Father’s Day: Big shoes bring a bigger reward for young fathers

There are multiple theories about the origins of American Father’s Day. It is most frequently put forth that, in 1910, Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Wash., created a day to honor her father, who raised her and her five siblings as a single parent. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge recommended the day become a national holiday. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson declared that the celebration be held on the third Sunday in June and in 1972 President Nixon made Father’s Day a national holiday.

CJ’s Journey

CJ is a single father who attended over 200 YPN Dads Group meetings over a six year-period because he wanted to be the best father he could be. He almost never missed. During that time, he fought, first for his visitation rights and then his custody rights, until he was granted full custody of his toddler son. His YPN friends supported him through the entire struggle.

YPN encourages literacy and the important role reading to your children plays in their brain development. CJ took that message to heart, but struggled with reading. So, he went to the library and checked out children’s books with accompanying CDs. Instead of playing the CDs, he memorized them. He then put his son on his lap and “read” to him. That boy is now in middle school. I am proud of CJ for his commitment to his child and his role as the coolest guy in his son’s whole world.

YPN was founded as Young Parents Network in 1985 by community leaders who saw the need to support young families. As the organization developed, the need for father-specific programming was identified. Thus, Dads Group was created. This was a unique concept at the time.

Dads at YPN know that in the eyes of their children they are “the coolest guy in the whole world” and that their job is to “live up to that expectation.” They know that by being actively involved in their kids’ lives, they are increasing the chances that the child will succeed in school and is less likely to drop out. Paternal involvement also decreases offspring drug usage, criminal activity, teen pregnancy and suicide.

Forty weeks each year, men meet with the goal of becoming the best fathers they can be. They face different challenges. Some, like CJ, are involved in legal battles to get more time with their kids. Others want to know how to deal with crying babies or rebellious 3-year-olds. YPN offers them research-based parenting curricula like “24/7 Dad’ and “Love and Logic,” but it’s their own interaction with each other that has the greatest impact: “Here’s what I did when my son did that” or “This really helped my daughter.”

We discuss topics like literacy, fun with your kids, household safety, men’s health, discipline and whatever might be troubling a particular dad. They receive a menu of positive parenting behaviors for which they can earn points that can be spent at the YPN We Care Shop on items like diapers, baby clothes and children’s books.

As a YPN volunteer for over fourteen years, I have seen firsthand the wonderful work the organization does for so many parents. I am proud of and impacted by all of them.

Happy Father’s Day.

If you’d like to learn more about YPN or you know a dad who could benefit from our programming, visit www.ypniowa.org/join or call 319-364-8909.

Jim Brown is YPN Dads Group facilitator and board member. Brown is a husband, father and grandfather and is the founder of Wrestling for Life, a nonprofit offering access to wrestling equipment, tickets to meets, and camp scholarships to student wrestlers. Through his organization, Jim established the Brian Stutzman Community Service Camp Scholarship to honor longtime YPN Executive Director Brian Stutzman, who passed away in 2018.