What We Can't Put on the List
We came in with a plan for getting our kids ready to leave home, and spent most of the morning discovering how much of it we don't actually control.
Raising Independent Kids
Fostering independence and preparing kids to launch with confidence.
Fathering With the End in View: Notes From Our Fifth Year Together
Picture the day your child walks out your door for good. Who do you want them to be — and what do you need to build into them between now and then?
Planned Emancipation Part 2: Raising Sons Who Carry Their Own Weight (with Joy and Wisdom)
Fathers explored the planned-emancipation framework — mapping children's "territories" and examining how clear expectations and a trust "credit score" can raise sons who own their lives with wisdom.
Planned Emancipation: Raising Teens by Gradually Withdrawing Our Troops
Drawing on planned emancipation, fathers discussed handing teenagers real freedom progressively — shifting from commander to counselor and staying present as a steady, trusted source of influence.
The Day They Leave: Fatherhood with the End in Mind
Fathers imagine the day their child walks out the door for good and work backward—naming the skills, character, and faith they want to have passed on through daily liturgy, one-on-ones, and a shared family vision.
Advice From a Dad with College Age Children: Lessons Looking Back and Forward
A father shared hard-won lessons: a family mission statement, daily blessings over children, deep accountability with other men, and leaning on God's grace when fatherhood feels overwhelming.
Antifragile Children in Discover Mode vs. Defend Mode
Drawing on the Biosphere tree experiment and Jonathan Haidt's research, fathers discuss how children grow stronger through struggle — and share practical ways to let kids face frustration and failure.
Intentional Father’s Week 8 – Fostering Independence in Our Children – “Old Enough”
Fathers discuss the growing trend of overprotection and explore practical ways to give children age-appropriate responsibility, embrace failure as a teacher, and use the Model-Assist-Watch-Learn coaching approach.