Teaching your kids about life’s challenges often means confronting your own

You want to show them how to be brave, resilient, and hopeful when things get tough. But as you guide them through their struggles - homework, friendships, big feelings (relationships, egad!) - you start to see the gaps in your own armor.

How do I handle stress? Do I model patience? Am I willing to admit when I’ve failed and try again?

Fatherhood has a way of holding up a mirror, forcing you to practice what you preach. It’s not always comfortable and rarely pretty, but it’s necessary. Because the best lessons you can give your kids aren’t in what you say - they’re in what you do. Do as I do when I’ve done right.