The Dad Edge Podcast

Larry is back in studio with his wife Jessica for part two of their conversation, recorded the week of their 22nd anniversary. Last week they covered how they met and the crucibles that shaped them. This week they get practical about the daily mechanics of a marriage that works: how they got aligned on parenting, how they resolve conflict, and how they back each other up in front of the kids whether they agree or not.

They're candid that none of it came naturally at first. They walk through the parenting classes that helped early on, a hard season with one of their sons that turned out to be driven by a medication reaction, and why setting ego aside to get outside help was the move that saved them repeatedly. Jessica shares what it means to never be emasculated or called a name in thirty years together, and Larry breaks down the guardrails that keep their disagreements calm: no yelling, no name calling, real listening, and a willingness to eat humble pie. If your marriage feels more like managing a household than sharing a life, this one is a window into the operating system of a couple who clearly still like each other.

Timeline Summary

[1:02] – Why part two matters, and Jessica joins for parenting and conflict resolution

[4:39] – A new season with an adult son and the land of uncertainty it brings

[6:39] – Bringing the first baby home to a tornado, and every season being new territory

[9:07] – The one thing they nailed early: alignment on parenting styles

[10:21] – Love and Logic, 1-2-3 Magic, and the classes that gave them a shared playbook

[11:34] – A hard season with Mason at 11 and refusing to let ego stop them from getting help

[13:15] – Communication gap: Larry not seeing how bad the mornings really were

[16:39] – Owning that "I have to work" wasn't the support Jessica needed

[17:23] – The real catalyst turned out to be a medication, and the game-changing fix

[18:43] – Having each other's back in front of the kids, no public disagreement

[19:47] – The quiet aside instead of the public callout, coming back as a combined unit

[21:39] – The over-punishment story: stacking consequences on Ethan's grades

[22:54] – Why never being emasculated or disrespected publicly matters so much to a man

[25:44] – The non-negotiable guardrails: no name calling, ever, even joking

[27:15] – Listening without interrupting and keeping voices calm

[30:09] – Tonality, ownership, and a family that apologizes well

[34:32] – Why these habits are their operating system but not most people's

[35:10] – The waterfall of peace: how Jessica's affection quiets Larry's chaos

[36:33] – Not gaslighting a partner who's having a hard day, and giving space to process

[37:30] – The "what did you do all day" mistake and never globalizing with always and never

[40:43] – The deck argument Ethan witnessed and asked if they were divorcing

[42:22] – Ethan's three observations: no yelling, real listening, no name calling

[42:40] – Asking "is there truth to this" to sidestep the ego and defensiveness

[45:02] – The trash story: coming in guns blazing and eating humble pie

[49:11] – Covering for each other's hard seasons with the kids instead of piling on

[50:04] – Favorite memories: the simple stuff, laughter under their own roof

[52:16] – Valuing experiences over stuff, and how that alignment happened

[55:19] – Closing out Mason's last year at home with a bang

[56:53] – The 25 intimate conversation starters that keep them connected

5 Key Takeaways

1. Get Aligned and Get Help Without Ego — The couples who struggle most are often fighting over whose parenting style wins. Larry and Jessica treated hard seasons as problems to solve together, bringing in classes and counselors rather than letting pride keep them stuck.
2. Have Each Other's Back in Front of the Kids — Never publicly override your spouse's discipline. Handle disagreements privately, then return to the kids as a combined unit. Kids who can't split their parents feel more secure, not less.
3. Set Guardrails for Conflict — No name calling, no yelling, and real listening while the other person talks. These simple, non-negotiable rules keep disagreements from escalating into damage, and kids notice and absorb them.
4. Ask "Is There Truth to This" — When your partner brings a criticism, the instinct is to defend. Pausing to genuinely ask whether there's truth in it disarms your ego and turns a potential fight into a conversation. And when you're wrong, apologize fast.
5. Protect Each Other's Hard Seasons — When one parent is short-tempered or struggling, the other explains it to the kids with grace instead of piling on. Give your partner room to process a bad day rather than gaslighting or nagging them out of it.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1518
• 25 Intimate Conversation Starters (free PDF and video training): https://thedadedge.com/25questions
• Dad Edge Day with the Arizona Cardinals (November 15, Cardinals vs Rams, State Farm Stadium): https://thedadedge.com/nfl

Enjoyed This Episode?

If watching Larry and Jessica lay out the guardrails of their marriage gave you something to aim at, pick one and try it this week. Ask "is there truth to this" the next time you feel defensive, or take your spouse through a couple of good questions on your next date night. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.

Sam Rosenberg has spent his career protecting some of the most recognized people on the planet, heads of state, CEOs, and celebrities including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Tom Cruise. A former Marine Corps officer who moved into close protection in 1996, he's since shifted his focus to teaching ordinary people the same skills he used to guard public figures, through his company Live Ready and his bestselling book of the same name. He's trained tens of thousands of people to recognize threats before they become emergencies.

This one is a genuine masterclass in personal safety, and Sam's philosophy anchors it: it's good to have a lifeguard, but you should know how to swim. He and Larry get into why violence is never actually random, how to read a parking lot, the acronym TIME that maps how attackers operate, the normalcy bias that keeps good people from trusting their gut, and persuasion predators, the charming, manipulative threats every dad with a daughter needs to understand. If you want to protect the people who matter most without living in fear, this episode delivers the tools.

Timeline Summary

[1:02] – Protecting Netanyahu, the chess match, and embedding covert protection in a crowd

[4:35] – Tom Cruise in Pittsburgh and why he was one of the best to work with

[6:23] – How you even land a gig protecting someone at that level

[8:12] – Protecting Terry Bradshaw at the NFL draft, and why it's all word of mouth

[12:36] – The core philosophy: it's good to have a lifeguard, but you should know how to swim

[14:51] – Sam's full bio, the Marine Corps, Live Ready, and the book

[16:34] – Situational awareness starts with our wives in parking lots

[20:04] – The myth of helplessness and the myth of randomness

[21:44] – Why violence is a process as predictable as boiling water

[22:38] – Attacks happen on arrival and departure, and every environment has a purpose

[24:10] – Watching for the watchers, and the New York City looking up analogy

[26:30] – The creepy guy vibe and why we hunt for evidence to dismiss it

[27:42] – Social contracting, bias, and how it blinds us to real danger

[30:13] – Normalcy bias: the brain's desire for everything to be normal

[32:04] – Breaking down a real, sophisticated parking lot kidnapping on video

[35:36] – The simple bow: trust your intuition even without all the evidence

[37:12] – What that woman could have noticed, and the double-tap unlock habit

[43:14] – The TIME acronym: target selection, intelligence, method of attack, escape

[46:16] – Why street criminals run the same process as terrorists

[49:17] – Can you avoid being targeted? You can influence it, not always prevent it

[52:04] – Charlie Kirk, Butler, and why it has to be stopped in advance

[53:27] – Recognizing the interview means you've already been selected

[56:16] – Hard target versus soft target, and why gimmicks don't work

[57:29] – The undercover story: why street-smart observers saw through his disguise

[1:02:47] – Willingness and ability are all it takes to be a hard target

[1:04:31] – What bad guys are truly afraid of: failure

[1:08:55] – Persuasion predators, masters of charm and disguise

[1:10:31] – Reframing charm: ask why is this person trying to charm me

[1:11:56] – No is a complete sentence, and the veils of denial

[1:13:54] – Sociopaths, the pity play, and the puppy law used on children

5 Key Takeaways

1. Violence Is a Process, Not Random — Attacks follow an observable, predictable sequence. Learning to spot the pattern, especially during arrival and departure moments, is what lets you get ahead of danger instead of reacting to it.
2. Watch for the Watchers — Every environment has a purpose. Scan left to right for anomalies, people not using the space for its intended purpose, and notice who's watching who's coming and going. That awareness alone makes you a harder target.
3. Trust Your Radar Over Normalcy Bias — Good people talk themselves out of intuitive warnings because they can't find hard evidence or don't want to seem judgmental. When something feels off, that unease is data. Default to it and remove yourself from the situation.
4. Recognize the Interview — When a stranger approaches you in an anomalous moment, that's an interview, and it means you've already been selected as a target. How you manage that interaction, with the right body language and enough force, often determines whether an attack proceeds.
5. Reframe Charm and Hold the Line on No — Teach daughters to ask why is this person trying to charm me rather than being flattered. No is a complete sentence, and anyone who pushes past it is signaling they care only about what they want. A pity play after being caught in lies is a massive red flag.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1517
• Sam Rosenberg's company, LiveReady: https://www.liveready.co/
• Live Ready by Sam Rosenberg (the book): https://www.liveready.co/book
• LiveReady on YouTube (situational awareness and attack breakdowns): https://www.youtube.com/@LiveReadyCo
• LiveReady on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livereadyco
• LiveReady on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiveReadyCo
• LiveReady on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/LiveReadyCo/
• LiveReady personal training: https://www.liveready.co/training
• Dad Edge Day with the Arizona Cardinals (November 15, Cardinals vs Rams, State Farm Stadium): https://thedadedge.com/nfl
• Roommates to soulmates thedadedge.com/soulmates

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Sam's breakdown of that parking lot attack made you look at your own routine differently, put one habit to work this week. Get your head up and off your phone during those arrival and departure moments, and have the charm and no conversation with your daughter. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.

This is a Wednesday Wins Q&A, with Larry joined by his longtime co-host Joe Bailey to tackle a question that lands for almost every married dad. Mike from Washington State wrote in about a marriage that isn't broken, no fighting, no affairs, but feels more like two coworkers running a small company called the family. He and his wife talk schedules, kids, and bills, physical intimacy has slowed, and as he puts it, he misses her even though she's only six feet away.

Larry breaks down the four pillars of marriage from Lance and Brandi's work, individual, partnership, friends, and intimacy, and explains how couples get stuck in the partnership loop and skip straight to intimacy, which backfires. Joe follows with the idea of getting used to the light again after emotional disconnection, releasing resentment, and making small pursuits without attaching expectations. If your marriage feels more like a business partnership than a romance, this one is a practical roadmap back.

Timeline Summary

[1:02] – Setting up Mike's question about a marriage that feels like a business partnership

[2:12] – Mike's full letter: coworkers running a company called our family

[3:46] – Larry on his own first decade feeling exactly the same way

[4:05] – The four pillars of marriage from Lance and Brandi's book

[4:46] – Pillar one, individual: self-care and emotional check-ins by percentage

[5:42] – Pillar two, partnership: the bills, roles, and chores, aka the partnership loop

[5:59] – Pillar three, friends: shared interests and real alignment

[6:21] – Pillar four, intimacy, and why it collapses when the others are neglected

[6:47] – How couples skip friendship and self and jump straight to intimacy

[7:26] – Disrupting the partnership loop by cultivating friendship first

[7:49] – The walk-and-date boundary: be Larry and Jessica, not Mom and Dad

[8:13] – Bookending conversations with appreciation so your partner feels seen

[8:30] – Adventuring together and asking bucket-list questions

[9:34] – Why men eradicate their own self-care and isolate

[12:12] – Joe on living this exact dynamic in his own marriage

[12:32] – The dark-theater analogy: getting used to the light again

[13:35] – Step one, release resentment when reconnection feels uncomfortable

[14:02] – Be persistent and stop attaching sex to every act of connection

[14:27] – Small pursuits: flowers and a coffee dropped off at Ivy's work, just because

[15:46] – Small investments compound like a financial portfolio

[16:40] – Stop keeping score and get in the habit of just investing

[16:59] – The car story: we love the things we invest in

[20:07] – Loving your wife publicly and without agenda

[20:44] – Loving her in front of the kids and her mother

[21:48] – The Hitch analogy and winning over the people around her

[22:14] – The marriage hack: your mother in law as your greatest ally

5 Key Takeaways

1. Marriage Has Four Pillars — Individual, partnership, friends, and intimacy. When you neglect self-care, friendship, and quality time and jump straight to intimacy, it falls flat. Intimacy is the natural result of the other three working.
2. Escape the Partnership Loop — If every conversation is about schedules, bills, and who needs to be where, you're stuck in the partnership loop. Break out by rebuilding the friendship: dates, walks, adventures, and conversations where you're a couple, not just co-parents.
3. Get Used to the Light Again — After emotional disconnection, reconnecting feels awkward and uncomfortable for both people. Expect that, release resentment about it, and don't attach worst-case scenarios to the discomfort.
4. Make Small Pursuits Without Agenda — Drop off flowers just because, and don't attach any expectation of sex, because she'll sniff that out instantly. Stop keeping score and keep making small investments, and the connection compounds over time.
5. We Love What We Invest In — Don't wait to feel the love before you invest. As the car story shows, investment creates love, not the other way around. Love your wife publicly and without agenda, and let her people, especially her mother, become your allies.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1516
• Legendary Couple with Larry and Jessica: https://thedadedge.com/legendary-couple/
• Dad Edge Day with the Arizona Cardinals (November 15, Cardinals vs Rams, State Farm Stadium): https://thedadedge.com/nfl

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Mike's letter read like a page out of your own marriage, pick one small pursuit and do it this week with zero agenda. Drop off her favorite coffee, take a walk where you're just the two of you again, and stop waiting to feel connected before you invest. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.

This is a special live Q&A recorded inside Apogee, where the hosts turned the tables and interviewed Larry alongside his wife Jessica for a rare joint conversation. Married 23 years with four sons, the two open up about what actually creates safety in a home, and their answer surprises the room: it starts with relentlessly prioritizing the marriage.

From there they get honest about the early years when Larry admits he floundered and didn't lead well, how Jessica learned to call him forward without emasculating him, and why connection always has to come before correction. They talk repair as the true measure of a relationship, letting kids witness the full cycle of a disagreement, and Larry shares the hardest parts of his own story, an estranged mother and a father who left twice, and what forgiveness has and hasn't looked like. If you want a real look inside a marriage that leads, this one delivers.

Timeline Summary

[1:05] – Larry and Jessica join Apogee, and the watermelon splitter jokes begin

[5:03] – The Freud quote on a child's need for protection, and Larry's book for his boys

[6:19] – What's really happening in a home when a child feels deeply safe

[7:01] – The frying pan on the back burner: how marriages slide after kids arrive

[8:29] – Marriage as a skill, not just a feeling, and the tactical work it requires

[9:09] – Telling his 12 year old he prioritizes mom, and why that creates safety

[10:04] – The 18 year old who wants to be home because of how his parents love

[11:05] – Jessica on kids modeling what they see, and her daughter wanting flowers

[13:16] – Jessica's loving, family oriented upbringing versus Larry's chaotic one

[15:08] – Jessica's honesty: he did not lead very well in the early years

[15:51] – Calling him forward with love instead of a finger in his face

[17:28] – Connection before correction, and picking one when forced to choose

[20:55] – Why calling someone forward implies connection and trust already exist

[22:08] – Without connection you have no influence, even with your own kids

[23:14] – Having tough conversations through activity: walks, workouts, the range

[23:38] – Hold On to Your Kids and why attachment precedes instruction

[24:51] – Parenting across developmental stages and the two bigs, two littles dynamic

[28:01] – Why Larry found the young years hardest and came alive in the teens

[29:23] – Jessica as the boy mom of empathy, affection, and don't cross me

[30:29] – What repair looks like after losing patience with the kids

[32:22] – Figs O'Sullivan on harmony, disharmony, and quality living in the repair

[33:05] – Growing up with parents who never apologized, and breaking that cycle

[35:05] – Coach Whittle's house rule: if you see the collision, you see the repair

[36:12] – The deck argument Ethan witnessed and the repair he described back

[38:20] – Repairing with your own parents, and the letters Apogee members are writing

[41:53] – Larry's estranged mother, the milk incident, and an unsafe environment

[42:37] – A father who left twice and the Starbucks reunion 18 years later

[43:36] – Mason at 15 asking how he could ever forgive him

[44:34] – Forgive and co-create the future, or live in the past with a grudge

[46:18] – Screen time boundaries, dumb phones, and earning time through fitness

[49:37] – The three page contract for an adult son living at home rent free

[50:28] – Why doom scrolling infuriates Larry, and his own guilt with the work phone

[57:08] – The Apogee host thanks Larry, and an early zoom happy birthday

5 Key Takeaways

1. Protecting Kids Starts With the Marriage — The deepest safety a child feels comes from parents who prioritize each other. It's a long tail game, not a short term action, and kids who see their parents love each other feel warm, safe, and want to be home.
2. Call Each Other Forward, Don't Tear Down — Jessica changed Larry by naming what she saw with love and respect instead of criticism, which made him want to change. That same energy, connection before correction, is exactly how they lead their sons.
3. Without Connection You Have No Influence — Kids tune out discipline from someone they don't feel attached to. Building connection first, often through shared activity, makes every hard conversation land far better.
4. The Relationship Lives in the Repair — Every relationship cycles through harmony, disharmony, and repair, and the quality resides in how you repair. Letting kids witness the whole cycle, including your apology, teaches them it's safe to mess up and own it.
5. Forgiveness Is a Choice About the Future — Larry's father owned his two abandonments completely and earned a 21 year relationship, while his mother's unsafe patterns went unrepaired. You can forgive and co-create the future, or live your whole life in the past with a grudge.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1507
• Dad Edge Day with the Arizona Cardinals (November 15, Cardinals vs Rams, State Farm Stadium): https://thedadedge.com/nfl
• Connect with Jessica Hagner: https://thedadedge.com/jessicahagner/
• Larry and Jessica interview each other (part one): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aCcKKv9pXw
• Larry and Jessica interview each other (part two): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsHmnQiROMo&t=138s
• Roommates to soulmates thedadedge.com/soulmates

Enjoyed This Episode?

If watching Larry and Jessica lead their marriage out loud gave you something to aim at, take one piece into your own home this week. Prioritize your spouse in front of your kids, or let them witness a full repair the next time you lose your patience. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.

Harry Psaros is an author, neuroscientist, health coach, and third degree black belt, known to Pittsburgh sports fans as the Pit Guru, but the title that matters most to him is dad. He and his wife Michelle have been married 24 years and raised two sons, and it was his journey raising Gus, who's on the autism spectrum, that led him to write his Amazon bestselling, award winning book From Struggle to Strength. He's one of the rare male voices in the autism space, and he doesn't shy away from calling other fathers forward.

Harry and Larry, who's walked a similar road with his own oldest son, get into why so many dads resist an autism diagnosis, the devastating fall that erased years of Gus's progress, and the mindset that pulled the family through. Harry breaks down the two ideas from his book that have resonated worldwide: the 2% rule for cutting through overwhelm, and the difference between sight and vision. If you're a father facing a diagnosis you didn't expect, this one meets you where you are and refuses to let you stay there.

Timeline Summary

[1:02] – Two martial artists connect over a shared lifelong passion

[7:13] – The fall down two flights of stairs and the concussion that changed everything

[9:14] – Total regression: years of therapy and even the piano, gone

[9:37] – Picking yourself off the mat because the endgame never changed

[10:45] – Gus graduates Kent State and starts a physical therapy graduate program

[12:16] – The full bio: author, neuroscientist, the Pit Guru, and a dad

[14:51] – When Gus was diagnosed and why Harry was so stubborn at first

[15:31] – The oddities Michelle saw that Harry couldn't accept

[16:28] – The birthday party, the fan, and the teacher who said it out loud

[17:57] – The two hour drive home and the moment he decided, game on

[19:16] – The two types of dads, and why both need to hear this

[22:26] – Gus at 22, the vision board, the degree, and the Ram truck

[23:09] – The three levels of autism and why mild is never easy

[24:19] – A nonverbal keynote speaker with two degrees and a full life

[25:31] – Larry's own son: low muscle tone, food textures, and an IEP that led to drum major

[29:33] – Larry's younger son, PANDAS, and the strep connection

[31:47] – The 2% rule: one thing a day to silence the cacophony

[41:58] – Sight versus vision: the daily grind and the long term picture

[43:19] – Brain Balance, Dr. Robert Melillo, and lifting the autistic fog

[45:21] – Why the vision piece includes estate planning for some families

[47:33] – Filotimo and doing good for the sake of good, asking nothing in return

[49:16] – Wanting to become a preeminent male voice in the autism space

[51:10] – Your number one job as a dad is to be there for your kid

[53:19] – Gus wins a National Courage Award and says yes to help one person

[55:09] – Where to find the book and connect with Harry

5 Key Takeaways

1. Control the Controllable — When a devastating setback erases years of progress, you can't change what happened. You can refocus on the endgame, pick yourself off the mat, and keep fighting toward the best version of your child.
2. The 2% Rule — Parenting a child with extra needs floods you with everything that needs fixing at once. Pick one thing each day and make your child 2% better at it. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake.
3. Mild Doesn't Mean Easy — A level one diagnosis still means years of therapists, neurologists, and countless hours on the road. Improvement applies at every level, and no one should tell you what your child can't do.
4. Sight and Vision Are Both Required — Sight is the daily grind of therapies and goals. Vision is the long term picture, and it can change dramatically as your child grows, so keep both in view and adjust the vision as gains come.
5. A True Man Shows Up — Your number one job as a dad is to be there for your kid. Resisting the diagnosis or staying on the sidelines is doing the opposite of what fatherhood requires. Get your emotions out, then dive in.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1514
• Dad Edge Day with the Arizona Cardinals (November 15, Cardinals vs Rams, State Farm Stadium): https://thedadedge.com/nfl
• Alex the Terrible scream video (referenced in episode, just for fun): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UMZ1tqojC2Q
• Become a legendary couple: https://thedadedge.com/legendary-couple/
• Roommates to soulmates thedadedge.com/soulmates

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Harry's message reached something in you, whether you're facing a diagnosis yourself or you know a dad who's still resisting one, pass it along. Send this episode to a father who needs to hear that showing up is the whole job, and pick one small thing to get 2% better at with your own kids this week. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.

This is a Wednesday Wins Q&A, with Larry joined by his longtime co-host and friend of nearly a decade, Joe Bailey. The two open up about the Bible study they've been doing together before digging into two listener questions that hit at the heart of hands-on fatherhood.

First, Steve asks how to prepare his three year old daughter for a new baby sister arriving in a few weeks, and how to keep the first child feeling seen. Then Brad from Florida sends in a question that lands hard: his wife says that even when he's home, he's not really there, and his 11 year old recently cut off a story with "never mind, dad, you're not listening anyway." Larry and Joe get practical on capacity for love, protecting margin, and the exact tools they use to actually be present. If you've ever been physically home but mentally somewhere else, this one is for you.

Timeline Summary

[1:02] – Larry and Joe celebrate nearly a decade of friendship and their ongoing Bible study

[3:09] – Steve's question: transitioning a three year old into big sister life

[4:57] – The fear of not having enough love to go around, and why it's unfounded

[5:19] – The Love and Logic lesson: what a new sibling feels like to a toddler

[7:05] – Kids spell love T-I-M-E, and why one on one time matters most

[9:36] – Joe on quality over quantity once you can't match the same hours

[11:39] – Becoming a subject matter expert in whatever your kid is into

[13:03] – Inviting the older child into the role of big sister without pressure

[14:14] – Watching for behavioral cues before jealousy goes full fledged

[14:34] – Being depth on the bench for your wife and beating the guilt monster

[15:37] – Larry's chapter on raising daughters and leaning on Meg Meeker's work

[16:26] – Chris Berry's daddy-daughter dates and setting the standard sky high

[18:01] – Why three years old isn't too early to start dating your daughter

[19:19] – Brad's question: present in body, absent in mind

[21:03] – Why perception is reality when your family feels you're not there

[22:16] – The name cue: teaching your family to signal when they need you fully

[23:26] – Being relentless about creating margin and hard stops for work

[25:24] – Larry on notifications as the window that steals your presence

[25:43] – The Gary John Bishop river metaphor for the past, present, and future

[28:28] – Larry's Full Presence Training and grounding through the five senses

[31:07] – Joe on great expectancy with no expectations

5 Key Takeaways

1. Your Capacity for Love Isn't Fixed — Every parent fears they can't love a second child as much as the first. Both hosts describe the same surprise each time: a fresh reserve of love shows up that you didn't know you had.
2. Quality Beats Quantity — With more kids, you simply can't give each one the same number of hours. Get intentional instead: enter your child's world, learn what they love, and make the time you do have count.
3. Perception Is Reality — You may feel like you're present and carrying the load, but if your wife and kids experience you as checked out, that's the reality you have to address. Validating their experience comes before defending your own.
4. Protect Margin With Hard Stops — Decide when work starts and when it ends, and hold the line even when customers call at night. Give your family a simple cue, like saying your name, that signals you'll drop everything and give full attention.
5. Ground Yourself in the Five Senses — When your mind drifts to the past or the future, you miss the present entirely. Deliberately noticing what you see, hear, feel, and smell in a moment with your kids pulls you fully into it.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1513
• Dad Edge Day with the Arizona Cardinals (November 15, Cardinals vs Rams, State Farm Stadium): https://thedadedge.com/nfl
• Meg Meeker episode: https://thedadedge.com/meg-meeker/
• Roommates to soulmates thedadedge.com/soulmates

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Brad's question hit a nerve, or if you've got a new sibling on the way like Steve, take one idea from this episode and put it to work this week. Set a hard stop on work tonight, or ground yourself in the five senses the next time your kid is talking to you. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.

Jenna Free is a counselor who specializes in ADHD, and she doesn't teach it from a textbook, she lives it, having been diagnosed herself at 32. Her work zeroes in on the piece she says the field keeps missing: dysregulation. Through her ADHD regulation groups and her training for mental health professionals, she teaches a method built around regulating the nervous system, thoughts, and behaviors, and she's put it all into her bestselling book The Simple Guide to ADHD Regulation, a Toronto Star and Globe and Mail bestseller.

The core idea here reframes almost everything men think they know about ADHD. Jenna argues that most of what gets labeled ADHD is actually an ADHD brain stuck in chronic fight or flight, and that it's fixable. She and Larry get into what's happening in the brain during dysregulation, the four survival responses, why potential keeps you stuck, and how simply refusing to fight with reality can change your whole day. If you or your kids have ever felt like putting on socks is a full body assignment, this one explains why.

Timeline Summary

[1:58] – Getting diagnosed at 32 and finally making sense to herself

[3:28] – Four careers by 35, from marketing to modeling in South Africa to teaching

[9:14] – Two kids under a year and a half apart and max fight or flight

[9:57] – Your mess becomes your message

[10:16] – The full bio: the ADHD regulation method and a bestselling book

[13:16] – What's actually happening in an ADHD brain stuck in fight or flight

[14:43] – Why the fight or flight symptom list looks almost identical to the ADHD one

[15:49] – The socks story and how different life feels once you're regulated

[18:58] – Fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, and how each one shows up

[20:39] – Why your body can't tell a to-do list from a bear

[22:01] – Which survival response dominates, and whether gender or age matters

[24:41] – Why this work is hard for kids and lands better with bought-in adults

[25:28] – Hyperactive, inattentive, and combination types across the lifespan

[26:28] – Where regulation actually starts, and why buy-in comes first

[27:43] – Putting on your dysregulation goggles to see symptoms differently

[29:26] – Giving yourself permission to regulate when survival mode resists it

[32:44] – Physical regulation first: slowing down to signal safety to the body

[35:14] – Potential versus reality and the shoulds that pull you back into panic

[36:50] – The spilled box of gems and dropping the fight with reality in five seconds

[38:27] – Larry's disputed parking charge and staying calm while everyone else panicked

[43:12] – Do people with ADHD have less energy, or is it pouring onto the floor?

[45:13] – Why Jenna's calming tone regulates her own body in real time

[48:14] – How fawning and people pleasing trace back to the amygdala

5 Key Takeaways

1. It's Often Fight or Flight, Not Just ADHD — Many of the symptoms people write off as permanent ADHD traits, the overwhelm, paralysis, and procrastination, are actually a nervous system stuck in survival mode. That part is treatable.
2. Your Body Can't Tell a To-Do List From a Bear — Under chronic stress, blood flow leaves the prefrontal cortex so you can fight or run, which is exactly why you can't think clearly when you sit down to work.
3. Buy-In Comes Before Any Technique — Regulation work is uncomfortable because your system thinks its old patterns are keeping you alive. You have to genuinely want the change to push through the resistance.
4. Start by Physically Slowing Down — Walking instead of rushing, dropping your shoulders, and typing at a reasonable pace all signal safety to the body. Small shifts over time retrain the nervous system far better than fast, intense change.
5. Stop Fighting With Reality — Shoulds, what-ifs, and "this shshouldn't have happened" throw you straight back into panic. Naming what is real and asking "now what" is one of the fastest ways to calm the system down.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1512
• Dad Edge Day with the Arizona Cardinals (November 15, Cardinals vs Rams, State Farm Stadium): https://thedadedge.com/nfl
• Roommates to soulmates thedadedge.com/soulmates

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Jenna's reframing of dysregulation gave you a new way to understand your own brain or your kid's, put one piece of it to work. Catch yourself the next time you're rushing and physically slow down, and notice how quickly your body follows. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.

This episode discusses ADHD, disordered eating, and mental health. If any of it resonates personally, consider reaching out to a licensed professional who can offer support tailored to you.

Thais Gibson is the co-founder of the Personal Development School and the creator of Gibson Integrated Attachment Theory, whose work on attachment and subconscious rewiring has reached more than 75 million people. He holds a PhD, is certified in over 13 therapeutic modalities, and his research shows that 88% of the more than 70,000 people he's worked with developed a secure attachment style in just 90 days. He got there the hard way, through a six and a half year opioid addiction that only broke when he understood he wasn't running from his outside world, he was running from his inside one.

This one gets unusually personal. Thais breaks down the difference between the conscious and subconscious mind, why willpower alone never sticks, and the exact rewiring exercise he uses, then Larry opens up about childhood bullying and body-image fear he says he's never shared in 1,500 episodes. If you've ever set a goal your behavior refused to follow, this conversation explains why and what to do about it.

Timeline Summary

[1:44] – Growing up in a tumultuous household and one of Canada's longest divorce cases

[2:46] – A knee surgery, painkillers, and the start of a six and a half year spiral

[4:00] – The idea that changed everything: you're numbing your internal reality, not your external one

[5:52] – Why sobriety finally stuck the third time around

[6:20] – The sentence in a psych class that began his recovery

[8:04] – Finding God, meditation, and building a real support system

[11:33] – The full bio: 75 million people reached and an 88% success rate in 90 days

[13:09] – The actual difference between the conscious and subconscious mind

[14:14] – The Freudian iceberg and where your conditioning is stored

[16:03] – Why there's no such thing as self-sabotage

[19:18] – The Monday drinker: a case study in wanting to quit but not quitting

[20:36] – The three pillars of why we keep choosing what we say we don't want

[24:05] – Upgrading the form: how Thais turned his own anger into vulnerability

[28:55] – The red converse shoes and how we wire by emotional association

[29:42] – The cost benefit rewiring exercise, step by step

[32:37] – What's actually happening in the brain when you reflect, write, and repeat

[36:09] – Larry shares being a bullied, overweight kid and the dance that changed him

[41:05] – Why body image got wired to so much pain, and what it's really about

[48:34] – The three step exercise for rewiring a core wound

[50:37] – Building confidence rooted in character instead of appearance

[57:04] – The four attachment styles explained

[1:00:14] – The fearful avoidant style and the unworthiness wound

[1:04:17] – Why your attachment shows up most where you were most wounded

5 Key Takeaways

1. Willpower Can't Beat Your Programming — Your conscious mind can't outwill your subconscious. When you keep repeating a pattern you swore you'd quit, that isn't weakness, it's your subconscious running a different program than the one you set.
2. There's No Such Thing as Self-Sabotage — What feels like sabotage is your conscious intention and your subconscious conditioning pulling in opposite directions. Nobody wakes up planning to wreck their day.
3. Upgrade the Form, Don't Just Kill the Habit — Every habit meets a real need. Instead of white-knuckling it away, identify what the behavior gives you and build a healthier way to get that same need met.
4. Rewire Through Repetition, Emotion, and Imagery — The subconscious speaks in images and feelings, not logic. Recording your costs and benefits and listening back daily for 21 days builds new neural pathways while the old ones atrophy.
5. Root Your Worth in Character, Not Appearance — Confidence based on your body or achievements can be taken away by an injury or a setback. Confidence built on evidence of who you are at your core can't be infringed.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1511
• Join the Dad Edge Alliance: https://thedadedge.com/join
• Dad Edge Boardroom Goal Setting Intensive (July 31, 8am central): https://thedadedge.com/goals
• The Personal Development School: https://personaldevelopmentschool.com
• Thais Gibson on YouTube: Thais Gibson Personal Development School
• The Personal Development School on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thepersonaldevelopmentschool
• The Pursuit of Legendary Fatherhood by Larry Hagner: referenced in episode

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Thais naming the gap between what you intend and what you actually do landed for you, take it as the starting point. Send this episode to a man who keeps setting the same goal every Monday, and pick one core wound to run the 21 day rewiring exercise on this month. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.

This episode touches on addiction, bullying, and body image. If any of it hits close to home for you, it's worth talking with a licensed professional who can offer personalized support.

Sterling Seizert spent his career as a US Army Special Forces Green Beret, serving as a senior communications and intelligence sergeant in 10th Special Forces Group and as a Special Operations liaison at the US Embassy in Nigeria. When he transitioned out, he carried the same discipline into entrepreneurship, and today he's the founder of Patriot Capital and Legends Lodge, overseeing eight self storage facilities worth over 58 million dollars and serving 3,100 clients. He's also the author of the new book Buy Your Freedom.

This one goes deeper than either man expected. Sterling opens with a harrowing 2013 combat story, then he and Larry get into how training builds calm under pressure, servant leadership in marriage, raising daughters who hold themselves to a standard, and why honesty in a home should be celebrated rather than punished. If you want a masterclass in staying grounded when the stakes are high, this is it.

Timeline Summary

[2:54] – The 2013 mission in northwest Africa and the firefight that changed everything

[6:11] – Holding a soldier's heart and being told to keep the rhythm

[8:11] – Did training take over, or was there disbelief in the moment?

[10:26] – How repetition inoculates you to the sights, sounds, and smells of the battlefield

[12:32] – Advice for the average man facing his own hard situation

[14:25] – Why action creates clarity and keeps you out of rumination

[15:11] – The full bio: Green Beret, Nigeria, and 58 million in self storage

[17:36] – Growing up in small-town Wisconsin and a colder father

[20:59] – The deep question: would he still eat Taco Bell knowing what he knows?

[22:21] – Did quitting ever cross his mind in selection? It never did

[26:07] – The frozen ambush in North Carolina and putting suffering in perspective

[30:35] – Getting recycled through small unit tactics and choosing to be an asset

[32:09] – The first responder divorce rate and how he and Rebecca stayed tight

[32:36] – Marriage as service, and why keeping score never works

[35:09] – Serving your wife without becoming the nice guy or the domineering man

[38:33] – Servant leadership, apologizing, and holding a standard at the same time

[39:03] – Larry and Sterling compare their household standards for conflict

[41:07] – The one question that disarms almost any argument with someone close

[43:44] – The plan for when his daughters start dating, sniper school included

[45:10] – Raising strong daughters to look for ambition and a standard

[48:14] – What this generation of young men is missing, from social media to porn

[52:03] – Cultivating real connection with daughters in the teenage years

[54:13] – The one hard rule he'll raise his voice over, and why honesty gets celebrated

[57:29] – The two books that changed his life, plus his own new release

5 Key Takeaways

1. Action Creates Clarity — When you're facing something hard, assess what needs to get done and execute in order. Movement keeps you out of the rumination loop and steadily reveals the next right step.
2. Marriage Is Service, Not Score — Approach your marriage as the person there to serve, and assume your spouse will meet you halfway. Keeping score guarantees you'll always find a way to justify why you're winning.
3. Serve Without Being a Doormat — Servant leadership isn't groveling and it isn't domineering. Hold a real standard for how you're treated, model that same standard yourself, and pick the battles that actually matter.
4. Assume the Best Interest — In conflict with someone close, ask whether they truly lack your family's best interest at heart. Nine times out of ten they don't, which turns the fight into the two of you against the problem.
5. Celebrate Honesty, Don't Punish It — Make ownership safe. When kids know honesty is welcomed rather than met with punishment, you can address the actual problem instead of untangling a lie on top of it.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1510
• Join the Dad Edge Alliance: https://thedadedge.com/join
• Dad Edge Boardroom Goal Setting Intensive (July 31, 8am central): https://thedadedge.com/goals
• Buy Your Freedom by Sterling Seizert: https://a.co/d/0fwMJAzB

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Sterling's line about action creating clarity gave you something to hold onto, put it to work this week. Send this episode to a man who's stuck ruminating instead of moving, and take one honest look at the standards you're actually modeling at home. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.

Joshua Becker is the founder of Becoming Minimalist, a New York Times bestselling author, and one of the leading voices in the world on intentional living. His work reaches more than 4 million followers across social media and over 1 million readers a month on his website. He spent 15 years as a pastor before discovering minimalism in his own driveway, and his newest book Uncluttered Faith makes the case that owning less isn't just practical, it's profoundly spiritual.

The conversation starts with the Memorial Day garage cleanout where Joshua looked up and saw his five-year-old son swinging alone in the backyard, and goes into what he realized about Jesus' teachings on money, how he and his wife Kim navigated wanting to get rid of very different amounts, and the parable that showed him he wasn't the soil he thought he was. If you've ever spent a day off managing your possessions while your kids waited, this one will land.

Timeline Summary

[1:02] – Joshua on finally making the New York Times list with his fourth book

[2:51] – The Memorial Day garage cleanout that started everything

[4:40] – A neighbor named June changes his life in one sentence

[5:23] – Seeing his son swinging alone and realizing possessions were taking him away

[6:37] – Telling Kim, and starting Becoming Minimalist that Monday

[7:02] – Why the very first thing he decluttered was the cars

[8:57] – Starting with the easiest, most lived-in rooms instead of the garage

[11:50] – Easier to clean, more money, more generosity: cataloging the benefits

[13:11] – Owning fewer things means owning higher quality things

[13:58] – Full introduction: 4 million followers, 1 million monthly readers, 15 years pastoring

[16:32] – Realizing June wasn't the first person to tell him about minimalism, Jesus was

[17:47] – Why Jesus wasn't inviting him to a boring life but a better one

[20:56] – Knowing the verses for years without knowing how to actually live them out

[22:39] – Five thousand advertisements a day and the world's definition of a good life

[25:16] – Kim was on board, but she wanted to lose 40% and he wanted 80%

[27:21] – It's always easier to see everyone else's clutter than your own

[28:28] – Why men and women tend to accumulate differently

[29:44] – The three moments it got hard, including "let me handle the children's clothes"

[32:40] – Would he still be a minimalist if he weren't a Christian?

[34:32] – Raising Salem and Alexa in it, and the test that comes with the first big paycheck

[37:23] – The foundation kids can always come back to

[41:03] – How minimalism forced him to redefine success

[43:45] – The parable of the four soils and the weeds nobody names correctly

[46:15] – Discovering he was the third soil, not the fourth

5 Key Takeaways

1. Your Stuff Is Taking You From What Matters — It isn't just that possessions fail to make you happy. Managing, cleaning, and organizing them actively pulls you away from the people and purpose that do.
2. Start With the Easy Rooms — Most people think decluttering means attacking the garage or the storage unit. Begin with the car and the most lived-in spaces, where you'll feel the benefit immediately and build momentum.
3. Clean Up Your Own Clutter First — It's always easier to see your spouse's or your kids' excess than your own. You have little standing to ask anyone to let go of their things until you've dealt with yours.
4. Owning Less Redefines Success — When you stop earning to accumulate, you're forced to answer what you're actually working for. That question reshapes your filter for nearly every decision.
5. Worries, Riches, and Pleasures Choke Fruitfulness — In the parable of the four soils, Jesus names riches themselves, not merely the love of them. Many who assume they're the fourth soil are living as the third.

Links & Resources

• Episode page and all links: https://thedadedge.com/1509
• Join the Dad Edge Alliance: https://thedadedge.com/join
• Dad Edge Boardroom Goal Setting Intensive (July 31, 8am central): https://thedadedge.com/goals
• Uncluttered Faith by Joshua Becker: available everywhere books are sold, plus a six week small group Bible study
• Becoming Minimalist: https://becomingminimalist.com
• Joshua Becker's personal site: https://joshuabecker.com
• Luke 8:14, the parable of the four soils: referenced in episode
• The Pursuit of Legendary Fatherhood by Larry Hagner: referenced in episode

Enjoyed This Episode?

If the image of Joshua's son swinging alone in the backyard while he sorted boxes stopped you cold, take that as the nudge. Send this episode to a dad who spends his days off managing his possessions, and go clean out one small space this week just to feel the difference. If the show keeps delivering, follow, rate, and leave a review so more fathers can find these conversations.