How to Be a Better Dad: Connection, Presence and Raising Emotionally Healthy Kids

Ask Rachel anything How can building our own community of people we admire dramatically change our future and help us break from a difficult past? What does it actually mean to be a good dad? Is it providing for your family? Protecting them? Being successful at work? Or could one of the most important things a father gives his children be something much simpler: his presence? Mitchell Osmond thought he was doing reasonably well. Then his wife told him their marriage was broken and she was considering divorce. At the time, Mitchell was overweight, struggling financially, using alcohol and drugs to cope and carrying wounds from growing up with an alcoholic father. A week later, at a funeral, he heard a question that stopped him in his tracks: Are you living a life worthy of imitation? It forced him to confront not only the husband he had become, but the father he wanted to be. In this episode, Rachel talks to Mitchell about fatherhood, healthy masculinity, marriage, emotional connection and breaking unhealthy generational patterns — and the practical changes that helped him transform his own life. We discuss: • what it really means to be a good father • why being a provider isn't the same as being present • how our own childhood experiences can quietly shape the way we parent • breaking generational patterns rather than passing them on • what healthy masculinity can look like in modern family life • why boys need good men they can observe, not simply lectures about how men should behave • how fathers can build stronger emotional connections with their children • why men can find it difficult to identify and talk about emotions • helping boys develop a richer emotional vocabulary • the importance of fathers admitting mistakes and apologising • why perfection can actually get in the way of connection • how work and phones can follow us home and steal our attention from our families • Mitchell's practical five-minute reset for becoming more present before walking through the door • why marriages can gradually become two people living as “roommates wearing rings” • and how parents can find positive male role models when a father isn't present or involved. One of Mitchell's simplest pieces of advice is: Be where your feet are. If you're sitting with your teenager, be with your teenager. If you're talking to your partner, be with your partner. Don't be physically at home while mentally answering emails, solving tomorrow's problems or scrolling through your phone. He also argues that our children don't need to see a perfect father. In fact, showing vulnerability, admitting when we're struggling and saying “Dad got that wrong. I'm sorry” can create far more connection than pretending to have everything under control. For parents of boys, there's another important question: where are our sons learning what it means to be a man? Mitchell believes healthy masculinity is something boys need to see in action. Strength and courage matter, but so do emotional intelligence, humility, empathy and the ability to connect. And if there isn't a consistent father in a child's life? Mitchell encourages parents to look around their wider community for good men — relatives, family friends, teachers, coaches or mentors — who can provide another model of what adulthood and masculinity can look like. A thought-provoking and practical conversation about fatherhood, parenting teenagers, raising boys, healthy masculinity, marriage, emotional intelligence and becoming the parent you want your children to remember. Mitchell Osmond: @dadnationco Where to find Mitchell Osmond https://www.dadnationco.com/ New Year's Resolutions: EPISODE: https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/70-new-years-resolutions-love-them-or-loathe-them-the-question-is-how-can-we-make-them-work-for-u/ BLOG WITH MY TECHNIQUE: https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/blog/Be-the-person-you-want-to-be-not-the-person-others-think-you-should-be/ Find me on Substack https://Teenagersuntangled.substack.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teenagersuntangled/ Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/teenagersuntangled/ Support the show Please hit the follow button if you like the podcast, and share it with anyone who might benefit. You can review us on Apple podcasts by going to the show page, scrolling down to the bottom where you can click on a star then you can leave your message. Please don't hesitate to seek the advice of a specialist if you're not coping. There's no shame in reaching out for support. When you look after yourself your entire family benefits. Find all the tips from the episode on Substack: My email [email protected] My website has a blog, searchable episodes, and ways to contact me Instagram Facebook