the local craft beer scene.

Dad Mind Matters

Host James Macdonald, a father of three, subtitles his podcast “Parenting, Marriage & Mental Health For Men.” Dad Mind Matters focus on topics appealing to first-time and new dads who may be feeling the stress of parenting, in terms of raising a child and keeping their lives together. His parenting podcasts, often less than 15 minutes in length, offer concrete suggestions on subjects such as how to handle toddler tantrums, or passive-aggressive partners, and improving your mental state.

Dads with Daughters

OG dad blogger Christopher Lewis, a co-founder of the nonprofit Fathering Together, interviews experts on topics that will help you raise a strong independent woman. The podcast aims to highlight promising practices that will help fathers better understand themselves as well as their daughters while encouraging dads to be active participants in their daughters’ lives.

First Class Fatherhood

Host Alec Lace interviews high-profile fathers — from NFL stars to UFC fighters to Navy SEALs — about their careers and how they play into their most important work as dads. Dads.

Home Dad Chat

This fatherhood podcast from The National At-Home Dad Network, co-hosted by Cincinnati Dads Group organizer Brock Lusch, covers a wide range, of topics facing fathers today. One podcast will cover the ongoing fight for paid family leave and the new “Dad Caucus” in Congress while another will look at the debate about children attending drag story hours, all with a personal touch. Home Dad Chat also draws from audio from the At-Home Dad Network’s exclusive webinars and its HomeDadCon conference speakers to add weight to the discussions.

Best parenting podcasts for dads photo: © DC Studio / Adobe Stock.

Milwaukee will host HomeDadCon 2023, the annual conference to help at-home fathers hone their parenting skills, this September.

The National At-Home Dad Network (NAHDN) event is for stay- and work-at-home fathers who embrace parenting as their most important job. It allows them to network with other active and involved dads, learn from experts about various parenting and social issues, and take a brief respite from parenting duties.

The Milwaukee Dads Group will have a hand in planning and coordinating this year’s event. (DISCLOSURE: City Dads Group has been and is a long-time sponsor and partner with The National At-Home Dad Network for the at-home dads convention.)

Speakers and topics have yet to be announced for the event, which kicks off with a welcoming party the evening of Sept. 21 and runs through Sept. 23. Breakout topics at past conventions ranged from dealing with picky eaters to teaching children about sexual consent. Outreach or social activities, such as attending a sporting event, are often part of the program.

Ticket, hotel information

A ticket to the HomeDadCon 2023 costs $225. It includes access to all event programs, three meals and a T-shirt. Tickets are only available to NAHDN members. It costs $35 to join the organization for a year.

Discounted hotel reservations are available through August 23 at Hyatt Regency Milwaukee, which doubles as the event venue. The cost is $167 a night for double occupancy. For people wanting to split the rooming costs, the organization has a Discord group to help attendees find a roommate.

+ Join NAHDN & buy a HomeDadCon 2023 ticket +

The nonprofit National At-Home Dad Network offers advocacy, community, education, and support for families where fathers are their children’s primary caregivers. Its stated purpose is to empower fathers and champion a culture that recognizes them as competent parents.

In the past few years, the organization has added parenting webinars and podcasts to its website. It has also recorded some of the past HomeDadCon sessions, some of which are made available only to dues-paying members.

This HomeDadCon 2022 article originally ran in January. It was updated July 25.

Tickets are moving and hotel rooms are quickly booking up for HomeDadCon 2022, the annual conference to help at-home fathers hone their parenting skills, bond with one another, and get a little R&R.

Main speakers for the Sept. 29 through Oct. 2, 2022, conference in Phoenix have also been announced. This marks the first time the event will take place in the U.S. Southwest after being held primarily in the Great Plains, Midwest or Southeast regions.

The National At-Home Dad Network (NAHDN) event is for stay- and work-at-home fathers who embrace parenting as their most important job. It allows them to network with other active and involved dads, learn from experts about various parenting and social issues, and take a brief respite from parenting duties.

HomeDadCon 2022 keynote speakers

The scheduled keynote presenters will be:

• Catherine Pearlman, a licensed clinical social worker, author and owner of The Family Coach parenting consultancy. She will speak on the responsibility, safety and etiquette involved in giving your child his first cell phone
• Matt Lofy and Shaun Ditty of The Dadass Podcast will talk about why it is OK to not be OK.
• Author and pastor Tim Wright will discuss how rights of passage offer strategic pathways for leading and empowering our kids into adulthood.
• Musician, vlogger and former fatherhood case manager Jorge Narvaez. He will talk about thinking about being a father not just for the present but for the future.
• Parenting coach Dustin Bruley will discuss practical and positive co-parenting.
• The Bro Dad blogger David Pidnacet will offer a talk titled “Embrace ‘The Suck’ and Wipe Some Butts!”

Breakout topics at past conventions ranged from dealing with picky eaters to teaching children about sexual consent. Outreach or social activities, such as attending a sporting event, are often part of the program.

Ticket, hotel information

A ticket to the three-day HomeDadCon 2022 costs $195. It includes access to all event programs, a convention eve party, three meals and a T-shirt. Discounted hotel reservations are available through August 29 at The Residence Inn by Marriott Phoenix Downtown, which doubles as the event venue. The cost is $169 a night for double occupancy.

+ Buy a ticket for HomeDadCon 2022 +

One change to HomeDadCon 2022 is you will need to be a member of the NAHDN to attend. In the past, the $35 annual fee to the organization was rolled into the conference ticket.

“The reason for the change is operational. We are working at becoming more than a convention,” NAHDN President Jonathan Heisey-Grove wrote in response to emailed questions from City Dads Group. “We offer more than just an annual event now, and there are operating costs associated with running the organization. So we are severing the association of the membership with the convention and making it a calendar year membership.”

The nonprofit National At-Home Dad Network is dedicated to providing advocacy, community, education, and support for families where fathers are their children’s primary caregivers. Its stated purpose is to empower fathers and champion a culture that recognizes them as competent parents.

In the past few years, the organization has added parenting webinars and podcasts to its website. It has also recorded some of the past HomeDadCon sessions, some of which will be made available only to dues-paying members, wrote Heisey-Grove. He noted those members will also have voting rights at the nonprofit’s annual meeting.

“There is also some small swag that we are going to offer, and who knows what kind of special deals we’ll have in the future,” he also wrote.

(DISCLOSURE: City Dads Group has been and is a long-time sponsor and partner with The National At-Home Dad Network for the at-home dads convention.)

I recently turned 44. Getting older makes me nostalgic. It gets me thinking about my younger days when I had less of need for ibuprofen just from sleeping in the wrong position. But this year, as wonderful as my birthday was, I found myself thinking about a dad other than myself.

A dad named James Lopez.

I did not know James very well before we roomed together at the October 2021 HomeDadCon conference for at-home fathers. I knew of him from other fatherhood conferences we both attended. He was the guy who always wore a “#FatherhoodisLit” T-shirt and hat (and I mean always). He was usually surrounded by people laughing and joking around with him. But just as often as I saw the smiles, those same people would be listening intently as he spoke. Most likely, he was dropping gems regarding fatherhood.

When I was asked to speak at HomeDadCon about book publishing, I was totally surprised that they wanted me to room with James, who is also a co-organizer for the NYC Dads Group. I assumed someone of his level had his own suite, to be honest. However, after spending just a few minutes with him, all the superstar status I had applied to him faded away. I immediately knew what he was all about: being a great dad.

As important as his brand is to him, he wasn’t about selling a million T-shirts or getting lucrative endorsement deals. A father of three boys, James, I learned, was about creating awareness of the greatness of being a dad. He liked to shine a light on other dads he thought were doing a great job showcasing the awesomeness of fatherhood. He didn’t care whether you had 2 million followers or just two. If he thought you were great dad, he wanted everyone he knows to know it, too. For example, he once appeared in PBS television spot. Without even asking me, he chose my book to be the one he was reading to his son on camera. That is the kind of guy he is. 

One of the things James frequently talks about is “presence over presents.” We get too caught up in spending money for our kids to have the latest toy or video game, he believes. Instead, we should focus on spending time with them. I thought of this over Father’s Day weekend while attending my cousin’s wedding.

The best man’s speech quoted a rap lyric about how false the idea of “time is money” really is. You can make more money, yes, but you cannot make more time. The next morning, Father’s Day, about 10 of us went out for breakfast. We celebrated the wonderful wedding we had attended, the fathers in attendance at the meal, the amazing bacon we were eating; but most importantly, we celebrated being able to spend time with each other. The 8-hour roundtrip drive to North Carolina for me, with increasing gas prices added to everything else spent on the weekend, was worth the money because of the time I got to spend with relatives I don’t see as often as I should. I earn that money back, but I can’t get back time missed.

I say all this because James has had some setbacks recently. In April, he underwent successful brain surgery for a non-cancerous growth. He mostly kept it secret because he didn’t want sympathy. James was seemingly on the road to recovery, but then later that month he re-injured himself. He is back in the hospital, in a coma. His family set up GoFundMe to help with this new round of expenses.

+ Donate to help James Lopez’s family +

As I I saw the update on his health, I started to think about the great time we had at HomeDadCon. We talked about everything from basketball to sneakers to fatherhood to Wu-Tang. That time with him was more valuable than the cost of the Uber to and from the airport. Or the plane ticket. Or all the other expenses that came with that conference. 

We can’t make up for lost time. It won’t ever come back. But, but we can try to make sure the time we have is filled. We can fill it with memories and laughs and moments that make us forget about monetary cost. Even if the time we get to share is only a few minutes, it can help us understand the value family and friends truly bring to our lives. That is presence over presents.

Whether you are a dad who is doing great, doing poorly or just kind of going thru the motions, remember #FatherhoodisLit and “presence over presents.” There is no time better than right now to try to be the best dad you can be. 

Silhouette photo: ©Ivan Karpov / Adobe Stock.