Raising Dad

The truth that parents learn as much from their children as their children learn from them is poignantly captured in this book by father and son.

All parents will tell you they learn as much from their children as their children learn from them. This truth is poignantly captured in Raising Dad: What Fathers & Sons Learn from Each Other by father-son authors Thom and Art Rainer.It was Art’s idea to write from a grown child’s perspective this tribute to his father’s successes as a parent. Inviting his father Thom to write postscripts to these reflections, another tender truth emerged. Dad’s memories about his own performance aren’t nearly as rose colored, giving those who read the book great inspiration to never stop growing and learning as a parent.All told, Raising Dad shares unforgettable lessons about faith, friendship, commitment, honesty, priorities—all the things that matter most in life between parents and children.

"A fearless, angry, brutally funny poke in the eye of the American music machine and pop culture industry. Tom Matthews' memorable, highly readable first novel is that rare literary artifact - a satire with teeth." —Tom Perrotta on Like We Care Raising the Dad is a small masterpiece that charts the all-too-familiar forces hastening the decline of the average American family, and in it Tom Matthews has produced a classic novel of modern life. In Raising the Dad, the dysfunction in John Husted’s family is vexing enough: His marriage has slipped into a state of passionless functionality. His teenage daughter is growing distant and mean. His older brother—a washed-up heavy-metal singer—is fresh out of jail, and their mother may be slipping away to dementia. Things just seemed to veer off course since the death of the family patriarch many years earlier. But then John is stunned to learn that his father’s fate was not what he had long believed it to be. It falls upon John to decide if he should break the news to his family, knowing that the truth could make the family whole – or smash it to pieces. “Raising the Dad mines family dysfunction for all of its complex truths and wild emotions. Tom Matthews strikes the damnedest balance—aching loss, brutal humor—as his befuddled protagonist deals with mind-blowing circumstances.”—Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng and Half-A-Life “The sensitivity and unexpected humor that Tom Matthews brings to this emotionally complex book extends to the protagonist’s rock singer brother.” —Producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)

After Eric Davis spent over 16 years in the military, including a decade in the SEAL Teams, his family was more than used to his absence on deployments and secret missions that could obscure his whereabouts for months at a time. Without a father figure in his own life since the age of fifteen, Eric was desperate to maintain the bonds he’d fought so hard to forge when his children were young—particularly with his son, Jason, because he knew how difficult it was to face the challenge of becoming a man on one’s own. Unfortunately, Eric learned the hard way that Quality Time doesn’t always show up in Quantity Time. Facebook, television, phones, video games, school, jobs, friends—they all got in the way of a real, meaningful father-son relationship. It was time to take action. As a SEAL, Eric learned to innovate and push boundaries, allowing him to function at levels beyond what was expected, comfortable, ordinary, and even imaginable, and he knew that as a father he needed to do the same with his son. Meeting extreme with extreme was the only answer. Using a unique blend of discipline, leadership, adventure, and grace, Eric and his SEAL brothers will teach you how to connect, and reconnect, with your sons and learn how to raise real men—the Navy SEAL way.

Raising Father is about caring and caring people, and the essentials in each that enable them. It is a story of role reversals and concurrent, clashing perspectives, as recorded by an articulate young daughter after her mother’s death. In this insightful saga, she weaves the brilliant narrative of her father Max, a conceptually challenged, creatively gifted, and recently widowed man. The story unfolds to introduce the now deeply missed person–-the deceased wife and mother—whose extraordinary care, acuity and integrity, nevertheless, continues to shape the ones she has so loved. What is in jeopardy is the trajectory of each of her loved ones, and the deep values and commitments that she riveted.

"Raising a Father is a celebration. This affectionate and appealing story gives smiles, tears and renewed faith in the human spirit." -Brent Green, Author, Marketing to Leading-edge Baby Boomers: Perceptions, Principles, Practices, Prediction "... should be required reading for the planet. Uplifting, instructive, and describes so much of what fathers should aspire to in their relationship with their children." -Herb Rubenstein, Sustainable Business Group "Raising a Father provides a very candid and honest assessment of the everyday obstacles we all face in trying to attain the proper work-life balance." - Peter J. Pittman, President, Denver West Rotary Club During Arjun Sen's tenure in the corporate world, a wise, corporate stair-climbing friend told him, "Arjun, in order to achieve bigger glories, one must make smaller sacrifices in life." It was clear he referred to spending less time with family, not being there for children's special moments, and similar "small" sacrifices in personal life. Sen learns the hard way that these sacrifices come with large costs, and in Raising a Father he recounts his journey to this realization. Foreseeing his father-daughter future reduced to obligatory phone calls on birthdays and Father's Day, Sen leaves corporate America. He founds a home-based marketing consulting company in Denver, his ten-year-old daughter's favorite city; names his daughter as manager; and begins the real journey of becoming a true father. In this memoir, Sen discusses how he now measures success differently. Raising a Father tells the story of how a young girl uses her charm, her love, and her caring nature to train her dad to become a better father and a better person.

Become the Dad Your Kids Need The rewards of being a brave dad are great. But no guts, no glory. First you have to be willing to follow God's job description for dads as given in the Bible. In Brave Dad you'll receive guidance on... the starting point of being a godly dad—loving your wife how to raise children who desire to follow God ways to lovingly discipline kids and encourage obedience traps to avoid in the course of parenting the power of a dad's example to shape children for life When you commit yourself to being a brave dad, God will help you every step of the way. There is no surer path to a lifetime of family blessings!

Rules for Raising Little Girls "As the father of a daughter, I wish I'd read this very funny book sooner, if only to know that it's OK for a grown man to wear a tutu." - Dave Barry "Required reading for any parent who doesn't know pants from leggings." - Dan Zevin, author of Dan Gets a Minivan: Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad It's easy to imagine how you'd raise a boy--all the golf outings, lawnmower lessons, and Little League championships you'd attend--but playing dad to a little princess may take some education. In Oh Boy, You're Having a Girl, Brian, a father of three girls, shares his tactics for surviving this new and glittery world. From baby dolls and bedtime rituals to potty training and dance recitals, he leads you through all the trials and tribulations you'll face as you're raising your daughter. He'll also show you how to navigate your way through tough situations, like making sure that she doesn't start dating until she's fifty. Complete with commandments for restroom trips and properly participating in a tea party, Oh Boy, You're Having a Girl will brace you for all those hours playing house--and psych you up for the awesomeness of raising a daughter who has you lovingly wrapped around her little finger. "Somehow, Brian Klems has taken one of the most traumatic situations known to a father--having a daughter--and made it into something so completely hilarious you'll laugh until you've got oxygen deprivation!" - W. Bruce Cameron, author of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter

A fists-up handbook for helping dads help their daughters resist the patriarchy, written by popular feminist dad blogger Mike Adamick As a primary male role model in a girl's life, a father influences his daughter in profound ways, from the way she defines her female identity to what she expects from men. In Raising Empowered Daughters, Mike Adamick offers a wise and witty handbook for dads, suggesting ways to raise girls who won't settle for second-class-citizenship. Examining the extraordinary array of sexisms-both subtle and not-so-subtle-girls encounter, Adamick highlights not just the ways that girls and boys are treated differently but how the roles of moms and dads are shaped by society, too. Full of eye-opening anecdotes and dad-relatable humor, this is a necessary guide for every father who wants to raise a confident daughter.

A collection of short stories told by a father and his daughter. It shares the immense joys and devastating heartache experienced during divorce, single parenting, and running a family business. Their adventures together create a memoir that inspires hope through determination and forgiveness.