Ebook
Every father has a hidden longing to see his children surpass him. To help him achieve this, Ken Canfield offers a three-part plan. First, a dad should examine his own heart. Next, he should take steps to improve the way he connects with his children. Lastly, he should take a longer range view and plan specifically for a lifetime of involved fathering. Canfield’s plan addresses a father’s past-a father should resolve his relationship with his own father in order to effectively build a relationship with his children. Canfield also explains how to build the four “walls” or dimensions, of fathering: involvement, awareness, consistency, and nurturing. He then supplies a plan for the future. From being a new father to being a grandfather, dads face challenges at each stage of their life. With the long-range perspective this book provides, fathers can anticipate and prepare for the changing situations they’ll face. Based on years of careful research involving thousands of fathers, this book is a solid reference tool for dads.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1: The Shape of Your Heart
Introduction: Examining Your Heart
1. Recognize Your Past
2. Resolve Your Past
3. Relate to Your Own Father
Part 2: The Four “I CANs” of Fathering
Introduction: Building a House
4. Involvement
5. Consistency
6. Awareness
7. Nurturance
Part 3: The Disciplined Heart
Introduction: Through the Years
8. The Early Years: Attachment/Idealism
9. The Middle Years: Understanding
10. The Teen Years: Enlightenment
11. The Later Years: Reflection and Generativity
The nation’s foremost fathering expert has written the definitive book on being a dad for the next decade. The Heart of a Father is like putting a turbo charger on your fathering engine—your mileage and enjoyment are guaranteed to improve.
-Gary Smalley, President and founder of Smalley Relationship Center