Dad Space Podcast - for Dads by Dads

Episode 277 - The Need for More Spaces Dedicated to Men and Boys, Teenage Suicide and a Parent's Regrets with Paul DarlingIn this episode, the guest shares a deeply personal reflection on fatherhood, family, grief, and the lessons he has carried through a military life and a long season of loss. Speaking from the Cumberland Plateau in East Tennessee, he talks about raising three adult children across different places and seasons of service, and how constant moving shaped his family while also making it hard to build lasting roots.At the center of the conversation is the death of his youngest son, which he describes as the event that changed his family forever. He opens up about the pain, the guilt, and the questions that still remain, especially around whether a different environment, more support, or stronger peer connections might have changed the outcome. He also reflects on the warning signs of suicide, the limits of what parents can see, and the lasting impact tragedy has on a marriage and the rest of the family.The episode also explores broader ideas about boys, men, discipline, responsibility, and the value of all male spaces, sports, scouting, and other environments where young people can be challenged and learn resilience. He argues that boys need opportunities to fail, grow, and earn confidence through effort rather than praise alone, and he connects that belief to his own regrets about where he feels he fell short as a father.Throughout the discussion, he returns to themes of stoicism, truth telling, gratitude, and the danger of teaching envy, anger, and empty comparison instead of thankfulness and perseverance. He also speaks about marriage, faith, family, and the belief that real happiness is found in commitment, responsibility, and working through hardship rather than escaping it.This episode is a candid and emotional reminder that children need both love and challenge, and that helping boys grow into healthy men means teaching them how to face difficulty, accept truth, and keep going when life gets hard.Paul's book:https://www.amazon.com/Taliban-Safari-One-Surkhagan-Valley-ebook/dp/B07QW32VZ5?ref_=ast_author_mpb___https://dadspace.caLeave Dave a voice message here! Tell me where you are listening from!?https://www.speakpipe.com/HelloDavemusic provided by Blue Dot SessionsSong: The Big Ten https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/258270

Episode 276 - Feed Drop - Dr. Liz, Nutrition For the Early Years - 7 Mistakes NOT to Make in Feeding Your Toddler7 Mistakes NOT to Make in Feeding Your ToddlerWhat if the nutrition choices you worry about most are not the ones that matter most? In this episode of Nutrition for the Early Years, Dr. Liz Daniels shares seven common feeding mistakes parents make during the baby and toddler years. With warmth and honesty, she explains why multivitamins are not always the answer for picky eaters, how kid-friendly leftovers can add to parent guilt, and why oral care should start as soon as teeth come in. She also talks about juice, flavored drinks, salt fears, food labels, and the need for parents to care for their own health, too. This episode gives parents simple, guilt-free guidance to focus on what truly helps kids grow strong and build healthy habits from the start. What You’ll Learn:Why food matters more than most supplementsHow to reduce guilt around leftoversWhen to start brushing your baby’s teethWhy juice does not need to be a daily habitHow to focus on the big picture instead of stressing over every label detailWhy caring for your own health is one of the best ways to support your child’s nutritionEpisode highlights:Mistake 1: Relying on multivitamins for picky eatersMistake 2: Letting food waste and leftovers create guiltMistake 3: Skipping early oral hygieneMistake 4: Offering juice and flavored drinks too oftenMistake 5: Worrying too much about salt in home cookingMistake 6: Focusing too much on tiny label detailsMistake 7: Forgetting parent health matters tooNutrition for the Early Years is a pediatric nutrition podcast for parents seeking evidence-based guidance on infant feeding, toddler nutrition, and child health. Hosted by dual pediatrician + registered dietitian Dr. Liz Daniels, this show explores newborn and infant nutrition, introducing solids, baby-led weaning, complementary feeding, formula feeding, multivitamins for kids, growth and development, and picky eating solutions—all through the lens of real pediatric nutrition science.From feeding anxiety and selective eating to questions about appetite, supplements, and healthy eating habits, this podcast helps parents build a confident, guilt-free feeding mindset. You’ll learn how to support your child’s relationship with food in ways that nourish growth, protect early childhood nutrition, and align with your values—without fear-based messaging or all-or-none thinking.Food goes deep. It’s often not until we begin feeding our own children that we revisit our childhood nutrition experiences—comments that shaped us, arbitrary rules, pressure around healthy eating, and the quiet guilt many of us carry. Feeding kids has a way of surfacing old narratives and challenging us to rethink what child nutrition really means.This is where the conversation begins—supporting families through toddler feeding, early childhood feeding, and raising children with a strong, positive relationship with food. Because nourishing your family isn’t about perfection. It’s about clarity, confidence, and understanding what truly matters in the early years.https://www.newstorynutrition.com/Listen here: https://pod.link/1865258075Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@drliznewstorynutrition___https://dadspace.caLeave Dave a voice message here! Tell me where you are listening from!?https://www.speakpipe.com/HelloDavemusic provided by Blue Dot SessionsSong: The Big Ten https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/258270

Episode 275 - Four Months Left - What Kind of Dad Will You Be by DecemberThe Intentional Final FourFour months remain in 2026. This window offers dads a chance to finish the year with purpose instead of letting time slip away. The episode lays out a simple monthly focus for September through December. Each theme builds connection, presence, self awareness, and gratitude without requiring a complete life overhaul. September: Reset the Family RhythmSeptember brings new school schedules and a return to routine after summer. Use this shift to reset the family rhythm. Choose one recurring weekly moment to protect on your calendar. It could be a family meal, Saturday morning coffee, a walk, or a short evening check in. Keep it simple and consistent. The goal is reliable connection, not complexity. Guard this time like a non negotiable appointment. October: Show Up Fully PresentOctober asks dads to be fully present. Put your phone away for one intentional block of time every day. Aim for at least fifteen minutes. During that time, give your full attention to your kids, your partner, or the whole family. Listen without fixing. Ask follow up questions. Stay in the moment. Kids copy what they see. If they mimic you holding a phone to your ear, they learned that from you. Presence communicates value before you say a word. November: Check In With YourselfNovember centers on men’s mental health and self awareness. This is your month to be selfish in a healthy way. Name what you feel and tell someone your truth. Write one sentence each day about your emotional state. Share honestly with your partner, a friend, a doctor, or a counselor. Ask yourself what you have carried silently that deserves a conversation. Do not wait until stress becomes a crisis. You do not need to walk this path alone. December: Celebrate What MattersDecember often brings pressure around spending, travel, and traditions. Shift the focus to creating one meaningful family memory that costs nothing. Cook together. Take a drive to see lights. Play a game. Share stories. Record a short family conversation where each person names a moment from the year they want to remember. Finish the year by noticing the people, experiences, and choices that gave your family meaning in 2026. One intentional choice each month can change how a dad finishes the year. Restore connection in September. Strengthen presence in October. Support honest self awareness in November. Preserve gratitude and family memories in December. Pick up this four month challenge and make the final stretch of 2026 count.___https://dadspace.caLeave Dave a voice message here! Tell me where you are listening from!?https://www.speakpipe.com/HelloDavemusic provided by Blue Dot SessionsSong: The Big Ten https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/258270

Episode 274 - Thoughts and Feelings That Flood My Mind After Spending Time with my Adult KidsThoughts and Feelings After Spending Time with Adult KidsSpending time with adult kids can stir deep emotions for an empty nest dad. Dave reflects on the strange feeling that follows a visit, when he drives home wishing he could return to the years when his children lived under the same roof. Dad Space explores the emotional shift that happens when adult kids build lives of their own.When Home ChangesTwo major floods forced Dave and Jen to sort through years of family memories. The damage made them decide what mattered, what they could release, and what they had kept through habit. Their children helped when they could, even as busy adult lives limited their availability.The experience pushed Dave to think about family connection. His children still need their parents, yet they now need them on their own terms. They seek advice, approval, encouragement, and a response to a message. They also make independent choices, including choices their parents may question.That shift can challenge any parent. Dave remembers the mistakes he made before parenthood and worries when his children follow paths that resemble his past regrets. He wants to protect them from pain, though he knows experience often teaches lessons that advice cannot.A New Role for ParentsAdult kids no longer live under their parents' rules. They create their own homes, routines, relationships, and priorities. Parents lose direct influence, yet they can still offer support, honest guidance, and emotional safety.Dave recognizes the value of staying present without overreaching. Parents can answer the phone, respond to messages, respect boundaries, and remain available when their children need help. Their adult kids may choose a different path, yet the values and care from home can continue shaping their decisions.The episode also encourages young dads to slow down and enjoy ordinary family moments. Summer evenings, walks, conversations, and shared time can become powerful memories. Children grow quickly, and parents often understand the value of those moments after they pass.Keeping Home OpenDave and Jen gave their children keys to the house. The keys represent a promise. Their children can return without asking permission, find food in the fridge, and feel that home still welcomes them. Wherever life takes them, they have a place to land.Parenting changes when children leave home, yet love continues through presence, trust, and an open door. Give children room to build their lives while reminding them that home remains available whenever they need it.___https://dadspace.caLeave Dave a voice message here! Tell me where you are listening from!?https://www.speakpipe.com/HelloDavemusic provided by Blue Dot SessionsSong: The Big Ten https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/258270

Episode 273 - When the Water Rises - 3 Life Lessons for Dads About What Really MattersA crisis like a flood has a way of stripping life down to its essentials. The things that seemed urgent yesterday—possessions, schedules, status, unfinished projects—can suddenly become irrelevant. What remains is often much simpler: people, safety, presence, and the choices we make when control disappears.For dads, a crisis can expose the difference between being busy and being useful. It can remind us that providing for our families is not only about earning money or maintaining a home; it is also about staying calm, making wise decisions, offering reassurance, and helping our children feel safe when the world feels uncertain.The three life lessons1. People matter more than possessionsA flood can destroy furniture, electronics, photographs, tools, toys, and carefully accumulated belongings. That loss can be painful, but it also clarifies something important: most possessions are replaceable; people are not.Dads often carry the pressure to build, fix, protect, and provide. But in an emergency, the most valuable thing we can provide may be our attention and presence.Questions to explore:What possessions do we spend too much energy protecting?Are our children more likely to remember what we owned or how we made them feel?How can dads teach gratitude without pretending that loss does not hurt?Protect what is irreplaceable first: your family, your relationships, and your ability to be present.2. “Urgent” is not always importantBefore a crisis, life can be dominated by notifications, deadlines, chores, errands, and work demands. Everything appears to require immediate attention. Then a genuine emergency arrives, and the hierarchy changes instantly.A flood can reveal that some of the things consuming our energy were never truly important. It invites dads to ask whether their calendars reflect their values—or merely other people’s demands.Questions to explore:What currently feels urgent but would not matter a year from now?What important relationship or responsibility keeps being postponed?If your normal routine disappeared tomorrow, what would you wish you had made more time for?Do not wait for a crisis to tell you what deserves your time.3. Control is limited, but responsibility remainsA dad cannot control the weather, the damage, the timing, or every outcome. But he can control how he responds. He can communicate clearly, ask for help, make the next practical decision, and acknowledge fear without allowing fear to lead.This is an important lesson for children. They do not need a father who acts as though nothing is wrong. They need a father who can say, “This is difficult, and we are going to handle the next step together.”Questions to explore:What does calm leadership look like when you are scared too?How can dads be honest with their children without transferring adult panic onto them?When is asking for help an act of strength rather than failure?You may not control the crisis, but you can influence the atmosphere your family experiences inside it.A crisis does not always give us new priorities. Sometimes it removes the distractions that kept us from seeing our real ones. The house may need to be rebuilt. The belongings may need to be replaced. But the deeper question is this: when life gets stripped back to the essentials, are we already spending our time on what matters most?Listener challengeAsk listeners to complete these three sentences:I want my children to remember that I…The thing I keep treating as urgent but need to release is…The relationship or priority I will make more room for is…___https://dadspace.caLeave Dave a voice message here! Tell me where you are listening from!?https://www.speakpipe.com/HelloDavemusic provided by Blue Dot SessionsSong: The Big Ten https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/258270