Fathering your children is the most important thing you’ll ever do in this lifetime. Sometimes the role of the father is downplayed, but the statistics are endless: kids who grow up without a father are more likely to be high school dropouts, end up in prison and abuse drugs. The lessons we learn from our fathers turn us into the men and women we grow up to be. So from the folks at Rodale Publishing here are four great parenting lessons that every father should know!

• Talk to your kids all the time. According to a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology, children learn language skills more from their fathers than from their mothers. So talk to them about everything and use big words. They might not know what they mean now, but they’ll learn a lot just by listening.
• Stay calm in the face of tantrums. When your kid is screaming, don’t get worked up. It just makes the situation worse, and handing over a treat to get them to stop, only reinforces bad behavior. Instead, listen to them and calmly whisper your response to what they’re saying. Just because your kid did something idiotic doesn’t mean you have to act like an idiot too. Instead, lean over to them, put your lips close to their ear, and whisper. ”I’m very disappointed in the way you’re acting.” You’ll get your message across. Bringing down the volume makes sure your kids don’t get the drama they’re looking for.
• Help your kids understand that quitting can be even harder than finishing. Hal Runkel, author of Scream Free Parenting, says when his son wanted to quit baseball he told him he could, BUT he had to tell the coach AND all his teammates. His son couldn’t do it. He’s been playing and loving it for seven years.
• Let kids have a little independence, but make them earn it! Studies say when kids have more freedom and responsibility they develop stronger morals more quickly. So it’s okay to let your kid stay out a little later, as long as they understand that there are rules and consequences for breaking them. So, when your kids asks to stay late at a friend’s house, ask them why. If they don’t have a good answer, it’s OK to say no.