Tony Cooper sits down with David Yep, a dad who spent 14 years on the path to becoming a Catholic priest before realizing fatherhood was his real calling. This episode of the parenting podcast digs into David's unexpected road to becoming a dad to Lucia, Sophia and Constantine, and the app he built, Godmother, to help fathers understand their kids and themselves. We talk presence, the pressure of raising a son versus daughters, and why dads need accountability as much as advice. If you're a new dad podcast listener looking for real tools instead of generic parenting tips, this one delivers.

Key takeaways:

• Why "whatever age they are" is the best answer to the best age for a kid
• David's path from seminary at 13 to grad school to fatherhood
• Why boys and girls can trigger different pressures in dads
• The taught framework: tolerance, acceptance, understanding, treasure
• Why kids deify or demonize their fathers instead of seeing them as human
• How the Godmother app builds a profile of your child's wiring
• Why love languages aren't one-size-fits-all, even within one family
• The power of being overheard praising your kid to someone else
• Why accountability, not willpower, is what keeps dads showing up

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcast@gmail.com. Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

Get 10% off Godmother using this link: https://godmother.aingelic.net/?ref=tony-64b32a

00:00 David's path from seminary to fatherhood
02:06 The age range David loves most right now
05:12 Why time feels like it flies without presence
06:17 The hardest part of the newborn stage
10:13 Leaving home for the seminary at 13
13:04 Deciding the priesthood would not work
17:02 Raising a son versus raising daughters
21:15 Deify or demonize: seeing dads as human
23:48 Admitting you do not know the answer
27:33 How the Godmother app actually works
30:58 Why the app is named Godmother
33:14 Love languages are not one size fits all
37:06 Learning to treasure your co-parent's approach
43:04 Real feedback from families using the app
49:16 David's advice for a brand new father

James Snyder has starred on Broadway and shared scenes with Jon Hamm, but the role that changed him most happens at home. On this episode of the dad podcast, Tony Cooper sits down with actor James Snyder, dad to Oliver and Willa, for a conversation that treats fatherhood the way an actor treats a part: something you step into, shape, and eventually have to figure out who you are underneath. James talks about growing up with a present, engaged father, the family dinners and driveway conversations that shaped him, and how he is now applying the acting principle of "who am I and what do I want" to his own parenting. This is a thoughtful, funny, honest conversation for any new father or new dad podcast listener looking for a different way to think about the job.

Key takeaways:
- Parenting is a role you play, not a permanent identity, and separating the two can heal strained adult parent-child relationships
- James's father modeled presence through small, consistent moments: family dinners, coaching his sports teams, driving to job sites together
- Self-regulation is the foundation of good fathering: "I'm the calm in the storm" is a mantra James actually uses before hard conversations
- A parent's job isn't to remove struggle from a kid's life, it's to build the resilience that lets them survive it
- James shares an honest story about losing his temper and cursing at his son, and what his son actually learned from it
- Broadway fatherhood comes with real costs: eight shows a week can mean seeing your kids only one full day a week
- As kids become teenagers, big family decisions (like a cross-country acting contract) become family decisions, not unilateral ones
- A simple reframe, acting "as if" the outcome you want is already true, can defuse conflict with a spouse
- James's single biggest piece of advice for a new father: just keep showing up, especially after the moments you regret

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcast@gmail.com. Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro, James and the role of fatherhood
00:52 Meet James Snyder, dad of two
02:17 Why parenting is a temporary role
03:34 Oliver and Willa's stories
10:17 How his childhood shaped his fatherhood journey
13:11 Watching his dad in the world
21:11 Who am I and what do I want, applied to dads
26:14 Letting kids struggle to build resilience
28:16 The F bomb story with his son
33:22 Broadway's real cost to family time
41:55 Being the thermostat, not the thermometer
45:19 Reframing fights with his wife
49:58 Treating teenagers like adults
56:01 His best advice for a brand new dad

Jem Fuller almost lost his son twice before he learned what real fatherhood forgiveness looks like.

Tony sits down with Jem Fuller, host of The Unknown Path podcast and author of The Art of Conscious Communication for Thoughtful Men, for a conversation that moves through blended families, medical scares, anger, and the parenting philosophy Jem built after growing up with a father who was loving but controlling.

Jem is stepdad to two kids who call him by his first name, and father to two grown sons who call him dad, and he walks through what it actually looks like to hold different roles in one household without resentment. This episode digs into real fatherhood journey material: healing childhood wounds, breaking generational patterns, and building the kind of emotional expression in sons that most men never got themselves.

Jem shares the story of his oldest son's premature birth and heart surgery and the terrifying night his second son arrived early by emergency cesarean. He gets honest about losing his temper with his own kids despite years of meditation practice, and the "three time rule" he inherited from his father that quietly wrecked his patience until he dropped it. This is one of those conversations any parenting podcast listener will want to sit with twice.

Key Takeaways:

• Stepparent roles require different boundaries than biological parenting, and that's okay
• Kids don't do what you tell them, they do what you model
• Forgiving yourself quickly after a parenting mistake matters more than never making one
• Quality time, even 15 focused minutes, may be a top love language for young kids
• A promise to never react in anger opens the door to real honesty from your kids
• Inherited "rules" about respect are often just made up, and you can rewrite them
• Physical touch and vibration (holding, humming, singing) soothe kids more than we realize
• Boys crying isn't the problem, the culture around it is

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcastmail@gmail.com. Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

00:00 Introducing Jem Fuller
01:08 Meet the whole blended family
02:05 Being a stepdad without overparenting
07:46 Where his parenting philosophy started
09:41 Growing up with a loving, controlling dad
10:23 Getting disciplined and what it taught him
13:31 Building open communication with his boys
14:18 The football crying story
16:09 A five year old explains why we cry
18:15 Forgive yourself quickly as a parent
26:16 Learning to witness instead of control
28:15 Quality time as a love language
30:21 The promise to never get angry
33:21 Men and the bottomless pit of rage
35:37 Jedi's heart surgery story
42:59 Noah's early arrival by cesarean
50:04 Advice for a brand new father
51:00 The three time rule he had to drop