ReHealth Dads

04/09/2026

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking more about what it means to be a father raising a child with autism.

There’s a part of this experience that I haven’t been able to fully put into words until recently. It’s not something I’ve really heard other fathers talk about openly either, but it’s something I’ve felt for a long time.

It’s the feeling of grieving a life that never actually happened.

Not grieving my son. I love my son more than anything. But grieving the version of fatherhood I once imagined. The experiences I thought we would have. The moments I used to daydream about before he was born.

This piece is my attempt to finally put that into words.
(link in comments)

04/08/2026

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking more about what it means to be a father raising a child with autism.

There’s a part of this experience that I haven’t been able to fully put into words until recently. It’s not something I’ve really heard other fathers talk about openly either, but it’s something I’ve felt for a long time.

It’s the feeling of grieving a life that never actually happened.

Not grieving my son. I love my son more than anything. But grieving the version of fatherhood I once imagined. The experiences I thought we would have. The moments I used to daydream about before he was born.

This piece is my attempt to finally put that into words. You can read it on my Substack (link in bio).

04/02/2026

With today being World Autism Awareness Day, I felt it was the right time to share something I wrote over the course of 2024.

As a father of a son with autism, this became my way of processing the full range of emotions that come with this life.

I went back and forth on whether to ever share this publicly. I’m sharing it now for two reasons:

To increase awareness.
To help another parent feel a little less alone.

An emotional spectrum from hate and fear to love and hope

03/27/2026

This is a simple breathing exercise called 4–7–8 breathing.

Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, letting the breath expand into your belly. Hold for 7 seconds, then exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds.

That longer exhale can help calm your nervous system, reduce stress, and support better sleep, especially at the end of a long day.

As dads, we carry a lot. Sometimes you just need a minute to reset before moving on to the next thing.

Repeat the cycle as many times as you need, or try it before bed to help wind down.

03/25/2026

For many fathers, the path to better health is stalled by the way we handle stress at the end of a long day.

When you are exhausted from work and family demands, it is easy to fall into a loop of using alcohol to unburden the load. This habit often feels like the only door open for relief, but it usually costs us our momentum the next morning.

I have been experimenting with a sober curious approach to understand the "why" behind these habits. By making small tactical adjustments to how we find connection and rest, we can stop the cycle of starting over.

I broke down the tools that are helping me stay consistent in my latest article.

Send a message to learn more

03/24/2026

Using scissors has been a goal for over two years. It’s been a big focus in his ABA therapy, but for a long time he wanted nothing to do with it.

We’ve had a lot of starts and stops, and most attempts would turn into a struggle. So we kept working on it, but also gave him time and tried not to force it.

Seeing him sit down on his own and start cutting like this felt like a huge win for us. Moments like this don’t happen overnight.

If you’re a parent going through something similar, I know how much patience it takes.

03/20/2026

This is a simple breathing exercise called box breathing.

Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, letting the breath expand into your belly. Hold for 4 seconds, then exhale slowly through your mouth for 4 seconds, and hold again for 4 seconds before the next breath.

This steady rhythm can help calm your nervous system, reduce stress, and bring your focus back, especially on those days when everything feels like it's piling up.

As dads, we carry a lot. Sometimes you just need a minute to reset.

Repeat the cycle as many times as you need, and come back to it anytime during the day when you want to reset.

03/18/2026

Many fathers feel the constant pressure to keep everything together for their families.

When life gets heavy and the responsibilities pile up, we often look for a release valve. For a long time, I used drinks at the end of the night to help me let out the emotions I was hiding during the day. I have realized that the habit was just a symptom of the internal weight I was trying to manage on my own.

I shared a reflection this week about why I bought a bottle of wine when I did not actually want the drink. It is a look at the relationship between our emotional health and the habits we build to cope with the load of fatherhood.

Send a message to learn more

03/12/2026

It is easy to lose steam when your health goals feel like a mountain you have to climb. Most fathers I talk to are already exhausted by work and family, so the idea of a six-month transformation feels more like a burden than a plan.

I have been experimenting with a different approach lately. Instead of worrying about the long term, I have been jumping ahead in my mind just one week or one month. I ask myself what my kids or my wife will notice about me if I just stay the course for that short window.

That shift in perspective helped me reach a 1-month milestone I have not seen in 30 years. I broke down how to use these short-term targets to build real momentum in my new post.