Dad University Podcast

Latest Episodes:

14 Ways to Help Your Wife After The Child is Born – Ep 90 Nov 22, 2016

Show notes

The last episode asked the women to take action. With Episode 90 we are now back to our regular scheduled programming and working on dads and what we can do. 14 Ways to Help Your Wife After The Child is Born 1. Have a meeting and divide the labor. Agree on who is doing what. 2. When you get home from work, immediately take the baby from her hands 3. Bring her flowers and tell her they are for being an amazing mom. Include a card. 4. Hire someone to clean the house. If you can’t afford it, you clean it. 5. Give her a spa day. That means massage, facial, nails, hair, whatever. If you can’t afford that, give her a “free day” where she is obligated to do nothing except something she wants to do. 6. Arrange for a babysitter and take her out to dinner. If you can’t afford a sitter, get family or exchange with a friend. There is always someone who would be willing to watch the child. 7. Let her sleep. Most likely she is sleep deprived. If you can do it on a regular basis that is great. Maybe you get up early Saturday mornings so she can sleep in. Have this be a part of the meeting. 8. Let her know she is beautiful. She may not believe it, but it’s important. This may sound something like “It’s so amazing watching you with our child. You are really beautiful.” Do it regularly. 9. Don’t take irrational behavior personally. Her hormones can be crazy, her behavior erratic, and her responses not very friendly. Take it with a grain of salt. Don’t take abuse but also know that it’s some other personality doing the talking for her. 10. Give her a massage (without expecting …

For Women – 7 Ways to Get Your Husband More Involved With The Baby – Dudes To Dads Ep 89 Nov 16, 2016

Show notes

We have talked about how men can be more supportive to their spouse during and after pregnancy. What if he is not doing it? What is they the guy is clueless? A pain point with women is they often feel their men aren’t involved enough. As men, we might not even know what to do. I don’t think it’s often a conscious choice. However, the last thing on a woman’s mind when she is breastfeeding a 3 month old, is that she should cater to the guy’s needs. But is she wants him to be more involved and take an active role, it may be up to her to take action. Understand the purpose of this is empowerment to the women. You are able to take charge of the situation. Here are 7 Tips to Get Your Husband More Involved With the Baby: Attention – Try to find a balance time between spouse and child. When the child comes along, men often feel (and are) third in line. Things light date nights are important. Appreciation – Provide him positive re-inforcement. Replace criticism with praise. Understand there is more than just “your way” to do things – When he tries to help, be ok with his method, style, or way of doing things. Do family activities – Go to the park, go for walks, just doing something together. He gets to participate and feel like it’s one unit, not you and the baby against him. Have a meeting to divide the labor – Give him tasks like bathing and feeding and write out the chores, and work each other are going to take on. Ask for help – This is basic but yet really difficult for many women. Provide instruction so he knows exactly what is expected. Take time away from …

For Women – 7 Ways to Get Your Husband More Involved With The Baby – Ep 89 Nov 16, 2016

Show notes

Raising a Special Needs Child – Interview With a Father – Ep 88 Nov 08, 2016

Show notes

In episode 88 we are joined by Jim, father of a special needs child TJ. His son is now 22 years old and he talks about the learning experiences he had, the impact his child has had on him, and suggestions on important actions to take when you child has special needs. While his son had learning disabilities and his motor skills are slower, Jim put forth tremendous effort for his son to have a “normal” life. Here are 5 Tips on Raising a Special Needs Child: 1. Have patience – If you want someone to learn, you need to be patient. You must catch yourself before you lose focus of the child and what is important. 2. Presence – You must be a big part of their life. This means being present within their school, activities, and daily life. You must live in the moment. 3. Allowing more independence – Whether special needs or not, we often do much more for our children than they need. They are very capable. An important point for Jim was that he would have wished he allowed his son to do more for himself and possibly fail more often. Failing and learning from your mistakes is important. 4. Keeping your child social – Have your child interact with others regularly. Many times they prefer to be solitary but it’s essential to have friends, participate in activities such as music, sports, art, or other interests. 5. Education – While continuing education of your child is crucial to development, it’s also essential as a dad, you continue to educate yourself about your child’s situation.…

Raising a Special Needs Child – Interview With a Father – Dudes To Dads Ep 88 Nov 08, 2016

Show notes

How to Get Your Kids To Stop Complaining – Ep 87 Nov 01, 2016

Show notes

We complain to get things “off our chest” not to resolve problems of fix things. This makes our complaints worthless. For example, we often complain about people: whether it is co-workers, spouse, or even our kids. However the complaining typically isn’t even to the people or person that can effect the outcome. We complain about traffic, food, friends, customer service, etc. How often are our complaints really reaching someone who can help fix it? If you are out to dinner with your spouse and you complain to them about the food, they can’t fix it. You need to tell the server in order for it to be fixed. Jason provides the example of traffic. His kids started complaining about traffic and he noticed that they obviously got that from him. We have issues and complaints all day long. The accumulation of frustration and helplessness from daily complaints impacts our moods and overall mental health. Chronic complainers think the world is out to get them Here are 5 ways to reduce complaining: 1) Recognize a complaint 2) Put a rubberband on your wrist and snap it each time you complain. 3) Practice mindfullness – practice yoga and/or meditation 4) Learn to be grateful – I found an app that prompts me each day 5) Make a change – if you can affect the outcome, then take action. If you can’t, ask yourself if the complaining helps the situation For kids, there would typically be reasons (which are important to them) that they are complaining: They may feel disconnected, they don’t like the change in location, or they just simply are not getting what they want. Here are a few things you can do: 1) Be calm and try to look at it from their perspective 2) Use empathy to validate their …

How to Get Your Kids To Stop Complaining – Dudes To Dads Ep 87 Nov 01, 2016

Show notes

The Importance of Having Fun as a Family – Ep 86 Oct 25, 2016

Show notes

Children look to their parents as examples. When parents don’t participate, the kids see this and may copy the behavior…choosing not to participate in things. I was talking to someone recently and they said they always thought there parents were boring because they never dressed up for Halloween or other holidays. While you may accept being boring, the are benefits to parents having fun with their kids: builds a family identity creates confidence in the children strengthens internal bonds can create lasting traditions less behavior problems, drug abuse, teen issues For you as a dad personally: reduce stress levels increase serotonin (makes you happy) create better relationships with your kids score a few points with the wife Ways to have fun – you’ll notice none of these involve electronicsor TV Playing Games – Board games, hide and seek Food – Eating meals at a restaurant, picnic at a park, eating outside, having them help you cook Creative projects – carving pumpkins, using sidewalk chalk on the street Vacation – from camping to a luxury resort, there may be something to do for everyone. Sporting Events – doesn’t even have to be pro, it could be college or even high school sports Tips for success Brand the event – Instead of just game night, call it the “Smith Family Game Bonanza” It’s also crucial to set aside time to have fun. Put fun in the calendar. Make then regular activities. Do it weekly, monthly, or whatever makes sense Ask your children what they want to do too. What you think is fun may not be the same for them. …

The Importance of Having Fun as a Family – Dudes To Dads Ep 86 Oct 25, 2016

Show notes

Why Kids Lie – How To Deal With Kids Lying – Ep 85 Oct 18, 2016

Show notes

Why Do Kids Lie? You can’t take it personally or feel that you have failed as a parent. Kids are going to lie and try to push boundaries. It’s totally normal for them to lie. Whether they want attention or want to avoid something bad they all do it. The reasons they lie varies based on age. Toddlers and Preschoolers (Ages 2 to 4) They don’t yet understand where truth begins and ends. Reality is a little unclear School-Age and Big Kids (Ages 5 to 8) Often lie about school, classes, homework, teachers, and friends Often lie because the responsibilities are too much. There is too much pressure Tweens (Ages 9 to 12) To avoid getting in trouble Getting better at maintaining lies More senstive to repercussions May be important to teach them situations where being completely honest isn’t polite….like when someone cooks food for you and asks if you like it. Here are some links of the articles we reference: http://time.com/3628783/lying-punishment-kids-lie-more-study/ How to Deal with Lying in Children and Teens Researchers traced the effectiveness of punishment in 372 kids between the ages of 4 and 8, finding that children were less likely to tell the truth when threatened with punishment, and more likely to tell the truth when they thought it would please an adult. Don’t punish a child for telling a lie. Encourage them to tell the truth. Here are a few ways to encourage honesty from a supernanny article: 1. Calmly name the issue but don’t demand confessions. Never call your child a liar or bring up the past. 2. Try to understand why your child is finding it hard to be honest. Avoiding diclipline, pressure 3. Teach your child about why lying doesn’t work. The boy who cried wolf 4. Respond with clear consequences. Very …

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected