Fatherly

Ren and Stimpy? SpongeBob? Star Trek (or Star Wars?!) @levar.burton and daughter @micaburton reminisce about millennial tv shows they bonded over — and which ones made them need therapy 😂 #StarTrek #PowerPuffGirls #starwars #SpongeBob #ReadingRainbow

He’s the world’s greatest big-wave surfer and a master of the tight turnaround. A 15-hour stopover in Portugal to surf 70-foot waves at Nazare. A day in the Alaskan backcountry to snowboard vertical peaks with Travis Rice, for Red Bull. And two new projects waiting for him at home: twin toddlers. [Link in bio.]

Says this year's Sexiest Man Alive! 😜 (According to People)⁠ ⁠ We totally called it first. (Link in bio to read our interview with Patrick from last year.)

Jazz Hampton, a lawyer, CEO of TurnSignl, former mayoral candidate for Minneapolis, and father of three, grew up with 15 siblings in a 1300 square foot house. "I had a really wonderful childhood," he tells Fatherly, "my parents adopted 12 young Black men that didn't have a place to live .. and it changed the way my life looked like forever. It really showed me what it looks like to show up as a parent and a member of the community." And he has kept it going, mobilizing protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and ICE occupation, offering pro bono services at immigration court, and starting up TurnSignl, an app that connects someone with a lawyer instantly to de-escalate tense police interactions and “ensure that everyone in that interaction returns home safely.” After an unsuccessful mayoral run, Hampton is freshly motivated, to expand TurnSignl, find new ways to give to the community, and raise the next generation as he was raised. “Fatherhood is more than my three kids. It's how you show up for your own kids and the rest of the world as well, and how you teach your kids to show up for other people."

Jon Gustin is tired. But he's not complaining. To the contrary, Gustin, aka @thetireddad holds up his fatigue as a “badge of honor that we wear because we're showing up in all areas.” That showing up — for his kids, his wife, himself, and his community — is core to his identity and probably what draws so many people to follow him and take a peek into his exemplary lifestyle. But what makes him a Cool Dad — puts him over the top, so to speak — is his core vulnerability. "Vulnerability is freedom," Gustin tells Fatherly, "and not only is it freedom for yourself to be vulnerable, but it's freedom for other people because they feel less alone." Today, Jon Gustin's book, ‘The Tired Dad: 100 Reflections on Showing Up for What Matters Most’ is out where books are sold. A culmination of contemplation on being a man, sobriety, marriage, fatherhood, and that all-important vulnerability, it's a must read for any and all aspiring cool dads.

For parents of sleepless young ones, the celebrity of Adam Mansbach is hard to understate. 'Go the F*ck to Sleep', his irreverent picture book perfectly captures the complex feelings we all experience with toddlers — of being trapped in an exhausting simmering pot of cuddles and dependence and sweetness and frustration. Mansbach let it boil over and we parents found a cathartic laugh. 15 years later, Mansbach is tapping once again into the impossible feelings of parents who are about to send off their children — now teens — to the world, to college. 'Go the F*ck to College', which is available tomorrow everywhere you gets books, is just as sweet, sardonic, and endearingly cathartic. Even for those of us with pre-teens, it’s a wonderful reminder that the parenting journey is long and fraught, difficult and beautiful — and funny. Here, Mansbach reflects on the swirling state he finds himself in as he grapples with just how ready his child is to embark on their own into the world. Image Credits: The OC, Modern Family, Getty Images, You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah!, Blackish, Sex Lives of College Girls, Gilmore Girls

What makes a dad a "cool dad"? It's tempting to say that fame, fortune, and cultural capital can elevate an everyday father to cool dad status. But that isn't quite it. The fame and fortune must be sign of something else — an underlying passion for life that doesn't ask for approval. A cool man does his own thing — and does it well, does it with love — and doesn't give AF what you think. And that "dad" part ... It can't just be a fact of life, a title on a form for government purposes. A dad's a dad, but a cool dad is engaged. His child's life is a fascinating riverbed and he's there to turn over the stones with the kid. What could be cooler? You don't have to be Tom Hardy or Lebron James, Kendrick Lamar or David Corenswet to be a cool dad. Yes, it helps to be one of these inarguably cool men and they are the types of role models we celebrate here at Fatherly. But, hey, limitless talent and an enviable physique aren't required to be a cool dad. A little effort and a lot of love are all it takes.

Parenting isn't about saving our children from suffering. Not only is that an unrealistic goal, it can do them real harm according to @dr_samitimimi a child and adolescent psychiatrist and psychotherapist at the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. “All life involves struggle and suffering at some level," Timimi tells Fatherly. "How can we know joy if we don't know sadness? It's impossible.”

When you hand your little one a tablet, too often you're not just giving them a distraction — but introducing them to algorithmic viewing. 'Smartphone Nation' author @kaitlynregehr Kaitlyn Regehr says this introduction is a slippery slope. Here, she explains why not all screen time is equal and how to not groom your kids to get sucked into a pit of endless content. #screentime #parentingtips #smartphonenation

In 'Searching for Normal', @dr_samitimimi a child and adolescent psychiatrist and psychotherapist at the National Health Service in the United Kingdom outlines a new approach to understanding mental health, distress and neurodiversity. In this radical book, he implores parents to question the Mental Health Industrial Complex, allow our children grapple with difficulty, and, as he points here, to rethink psychiatric diagnoses. While he does not necessarily advocate rejecting a diagnosis, he does ask that we rethink them as "descriptions" that help us tell a story about ourselves and our lives. For our full interview with Dr. Timimi, go to the link in bio.

For @bustle ’s One Nightstand, @charlotteowen talks to actor and writer @pennbadgley about raising a five-year-old with a “hybrid homeschooling vibe.” The goal: So that his kid can learn to play now — and develop a love of education later. Hear hear.

Say what you will about #tronares (the latest Tron is rocking good time, if you ask me, one that blew my 8 year old's mind). Still, you can't deny the staying power of Jeff Bridges, playing Kevin Flynn over the span of 43 years — to perfection. "The thing about perfection is that it's unknowable," his character said in 'Tron: Legacy,' "It's impossible, but it's also right in front of us all the time."