Dad-O · The Connected Father by Ryan Mitchell

How to Show Up, Lead with Heart, and Raise Respectful Children in a Distracted World

Dad-O Series Book 1

Your kids don’t need a superhero — they need you.

In Dad-O: The Connected Father, Ryan Mitchell delivers a down-to-earth, humorous, and heartfelt field guide for dads trying to raise respectful children in a distracted world. Through relatable stories and practical advice, this book helps fathers show up, lead with heart, and protect what matters most — their connection.

Learn how to build trust through calm leadership, set boundaries that stick, and protect your kids from digital pitfalls like manipulative ads, unsafe apps, and the illusion of AI “companions.” You’ll discover how to guide them through the online noise without fear — and model the integrity and empathy they’ll carry into real life.

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence — the kind your kids will remember long after the screens go dark.

Because being connected has never mattered more.

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Excerpt from Dad-O © Copyright 2025 Ryan Mitchell

Introduction:

The Connection That Holds

You can tell a lot about a man by what he does when no one’s watching.
And if you’re a dad, there’s a good chance that “no one watching” moment is somewhere between picking up socks that aren’t yours and quietly fixing the thing everyone swore they didn’t break. Fatherhood isn’t a movie montage of proud smiles and slow-motion hugs. It’s messy, repetitive, occasionally sticky, and somehow the most meaningful job you’ll ever have.
This book isn’t about perfection. It’s about connection — the kind that happens in between the chaos. It’s for the dads who show up when they’re tired, who keep their cool when the world’s pushing their buttons, and who still try to make their kids laugh even when everything feels heavy.

Why Connection Matters

Here’s the truth: most dads aren’t absent because they don’t care. They’re absent because the world won’t stop yelling at them. Work, bills, responsibilities, expectations — it’s all noise. And somewhere inside that noise, your kids are just trying to get your attention.

Connection isn’t about big speeches or elaborate plans. It’s about moments.

It’s that deep breath before you walk in the door after a rough day and choose to listen instead of zone out. It’s choosing patience when your teen rolls their eyes, or empathy when your toddler turns into a small, screaming tornado at the grocery store. It’s deciding that no matter how chaotic life gets, your kids will never have to wonder if you’re on their side.

This Isn’t a Lecture — It’s a Field Manual

If you’re expecting another stiff parenting book full of expert jargon and bullet-pointed life hacks, you’re in the wrong section. This is a field manual for modern fatherhood — written from the trenches, for the men who are actually in them.

You won’t find five-step programs or theories that crumble in real life. You’ll find stories, tools, and hard-earned truths that help you build stronger connections with your kids — even when the situation isn’t ideal, the house isn’t clean, and you’re running on caffeine and stubbornness.

Connection Is Leadership

The word “connection” sounds soft, but don’t be fooled — it’s the toughest kind of leadership there is. It’s the kind that requires restraint instead of dominance, patience instead of control, and empathy when anger would feel easier. Being a connected father means learning to lead without fear, to guide without crushing curiosity, and to correct without killing trust.

When your kid messes up, they already know it. What they don’t always know is whether you’ll still stand beside them when they do. That’s where connection separates the strong from the stubborn. You’re not raising robots who obey; you’re raising humans who trust you enough to tell you when they’ve messed up.

The World They’re Growing Up In

Your kids are growing up in an era that’s louder, faster, and more connected than ever — yet somehow lonelier, too. They have access to more information than you did at twenty, but less space to think for themselves. They’re bombarded with filtered perfection, quick judgments, and constant comparison.
That’s why they need you — a real, imperfect, dependable dad who’s grounded in something the internet can’t teach: presence.

They don’t need a superhero. They need a man who shows them what humility looks like when he apologizes, what strength looks like when he controls his temper, and what courage looks like when he tells the truth even when it’s hard.

For All Kinds of Dads

This book isn’t just for one kind of father. It’s for the married dads balancing the weight of family and work, for the divorced dads navigating two homes without losing their connection, for the single dads doing double duty, and for the stepdads who stepped into the story halfway through and decided to stay anyway.

Connection looks different for all of us, but the goal is the same: to raise kids who know their father is someone they can trust — not because he’s perfect, but because he’s consistent.

What You’ll Find in These Pages

You’ll find stories that sound like your life. Moments that test your patience. Conversations that make you uncomfortable but need to happen anyway. You’ll learn how to stay calm when everyone else is losing it, how to set boundaries without building walls, and how to talk about the hard stuff — from honesty and consequences to online safety and self-respect.

You’ll find humor here, too — because if you can’t laugh about parenting, you’ll end up crying into the laundry pile. The goal isn’t to shame you into doing more; it’s to remind you why it’s worth doing well.

Why I Wrote This Book

I wrote this because fatherhood has changed. Dads aren’t just supposed to provide anymore — we’re supposed to participate. We’re the emotional anchors, the bedtime philosophers, the teachers, the referees, and the comic relief. We’re the ones who set the tone for what our kids believe about love, honesty, strength, and forgiveness.

The truth is, you don’t need to know everything. You just need to be someone your kids can count on — steady, respectful, and present.

Your Kids Don’t Need Perfect — They Need You

You’ll screw up. You’ll lose your patience. You’ll say the wrong thing. That’s okay. Connection isn’t built on flawlessness; it’s built on recovery. Every apology, every listening ear, every moment you choose empathy over ego — that’s what sticks.

At the end of the day, this book is about learning how to stay connected when everything else is trying to pull you apart. It’s about becoming the kind of dad your kids can look up to — not because you always have the answers, but because you’re brave enough to keep showing up and figuring it out with them.