Field Notes

September 21, 2026 2 min read

Gentle Parenting Was Never Supposed to Mean No Boundaries

Look at some of the parenting social media right now, and you will find a war that would make a Navy SEAL think twice! In one corner, gentle parenting. On the other, a growing backlash from parents who tried it and ended up with kids who run the house.Here is what both sides are missing.Gentle parenting should not mean no... Look at some of the parenting social media right now, and you will find a war that would...

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September 14, 2026 3 min read

We Only Get 18 Summers With Our Kids. We Need to Make Them Count.

That should be a cold slap in your parental face. We get roughly eighteen years of our kid/s living under the roof . Eighteen summers. You can count that time on your fingers and toes. Let that sink in…Then they walk out the door into their own life, and every bit of time you get after that is time they... That should be a cold slap in your parental face. We get roughly eighteen years of our kid/s...

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September 7, 2026 5 min read

Your Voice Becomes Your Child's Inner Voice. A Navy SEAL on the Words That Shape a Kid for Life.

How many of us can still hear our parents in our heads throughout our daily lives? I hope you read this and it helps you think about the kind of voice you want to be for your child. Enjoy the read, Brandon PUDDLE JUMPERS EXCERPT“The everyday inputs we give our kids, our words, our tone, our expectations, matter more than... How many of us can still hear our parents in our heads throughout our daily lives? I hope...

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September 4, 2026 14 min read

The Navy SEAL Mental Tools for Raising Resilient Kids: Read the Puddle Jumpers Introduction Free

Over twenty years ago, Gretchen and I stood in front of a television and watched the second tower fall. I turned to her and said, “I have to go.” We were married then. We are not now. But we raised three kids together through deployments, distance, a divorce, and plenty of hard times, both emotionally and financially. And somewhere in... Over twenty years ago, Gretchen and I stood in front of a television and watched the second tower...

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August 24, 2026 8 min read

A Demanding Career Doesn’t Have to Cost You Your Kids.

I originally wrote this for SOFREP.com and titled it: Deployment Doesn’t Have to Cost You Your Kids. A Navy SEAL Dad’s Guide to Staying Close.Writing it, I realized that the same can apply to parents with incredibly demanding careers, or the single mom working two jobs and holding everything together. So when you read it, just replace military deployment with... I originally wrote this for SOFREP.com and titled it: Deployment Doesn’t Have to Cost You Your Kids. A...

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August 18, 2026 9 min read

PUDDLE JUMPERS: Powerful Mental Techniques from a Navy SEAL Performance Coach and Father of Three

Puddle Jumpernoun | [pud-el jum-per]Brave, joy-seeking souls, especially children, who leap into life’s messy, muddy moments with full-hearted abandon.They see a half-frozen mud puddle and run for it, not from it. They’re not scared of getting dirty, falling down, or looking like a lunatic while chasing what lights them up.They live fully, laugh loudly, and remind the rest of us... Puddle Jumpernoun | [pud-el jum-per]Brave, joy-seeking souls, especially children, who leap into life’s messy, muddy moments with full-hearted...

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August 13, 2026 4 min read

The Performance Tools Olympic Champions and Navy SEALs Use. Here's How to Teach It to Your Kid Before School Starts.

Before we implemented performance psychology into the brutally challenging Navy SEAL sniper program, we had a 30% failure rate. And these were highly trained and motivated Navy SEALs but, 30% were doomed to pack their bags, heads held low, in the walk of shame back to their SEAL Teams. What happened after? We started graduating everyone!Yes, there were exceptions, and... Before we implemented performance psychology into the brutally challenging Navy SEAL sniper program, we had a 30% failure...

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July 31, 2026 3 min read

Snowplow Parents Are Raising Kids Who Fall Over the First Time Life Pushes Back

First things first…be kind. I’m a little behind this week’s post because of my ortho procedure, but I am firmly back in the cockpit and firmly at the controls as of today. Now onto this week’s parenting chat…There is a name for the parent who clears every obstacle out of their kid’s path before the kid even reaches it. Snowplow... First things first…be kind. I’m a little behind this week’s post because of my ortho procedure, but I...

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July 24, 2026 7 min read

The Kid I Almost Lost in Eighth Grade Just Took Care of Me When I Couldn't Take Care of Myself.

I recently had a medical procedure in New York. An old night parachute training injury that finally came to collect its due. It also forced me to accept the hard truth, some things you cannot do alone. You need help. Actual help. The unglamorous kind that involves someone getting you from point A to point B when your body is... I recently had a medical procedure in New York. An old night parachute training injury that finally came...

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July 13, 2026 9 min read

Don't Check Your Kid's Grades. Check Their Group Chat.

I am going to tell you the single most useful thing I learned about predicting how your kid turns out, and, hold onto your coffee mug, it is going to make some parents uncomfortable.Grades? Mildly important but not a main factor in outcome. What is?Check their group chat or their core friend group. You can hire tutors. You can set... I am going to tell you the single most useful thing I learned about predicting how your kid...

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July 7, 2026 2 min read

Why Your Kids Need a Leader at Home, Not Just a Parent

Your kids are looking for leadership. Nature does not tolerate empty space. Neither does your kid’s brain. If you do not fill that gap with solid leadership, something else will crawl in and make itself comfortable. An algorithm. A stranger online. A peer of theirs with worse judgment than a drunk uncle at a wedding. Kids are not blank slates... Your kids are looking for leadership. Nature does not tolerate empty space. Neither does your kid’s brain. If...

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July 1, 2026 10 min read

How a Ghost Airport in Poland, a Jammed GPS Near Belarus, and a French Pilot Made This the Most Memorable Flight of My Life

There is a moment somewhere over northern Poland, dodging rain showers low enough that you can see individual cows getting nervous about the weather, when you start asking yourself serious questions about your life choices.I was not asking those questions because I was scared. I have been in worse spots than a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza skimming under a gray ceiling... There is a moment somewhere over northern Poland, dodging rain showers low enough that you can see individual...

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June 29, 2026 10 min read

Parenting in America Is a Public Health Crisis. Here Is What Nobody Is Telling You About Why.

In August 2024, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a formal advisory not about a disease or a drug or a dietary habit. He issued one about parenting itself.The advisory was titled “Parents Under Pressure” and its central finding was both obvious to every parent reading it and somehow still shocking to see stated in an official government document:... In August 2024, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a formal advisory not about a disease or...

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June 22, 2026 10 min read

Your Kids Are Keeping Score. They Just Never Tell You Until It's Too Late

Puddle Jumpers came out on May 12th. I was in New York for the launch, running the kind of schedule that book releases produce. Back-to-back podcast interviews, some in-person appearances, the particular exhaustion of talking about yourself for ten hours straight, and trying to make it sound fresh every single time.I had a book signing scheduled at Words Bookstore in... Puddle Jumpers came out on May 12th. I was in New York for the launch, running the kind...

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June 17, 2026 3 min read

This Father's Day, one book your husband will actually read

Gretchen wrote the foreword to my parenting book.We have been divorced for over ten years. We raised three kids together across different cities, different schools, different seasons of life that neither of us planned for. She’s an amazing mom and co-parent. When I finally finished writing Puddle Jumpers she was the first person I asked to write the opening pages.She... Gretchen wrote the foreword to my parenting book.We have been divorced for over ten years. We raised three...

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June 16, 2026 8 min read

I Left the Navy SEALs Broken. New York Fixed That. Now the Knicks Are Reminding All of Us Why.

I want to tell you something about New York City that I have never said out loud before.When I lost my best friend Glen Doherty in 2012 , I realized I was not okay. I had buried a lot of trauma of what I’d seen in war, the friends I’d lost, and when I lost Glen, the weight crippled me,... I want to tell you something about New York City that I have never said out loud before.When...

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June 10, 2026 4 min read

The moment I almost protected my daughter from a great life lesson

She was only eight years old.The taekwondo studio in Paso Robles smelled like sweat and dirty socks. Black mats on the floor, an American flag on the wall, a room full of parents sitting in the back watching their kids get evaluated one by one for the next belt level. Her older brother Jackson had gone first. He ended up... She was only eight years old.The taekwondo studio in Paso Robles smelled like sweat and dirty socks. Black...

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June 5, 2026 9 min read

Someone Left a 1-Star Review of My Book and I Want to Frame It

I have been shot at in two countries . I have finished Hell Week . I’ve eaten bugs in survival school. Went to the bathroom in a Folgers coffee can in prisoner of war training . None of this prepared me for the intellectually challenged and aggressively un-self-aware Renfreds of the literary world.Renfred found my book on Amazon. Renfred had... I have been shot at in two countries . I have finished Hell Week . I’ve eaten bugs...

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June 2, 2026 14 min read

Post Traumatic Growth in Parenting

I believe that a lot of parents who have been through the most often raise the most resilient kids.I was sixteen years old in Tahiti, with a few hundred dollars, a half-packed bag, and the particular kind of existential dread that arrives when you realize your safety net just evaporated completely, and nobody is coming to help you figure it... I believe that a lot of parents who have been through the most often raise the most resilient...

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May 21, 2026 8 min read

Your Kids Don't Need More of Your Time. They Need More of Your Presence.

On why quality time is not a parenting concept. It is the whole game. And why one intentional day with your child is pricelessMy oldest son graduated from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2024. He walked across that stage, came outside in the sunny centuries-old courtyard among the crowd, found me, and hugged me. It was an... On why quality time is not a parenting concept. It is the whole game. And why one intentional...

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