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January 8, 2026 2 min read

Your kids don’t need better rules. They need a calmer leader.

Most parents… React instead of regulate.Project instead of pause.Try to control outcomes instead of shaping mindset.I learned this the hard way.As a Navy SEAL sniper, before we ever touched a rifle, we trained the mind.Breathing. Visualization. Positive Self-talk.Because panic kills performance.Parenting is no different.Your kids don’t need you louder.They need you calmer.They’re constantly recording the world through your reactions.Your tone... Most parents… React instead of regulate.Project instead of pause.Try to control outcomes instead of shaping mindset.I learned this...

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January 7, 2026 3 min read

Small Skills, Big Confidence

I’ve tracked terrorists in the mountains for a living, and I’ve watched boarding teams take over hostile ships at a thousand feet as a helicopter sniper. None of that compares to teaching a kid how to tie their shoes and seeing that big grin of accomplishment like they just summited Everest in the 1930s.Here’s the truth most people miss. Little... I’ve tracked terrorists in the mountains for a living, and I’ve watched boarding teams take over hostile ships...

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December 29, 2025 5 min read

America Is F*cked Right Now—Loudly, Publicly, With Receipts.

America has always been a beautiful, loud, half-broken experiment run by argumentative primates, and the only reason it keeps surviving is that enough people keep choosing the hard option, speaking up when power tells them to shut up.I’m going to say the quiet part out loud, because whispering hasn’t helped anyone lately.America is fucked right now. Loudly. Publicly. With receipts.... America has always been a beautiful, loud, half-broken experiment run by argumentative primates, and the only reason it...

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December 27, 2025 2 min read

OUR KIDS NEED PERSPECTIVE

America feels like a rolling tire fire right now. But here’s the part nobody wants to talk about: our kids are watching all of this, and most of them are being raised without the one thing that actually helps people survive turmoil—perspective.The world has always been a little messy. Every generation thinks theirs is the end of times because they’re... America feels like a rolling tire fire right now. But here’s the part nobody wants to talk about:...

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December 18, 2025 3 min read

For Kids, Suffering and Perspective is Power.

The recent killing of the Reiners is gut-wrenching but it got me thinking. How could this happen to such loving parents? Too many times, I’ve seen parents shield their kids from struggle out of love, only to create troubled adults in the process—kids who grow up and have no perspective and no consequences. If you’ve seen the recent Charlie Sheen... The recent killing of the Reiners is gut-wrenching but it got me thinking. How could this happen to...

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December 8, 2025 2 min read

Let Your Kids Do Hard Things

One of the great lies of modern parenting is that love means cushioning the fall. I get why well-meaning, misinformed parents do it. Watching your kid struggle feels like running a marathon in cheap Mexican flip-flops. But if we shield them from the hard things in life, we don’t raise stronger kids. We raise kids who think bumps are emergencies.... One of the great lies of modern parenting is that love means cushioning the fall. I get why...

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December 2, 2025 3 min read

Holiday Rules for College Kids: Keep It Fun So They Come Back

Your college kids are coming home for the holidays like a bunch of half-trained German Shepherds who just discovered freedom and tequila. This is the part where parents start resorting to old habits better avoided, unless you want to push your kids away.Hovering, lecturing, and trying to run the house like it’s still their sophomore year of high school. Don’t.... Your college kids are coming home for the holidays like a bunch of half-trained German Shepherds who just...

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December 1, 2025 2 min read

Parenting Love Isn't Soft, it's Steady

Love isn’t soft, it’s steady. I used to think love was mostly about protection.Then I realized that kind of love is fragile. It breaks the second life gets hard!Real love holds the line. It says no when no is the right answer. It follows through even when everyone’s tired and nobody’s clapping.Follow through is EVERYTHING. In my upcoming book, Puddle... Love isn’t soft, it’s steady. I used to think love was mostly about protection.Then I realized that kind...

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November 24, 2025 2 min read

Failure is Great Training

Being prepared when our kids fail is an amazing teaching opportunity. It teaches what comfort and shielding never will. Every time a kid misses the shot, bombs the test, forgets the lines, gets cut from the team, or faceplants in front of their friends, life is handing them a gift. A messy, humbling, priceless rep. If we swoop in to... Being prepared when our kids fail is an amazing teaching opportunity. It teaches what comfort and shielding never...

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November 21, 2025 2 min read

Calm Parents Raise Strong Kids

Calm is our greatest weapon with our kids. I learned that the same way I learned most things in life: the hard way, by messing it up first. In the Navy SEAL Teams, especially as a sniper, staying centered under pressure kept me alive. In parenting, it keeps the connection alive. When a kid loses control, they scan us to... Calm is our greatest weapon with our kids. I learned that the same way I learned most things...

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November 13, 2025 2 min read

Resilience in The Ordinary

The daily mundane things that many parents protect their kids from are exactly what they need to build confidence and resilience. A friend of mine in Lisbon grew up wealthy, then his family lost it all. He told me when he went to college, he didn’t even know how to do his own laundry or even make a sandwich! Nannies... The daily mundane things that many parents protect their kids from are exactly what they need to build...

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November 11, 2025 1 min read

Purpose doesn’t arrive gift-wrapped for our children

Our kids don’t trip over purpose. We have to help them find it through encouraging repetition, exposure to multiple disciplines, letting them fail, and showing them how to have the guts to start again. This photo is of my three Puddle Jumpers during the summer of 2020. When the world was locked down, we decided to go diving. I got... Our kids don’t trip over purpose. We have to help them find it through encouraging repetition, exposure to...

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November 6, 2025 2 min read

Disciplining Our Kids

Kids need Discipline, but I see so many parents get this wrong. They punish when they are as emotionally charged as a Trump rally in Manhattan, and they often fail to get to the “why” of the behavior. Kids end up confused, afraid, withdrawn, or worse. I almost overpunished my youngest son after a school suspension and risked pushing him... Kids need Discipline, but I see so many parents get this wrong. They punish when they are as...

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November 3, 2025 2 min read

The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

Being a parent is one of the best jobs on the planet, but it’s not easy. However, consistency and follow-through make a tough job a little less so, and your kids will learn to respect you for it. I talked about this in my last post. We used to have a village to help, but now, not so much. Grandparents,... Being a parent is one of the best jobs on the planet, but it’s not easy. However, consistency...

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October 31, 2025 2 min read

Who’s Raising Your Child—You or Your Calendar

I left my career in the Navy SEALs behind when I was at the top because I saw what happened to the families of career SEALs, and it wasn’t a happy ending. Most had no relationship with their children, and I wanted something better. Parents who always put their careers first and leave everything to nannies, teachers, and coaches are... I left my career in the Navy SEALs behind when I was at the top because I saw...

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October 30, 2025 1 min read

Join my new subscriber chat

I’m announcing a new addition to my Substack publication: Brandon’s Ask Me Anything subscriber chat.This is a conversation space exclusively for subscribers—kind of like a group chat or live hangout. I’ll post questions and updates that come my way, and you can jump into the discussion.Join chatHow to get startedGet the Substack app by clicking this link or the button... I’m announcing a new addition to my Substack publication: Brandon’s Ask Me Anything subscriber chat.This is a conversation...

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October 29, 2025 1 min read

Ordinary Magic for Parents

I asked my kids, all young adults now, three questions when I started writing my book on parenting, Puddle Jumpers. One of these questions was, “What’s one thing I did as a parent that stands out for you?”The answers back were incredibly revealing. I put them all in my book . Sometimes, the very ordinary to us is magic to... I asked my kids, all young adults now, three questions when I started writing my book on parenting,...

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October 28, 2025 3 min read

Carrot or Stick Based Punishment

In my house, discipline came in one flavor: leather. But hell, that was the 80s, and I still remember a few grade school teachers who kept a big wooden paddle in their desks in case one of the inmates got out of line. Not sure that would go over too well with parents today!My co-parent, Gretchen, and I chose to... In my house, discipline came in one flavor: leather. But hell, that was the 80s, and I still...

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October 27, 2025 2 min read

Why Coddling Turns Kids Into Emotional Tourists

Coddled kids grow up with emotional passports but no stamps. They visit fear, discomfort, or challenge like tourists, snapping a quick photo, then rushing back to safety.It’s not their fault. Their parents built the bubble around them. We hand out trophies for showing up. We smooth every bump. We praise “potential” instead of pushing persistence. The result? Kids who can’t... Coddled kids grow up with emotional passports but no stamps. They visit fear, discomfort, or challenge like tourists,...

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October 23, 2025 3 min read

So You Wanna Write a Parenting Book...

In Navy SEAL training, there’s a Creature of the Black Lagoon statue with a sign draped around its neck, “So you wanna be a Frogman…” Not a question, more of a dare. “So you wanna write a parenting book…”In recent years, as my kids grew into young adults and started college, I found myselfbeing asked for parenting advice. The questions... In Navy SEAL training, there’s a Creature of the Black Lagoon statue with a sign draped around its...

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