Welcome to The Screen-Free Dad

It was 2 a.m. on March 7th, 2021. My wife shook me awake with the words I’d been preparing for:

It’s time.

Groggy, I opened the contraction timer app I had downloaded to my phone and began timing the contractions.

Thirty minutes later, the result was clear. We needed to get to the hospital.

We lived only five minutes away, but that short drive felt like an eternity. My mind raced as I mentally sorted through all the books, articles, videos, and classes I’d consumed over the past 9 months.

I had prepared for this moment, but suddenly, I wasn’t sure I was ready.

We arrived at the hospital, and the rest was a blur. They rushed us into a hospital room. My wife immediately started pushing. There was screaming. There was yelling. And then, just a few hours later, our first daughter was born.

And just like that, I was a father.

Holding her in my arms, I instantly felt the gravity of the moment. It was overwhelming but also… reassuring. In the chaos of the moment, I felt so strongly that everything was exactly as it should be.

This was my purpose.

I was meant to be a dad.

It was at that exact moment my life changed. Suddenly, the decisions I made and the actions I took weren’t just about me anymore. They shaped her world and her future.

That realization, while overwhelming, was also defining.

From that day forward, every choice I made had one purpose: to give her and any future siblings the best life I could.

Fast-forward three years.

I’m in the basement of my house, watching my two daughters (ages 1 and 3) play while I stare at my laptop, wondering:

Was this really the right decision?

I just quit my job. No backup plan. Not much savings. Just a gut feeling that something had to change.

For the last year and a half, I have been working at a failing software startup. I took the job because it was remote, and I wanted to be home with my kids. But as the months passed, the stress piled up, my workload doubled, and my patience wore thin.

And the worst part? Even though I was home, I wasn’t really present.

I wanted to be, but work always came first. And when I needed a quick fix to keep the kids occupied, I reached for the easiest solution—screens.

At first, I told myself it was temporary, but I kept finding excuses to justify plopping them in front of a screen.

“I’ll take them to the park on my lunch break.” Didn’t happen…

“I grew up watching TV. I turned out fine… right?” Debatable…

“Ms. Rachel has TWO Master’s degrees. She’s offering them WAY more than I have time for right now.” True. I can’t compete with Ms. Rachel…

I kept reassuring myself that this was okay. It wasn’t going to be like this forever. But the truth is, this became our daily routine.

Then one day, I looked up and thought:

Is this really the kind of dad I want to be?

I sat with that question longer than I’d like to admit. I kept telling myself I’d do better tomorrow, but tomorrow never came. I knew something had to change—not just for my kids, but for me too.

And I know I’m not the only dad who’s been here.

We all love our kids and want to be present, but life gets in the way. Work becomes overwhelming, and before we know it, screens become the easy fallback.

But I don’t believe it has to be that way.

That’s why I started The Screen-Free Dad. I wanted a place for dads like me (and maybe you, too) who want to be more engaged, more creative, and more there for our kids without screens getting in the way.

This newsletter isn’t about guilt or unrealistic expectations. It’s about finding practical ways to reduce screen time—not just for our kids, but for ourselves too. It’s about discovering simple, fun, and meaningful ways to connect as dads.

I’m figuring it out as I go, and I hope you’ll join me.

I don’t have all the answers.

No dad does.

But I do know this:

The moments we spend with our kids, the silly ones, the messy ones, the unexpected ones, are the ones that matter most.

So let’s be present for them. Let’s trade screen time for story time, distractions for connection, and background noise for belly laughs.

Let’s make fatherhood an adventure worth remembering.

If this resonates with you, I hope you’ll stick around. I’d love to hear your stories, your ideas, your wins, your struggles, and everything in between.

Fatherhood isn’t about being perfect—it’s about showing up, being present, and making the moments we have count.

Because, at the end of the day, our kids don’t need perfect dads.

They just need us.