Be a Champion Dad

This post comes from a guest contributor, Emily Graham. You can connect with Emily at: emilygraham@mightymoms.net. Please take a moment to check out her awesome website at: http://mightymoms.net/ The ability to work from home is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, holding a remote job will enable you to save money … More How to Survive Working from Home: Tips for Busy Parents

For this post we have a guest contributor, Kristin Louis from Parenting with Kris. Below Kris has put together a great list of resources for parenting at any age. When you have a moment, please check out here parenting site with the link above. Thank you for your submission Kris! **** Parenting is a tremendous … More Top Parenting Resources for Various Ages & Stages

We hope that we have reached critical mass as a country. Along with a pandemic that continues to wreak havoc on the world, we have widespread social unrest. People have taken to the streets to protest, riot, and loot. The social unrest erupted at the unnecessary and tragic death of George Floyd. There are many varied takes … More Change Starts with Personal Awareness

I’m a middle-aged white woman, living in suburban Massachusetts. I have two children, and my husband is one-quarter Jamaican. On the surface, that doesn’t sound like much pigmentation, but I have observed over the years and generations that in families with multiple kids, one child tends to be considerably darker than the other. In my … More Engage, Share Stories and Love One Another

In our last post (You Have Been Called), our main theme revolved around the importance of authenticity and that the world needs you to be you. In today’s post, we will provide insight into how to use our authenticity to find our Calling. Our ultimate goal is to sift through the noise of life so we … More Unearthing the Call

Have you ever stopped to think about how unique and special you are? The odds of you being you, alive now, come out to around 1 in 400 quadrillions (that is right, a 4 with seventeen zeros! This doesn’t even consider all the factors). When you take time to really think about these numbers (or all of … More You Have Been Called

It has been a while. It has been about eight weeks since I chose to step away to focus on family while the world turned upside down. Things got bizarre out there for sure. While we have all been struggling and coming to terms with a worldwide pandemic, I have been busy. Busy, yes, at … More Certainty in Uncertain Times

It is that time of year where the temperature starts to rise, and we open the windows to let the fresh air in. Spring cleaning seems to be a rite of passage for those of us in New England. Smelling the spring air waft through your living space is a wonderful moment as it signals … More A Digital Spring Cleaning

Guess what? I am a terrible listener. I am especially bad when I am in the middle of a task or if someone is talking to me while watching my kids. You see, I am sharp enough to believe that I can “multi-task,” but if I am not fully locked on to the person, just … More 5 Techniques to Improve Your Listening Skills

For this week’s post, I could have taken part 2 and amplified it to include others in your life. Yet, that would seem too easy. We will walk through some basic principles that are the foundation for joy to manifest in a family setting for today’s post.  Belonging & Community: Families that thrive in joy have a … More Cultivation Joy part 3: Family Principles

Last week we covered the main difference between happiness and joy. As a super light recap, happiness is something that we chase and is fleeting (cannot hold on to), while joy emerges through the process of a life well-lived (sustainable). This week we will dive into the habits shown to provide the best chance to … More Cultivating Joy part 2: Personal Habits

Through this series, we have identified our values, taken a look at our personalities, and reviewed how trust is built between people. This post will put it all together and discuss elements of a home filled with wellness. A household that operates in full wellness is functioning with authenticity while providing feelings of belonging. The … More Home Culture Part 4: Wellness for All

In part 2, we took the time to walk through the DISC model’s four basic temperaments. Hopefully, through reading each of those descriptions, you could get a feeling or understanding of where you fell within that model (If you are interested in really nailing it down, click here). Today, we will look at identifying other personalities and … More Home Culture Part 3: Building Trust

This week we will do a high-level overview of temperaments and personality types. Yet, before we dig in, let’s recall what we learned last week about identifying values.  Values: Your values are the things you believe are important in the way you live and work. They (should) determine your priorities, and, deep down, they’re probably the measures you … More Home Culture Part 2: Who are you?

In last week’s post, we touched upon wellness and creating a home environment where everybody’s needs are met. We specifically pointed out the friction between the sense of belonging and authenticity. To this point, we reviewed the slippery slope where people begin to choose the comfort of conformity over a sense of authenticity. Over the … More Home Culture Part 1: Values

Today’s post is really just the tip of a large iceberg (called Wellness) that we will uncover in the coming weeks. Hopefully, these words will give you some great triggering thoughts on how to adjust your home environment to maximize your family’s wellness potential. As a dad, I find myself trying to balance out my … More The Balance: Authenticity and Belonging

Happy New Year!  With the new year, I have made a couple of resolutions to improve my life. I do this every year, and each year I have mixed results. I attribute my mixed results to the fact that I used to wait on inspiration to take action. Perhaps you know the feeling. Inspiration is … More Hesitation: The Mind’s Quicksand

As this year is wrapping up, I start my annual process of reflecting on the year just completed and thinking of a few goals for the new year. Many of us go through this process…parties and celebrations happen and are followed up with some resolutions. (How much is that gym membership?) I have one vague and … More Failure: I am looking forward to it!

Just over a month ago, I started a thirty-day journey to stop my “flywheel” mind. In those thirty days, my goal was to practice doing one thing at a time and to meditate every day. I have had some mixed results with this adventure, but I did start to build some good habits while I regained control. … More The Flywheel Mind Revisited

If you are like me, you probably would say that you want to give your kids the world. I mean, as you look at it, love is that way. You want to provide for them and give them all that they need. However, if you are also like me, you have a big problem with … More The Entitlement Antidote: Gratitude

Be A Champion Dad wishes you the best this Thanksgiving. This day is more than being indulgent and watching football (or gearing up for Black Friday). Thanksgiving is when families and friends can unite and celebrate all of the blessings they have received throughout the year. It is a time for reflection and an opportunity … More Give Thanks, Hugs, and Feelings of Significance

There are times where I am baffled by my children. It is like I have a couple of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydes. When we go out for the day (anywhere away from home), my kids behave very well. They watch, listen, and generally stick close to my wife and me. When we are at … More Home Environments: Emotional Safety

Over the last couple of posts you probably get the sense that I have gone through a lot in life lately. However, to the outside observer, I am just a happy-go-lucky guy marching through his life. So the question may beg- how do you not let life beat you down? Or, how do you shake … More 3 Questions to Unearth Your Calling

Earlier this year, I wrote a post called Endless Distraction. I detailed how I was in the habit of always checking or reaching for my phone. I also touched upon how these mindless (or programmed) activities take us out of the moment (put away the phone when you are in the presence of your children). A little later, … More Stopping the Flywheel Mind

“Being human is not about being any one particular way; it is about being as life creates you—with your own particular strengths and weaknesses, gifts and challenges, quirks and oddities.”―Kristin Neff I have a problem which I bet a lot of you also suffer from. I get caught in a loop of self-pity from time … More Flight…The other quiet emotional trigger response (and how to get out of it)

We are fast approaching the one year mark since the Be A Champion Dad site took off! Over this time, we have had over 50+ posts with insight into being a better parent and/or person. The odds are you might have missed some of our most popular posts. Below I have listed four of our … More What you might have missed….

Needs…we all have them. Hopefully our needs are met on a routine basis. In this post we will be reviewing some of the basic needs your child may have to function optimally. Specifically, we will be looking at addressing these needs within the first hour from when the wake in the morning. These are call … More First Hour Needs: Optimizing your child’s well-being

Growing up, the sport was what kept me on track in my life and development. Very early on, I had a learning disability due to my hearing. This turned into delayed progression with reading and writing. Needless to say, I did not feel at all confident with academics well into high school. However, even though … More Why Sport is Critical to a Child’s Development

Recently I have had time to reflect on this site and all of the posts within. One thing that really stands out is that life is all about growth and relationships. There really is nothing more to life than this. When we talk about growth and relationships on this site, there are three pillars we aim … More Champion Dad’s Pillars of Growth and Relationships

When I think of negative emotional triggers, a vision of land mines appears in my head. I am sure you know what I mean, but if not, imagine a war movie. Soldiers marching across a field and one poor fella steps on a mine…BOOM! Or, if gore is not your flavor, a soldier notices he … More Diffusing Your Emotional Triggers

You know a Champion Dad (person) when you see one. They walk with a certain methodical confidence. When they speak, everyone listens, and they have a magical charisma about them. They seem unshakable yet completely happy and flexible at the moment. No matter the circumstance, they are grateful for the moment and emit a humbleness … More The 5 Contagious Traits of Champion Dads

Recently, I was on vacation with my family up in Old Orchard, Maine. Our hotel of choice has a really nice swimming pool between our room and the ocean. This is really neat since our kids like to jump between swimming in the ocean and the pool throughout the day. During our second afternoon, I … More Influential Matters: The Tale of Two Dads

I had only what I can call a huge victory recently with my son. No, we did not win a major event or anything like that. It was much simpler. We avoided a heated standoff, and then we followed up with some positive reinforcement. “Wow! Epic story, Mike!” Go ahead and laugh at how ordinary … More Catch’em in the act! Turn clashes into small victories…

Children are always growing, learning, and discovering. Part of this process is for them to come up against life, bang around, get into fights, have night terrors, and get big feelings. All of these normal things need to happen so they can learn to regulate. Yet, these normal things are often inconvenient for us parents. … More The Lawnmower Approach

 Every child has an inner well of positive emotion. Wells that are full provide the ingredients for successful interactions and growth opportunities in our little ones. Confidence, acceptance, compassion, competitiveness, optimism all flow from this well. Children perform better when they feel better about themselves. This is a fairly straightforward and simple concept. However, as … More Filling The Emotional Well

Recently, I had a good conversation with my mom regarding a very popular show: Blue Bloods. I don’t watch the show, but I know it has Tom Selleck in it. My mom said she liked the show so much wasn’t only because of Tom (sure mom…I know he is hot) but because the show always ended … More Family Dinner: 5 Tips to make the most of this important time (and Tom Selleck)

In part I of this post, we discussed what it means to be a good enough dad. I used the definition: a dad who is present, engaged, and responsive to the child. We also mapped out that responsive parenting is the cornerstone of success. Responsive parenting has two steps: Fully listening to the needs child and (when they are done expressing) … More Be a Good Enough Dad, Part II

Today’s post will be the first of a three part series: Cultivating Joy. In this post, I would like to bring some awareness of the differences between happiness and Joy. There are clear distinctions between the two, and understanding these differences can help you cultivate wellness in you and your family’s life. In the second … More Cultivating Joy part I: Happiness vs. Joy

Lately, I have been having power struggles with my very determined boy. He is five and is testing every word I say. At my best, I don’t argue with him. I state what needs to be said and move on, leaving him to decide how he wants his day to be. At my worst, which … More Be a Good Enough Dad, part I

Laughter…is there really anything that you can do that is better than laughing? For me, nothing compares to it. I also bet that you would have a hard time disagreeing with me on that statement if you think about it. Laughter truly is the best medicine, as well. From a physical standpoint, laughter relaxes the … More 5 Ways To Increase Laughter In Your Home

This post is dedicated to my mentor Peggy. You have modeled and coached these behaviors since we’ve met. Simple but powerful. Thank you for coaching me on how to develop a thinking child. Perhaps you have heard something similar to the following examples: “Daddy, daddy! <insert name> is not giving me a turn with the … More Coaching vs. Directing: Helping Your Child Develop Critical Thinking Skills

I love listening to my kids at play. I often can tell exactly what is going on by the tone of their voice or the shade of laughter I hear. Often, based on these sounds, I can accurately predict how their unsupervised play will end. However, if my kids recognize that I am near, the … More Outdoors and Unsupervised…Let’em Play!

How many of us live a life of busy? How many of us lead our days by giant to-do lists? How many of us feel the weight of mental clutter that busy creates.  How many of us have sacred time just dedicated to taking care of the self. Sacred time so pure and important that you allow … More Sacred Time: A Pillar For Mental Wellness

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending another two-day training session with Jeanine Fitzgerald. Whenever I attend one of these training pieces on education & parenting, I am amazed at how strong my soul lights up. The distilled wisdom and the practical application of the material is phenomenal. After clearing it with Jeanine, I … More A Few Thoughts To Chew On…

I have an internal battle going on. I really want my children to be a better version of me. Who has thought that? Seems pretty harmless….because…well, the word better is in it. But there is a huge problem with that statement. The problem is the word me. My children will never be me. They are growing up in different … More Break the Mold: Inspire Your Child’s Authentic Self to Emerge

This morning, I wrote a post about the pitfalls of shaming others (kids) and shaming oneself. The post was long, scattered, and full of too much life! So, I walked away, searching for concise thoughts or pithy words to use. Hoping it would magically hit me….but it didn’t. The gist of it was how damaging … More Shame is not the game (for adults and kids)

“Whoa! Here we go!” My father yelled, as once again he had the first catch of the season. They were here. My father’s voice rang like a gong, carrying down stream to where I stood. His call signified to everyone that the long hard New England winter was officially over. Opening day fever intensified in … More Traditions: The Binding Stories of Our Life

“The greatest victory is the one that requires no battle.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War *Special thanks to Jeanine Fitzgerald and Peggy Hoime for the inspiration to write this post. “NOOOOO! YOU DIDN’T LISTEN! YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO IT THAT WAY!” This was what my son screamed at me this weekend while playing a … More Power Struggles: Avoiding the War

(This is the first post by our new contributor JB. Please take a moment to check out her profile in the Contributors page) A CHAMPION DAD…that sounds daunting, no doubt. Since I heard the blog’s name, I have been considering what this means, where I’ve experienced it. My own dad is a champion in many … More Step One: Showing Up

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily” When I first became a dad, well…everything changed. The first thing that changed was I had to take care of another tiny human better than I have ever cared for myself! Ok, so my wife and I got this! (Yeah, totally needed her … More Three Steps To Morning Freedom