How to be the Go-To Guy for Your Kids

How insane is it to be a parent these days? Now, think about what your kids are going through. How can you be the go-to guy for your kids when they are struggling?

Today we have Dad Edge Alliance member and elementary school teacher Charlie Moynahan on the show. Not only is he fathering two boys, as a teacher in a poor area, he is often the only consistent person in his students’ lives.

Charlie tells us how to help kids become resilient and self-reliant. He reveals how he helps students deal with learning challenges, bullies, and adversity. He also teaches us the tools he uses to raise respectful, responsible, and loving kids.

Childhood is not for the faint of heart.

Charlie Moynahan

“If you realized your ability to shine – in the classroom, in your career, in your community – was simply a result of you focusing on productive choices, how much more impactful would you be, and for whom? This question rattles me daily as I struggle to show up and be the best dad I can be to my two young boys (ages 4 and 2). Proudly, I spend a lot of time in reflection and am on a quest to help my boys (and in turn, other people) find their shine. Over the past seven years, I have sharpened my saw as an elementary educator in Sacramento, California, working with multi-generational families to improve their outlooks and align their children’s goals towards success. My first published book, Tanzen and the Yellow Light, appeals to upper elementary/middle school grade fiction readers.”

Tanzen and the Yellow Light

Tanzen is a 5th grader at Luther Elementary School, and while he doesn’t fully understand his dreams lately, he soon realizes that his core group of buddies is having similar dreams. When Tanzen wakes one morning and sees orange and black fur on his arms, a million questions start popping into his head. Questions like, “What is happening to me?”, “Can I roar super awesomely?”, and “What’s for breakfast, again?”Tanzen soon finds out that his friends are also experiencing odd abilities that don’t quite add up. Famed school bullies, Brenda and Jeremy, are working alongside a dangerous group of Shifters that have the same abilities as Tanzen and his friends, but come together for damaging purposes. When one of Tanzen’s crew gets taken and sent to the Zanimal World, they have no choice but to pursue, at all costs. A surprise schoolhouse attack pushes the group towards a battle of good versus evil before they’ve even had a chance to train with their teacher and mentor, Mr. Cherry! Will the crew be able to band together, face increasingly complex Zanimal challenges, and save their friend… in between classroom chaos, cooties, and cafeteria food? Find out by joining Tanzen, Amaya, Leo, and Jay as they stumble, crash, slip and slide their way into… Zanimal World!

I don’t want to drive their life. I want to help them figure it out.

What You’ll Learn

• How to become the go-to guy for your kids
• What it means to give kids solid counsel
• Affirmation for kids—be respectful, be responsible, be loving
• How to get kids onboard to work for a common goal
• Teaching kids to regroup and restrategize when things don’t go their way
• Understanding why bullies behave the way they do and teaching kids how to handle them
• Showing kids how to rise to challenge
• Making it clear to kids that their parents, their grades, and their clothes don’t make them who they are. It’s character.

RELATED EPISODES

Strong Fathers, Strong Kids with Meg Meeker

Resilience Parenting Through Uncertainty with Holly and Chris Santillo

A Father’s Guide to Bonding with Sons and Daughters with Michael Gurian

Our biggest regrets in life happen
when we’ve lost our patience.