Father’s Day is just around the corner, and allprodad.com has some great tips for dads and how they can help raise their kids. Here are some great ways to keep your kids on stable ground when they face the obstacles of life.

Resilience

The saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But I say that’s only true if you have the right tools and know how to use them. The time will come when your children will have to face challenges. That’s OK, because most of them build character and the ability not only to bounce back but to bounce forward too. Be there for your kids to guide them, but don’t be too quick to rescue them. In your own life, let them see you struggle and problem solve. Walking with your children through trials rather than giving them easy solutions helps prepare them for adulthood.

Relationships

Think social connections here—all the people we interact with each day. Model healthy relationships for your children by the way you interact with your spouse, friends, coworkers, and people you meet in public. Ask yourself if you consistently treat people well, both in front of your children and when your children aren’t looking. Keep talking with your kids in an age-appropriate way about loving, respecting, and serving others. Set the bar. Healthy role modeling and discussions now speak volumes later when your sons or daughters begin to establish relationships on their own.

Self-Awareness

Helping our children recognize what’s going on inside themselves is key to developing strong and confident children. As children age, they become more aware of the world around them and their reactions to different situations. By helping them to recognize and verbalize their emotions, we equip our sons and daughters to think more clearly and react properly. This is a major step toward their future self-discipline and self-control.

Support

Having conversations with your children about how and who to ask for help empowers them when they face difficulties. Assure them that it is OK to ask for help. We all need it sometimes. Assist in enhancing their problem-solving capabilities by talking them through problems. Together, identify trusted individuals from whom your child can ask for help. Lastly, try running through a few simulations at home. This will be good practice for when real trials arise.

Communication

Communication within a family is foundational to building stronger children. Engage your kids in conversation with questions such as, “What is one good thing that happened today?” or “What should we do this weekend?” Give everyone an opportunity both to listen and to speak. Value and respect their answers. In the long run, helping your children develop strong conversational skills will appropriately equip them to communicate one day with a potential spouse and also prepare them for the workforce.

Today is National Smile Power, a day that celebrates just how powerful a smile is!

In his TED Talk, “The Hidden Power of Smiling,” Ron Gutman reviews several studies about smiling, and in doing so comes up with some surprising but wonderful results.

1. Smiles Can Measure Longevity

Ron describes studies that were done by looking at photographs and gauging how successful a person will be, based on their smile. Studying yearbook photos and comparing their theories with the real-life experiences of each subject proved that there’s a definite connection between those who smile broadly and those who don’t smile at all.

2. We Were Born Smiling

“Using 3D ultrasound technology,” Ron states, “we can now see that developing babies appear to smile, even in the womb. When they’re born, babies continue to smile, initially mostly in their sleep. Even blind babies smile at the sound of a human voice.”

A wide, bright smile is a predictor of a long life and marriage, for instance. In one study that looked at the smiles of professional baseball players on their official MLB cards, scientists were even able to accurately predict life span, based solely on how “beaming” their smiles were.

3. Most people smile more than twenty times each day.

Unless you’re a child, and then you smile up to four hundred times each day. No wonder being around children makes us happy!

Smiling is one of the most basic biological human expressions. Studies of Papua New Guinea tribes that are completely disconnected from western culture show that they smile the same way we do: they use smiling to express joy and satisfaction.

4. Smiling is contagious!

It’s evolutionary. Humans have evolved over time to mimic other people’s expressions in order to experience their emotion physically, helping us understand their emotional state.

5. The act of smiling actually makes us feel better.

Charles Darwin wrote about this phenomenon in his “Theory of Evolution,” describing how facial feedback helps us feel better when we smile. The physical act of smiling sends feedback to our brains, telling us we’re happy.

6. Smiling stimulates our brain better than chocolate.

Hard to believe, isn’t it? It’s true! Chemically speaking, one smile stimulates the human brain the same amount as eating up to 2000 bars of chocolate!

7. Smiling makes you healthier.

Smiling causes a chemical reaction in the brain, releasing mood-enhancing hormones and reducing high blood pressure. It also reduced stress chemicals. Not too shabby!

8. Smiling makes you look more attractive and competent.

Studies have shown that when you smile, you appear to be more likable, courteous, and competent. You’ll also reduce stress in whomever you’re smiling at.

Today is National Best Friends Day! We can all learn how to be a better friend.

Here are 9 Ways to be a Great Friend, from thehopeline.com

1. Be real. People are turned off by those who are constantly trying to be someone they are not. We are most comfortable around others who are comfortable in their own skin. So just be yourself. Even though you aren’t perfect, the way you handle your strengths and faults with humility and confidence will give other people permission to be real and relaxed with you, as well. Real friends are relaxed around each other.
2. Be honest. Keep your promises and do what you say you’re going to do. Be reliable. Nobody wants to be friends with someone who lies. And lies always have a way of coming to the light. Also, friends will say the truth to one another, even when it’s hard. The wisest man in the Bible, King Solomon, said: Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Shannon got caught up in an eating disorder until her friend called her out: I was addicted to being skinny and looking absolutely perfect. I never really understood what I was actually doing to myself until a good friend of mine talked to me about it.
3. Take an interest in the details of your friend’s life by being a good listener. Don’t watch television or text while your friend is sharing something with you. Most times people need more than good advice, they need someone to listen to them as they talk through their feelings. Ask them what’s going on in their life and how they feel. Mari commented: Kyler is my best friend because he listens. No matter what is going on he is genuinely interested in how I am. He always has my back and would drop everything if I needed him.
4. Make time for your friend. Time is one of the greatest gifts we possess. When we share extra time with a friend, we are giving back to them that gift. No friendship can develop overnight. It takes time. A real friend will take that time.
5. Keep their secrets. Prove yourself to be a trustworthy person who will guard their secrets with your life. A good way to prove you are trustworthy is to be free to share some of your own secrets with your friend. King Solomon also said:  Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family. Are you willing to be a friend like that?
6. Encourage your friend. Everyone needs encouragement. Find specific ways to encourage your friend. Even in the depths of their struggles, show them what you see to be special about them and be willing to pick them up when they are depressed or feel like life is pressing in on them from all sides.
7. Be loyal to your friend. This is unconditional acceptance, even when your friend makes a mistake or really screws up. Be there when they are experiencing their highest highs and their lowest lows. Laugh with them, cry with them, don’t just talk about always being there. Prove it in your everyday life! Delaney wrote to me and said: I have great friends who are always there for me and always know how to make me happy.
8. Be willing to work through conflict. Every relationship will hit a speed bump at one time or another. Show your friend you are willing to work through the difficult times of misunderstandings and hurt feelings. Sometimes friendships grow stronger through the difficult times. Don’t give up on your friend just because you are having difficulties.
9. Watch out for your friend. When you see your friend getting into a dangerous situation whether it’s with drugs or alcohol, or maybe even a destructive relationship, be bold enough to step in and protect your friend from the harm you see coming their way. Narda commented: My best friend is more than a best friend, she’s more like a sister. And she feels that same way. We both have each other back, now and forever.