A Surprise Reccomendation

In this week's P.O. Box:

I remember before April was born, I bought a parenting book “for dads.” I skimmed through a few pages before quickly abandoning it.

“Screw it, we’ll do it live,” I thought.

I never regretted it, either. We figured it out on the fly. I Youtubed some videos along the way (learning how to do the perfect swaddle is useless if your daughter is the second coming of Houdini, though) and we calibrated our routines/methods specifically for April.

But there’s something about raising a toddler for the first time that feels entirely different and more foreign to me. I have a lifetime’s worth of experience in dealing with adults and basically zero experience interacting with (much less, parenting) a toddler.

April is a great kid, but I also have been humble enough to admit that I need some additional help for these uncharted toddler waters. I’ve found some of my default wiring (turning to logic and reason) to be entirely ineffective when dealing with a 2.5 year-old who is whip smart and starting to learn how to manipulate and push boundaries.

A month or so ago my TikTok algorithm took a break from serving me up videos of an 11-year-old “aura farming” on the edge of a boat and dished me some content from Jon Fogel—an author and parenting educator who recently published a new book called Punishment-Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice.

I found his concrete, actionable tips to be shockingly effective (i.e. tell kids what you want them to do, not what you don’t want them to do) so I decided to grab his book after gaining so much value from his shorts.

The core part of the book is his “WHOLE” parenting method—which yes, does sound like a fad diet, but I’ve found it to be a very effective check list to run through when we find ourselves in tough spots:

• Wiring - understanding a child’s brain (i.e. they are not giving you a hard time, they are having a hard time)

• Honor the experience - acknowledge their emotions (tbh this is good advice for listening to literally anyone)

• Outline the boundary - I’ve had so much more success when I set clear expectations and remind her of them over and over before we get to a trouble spot

• Lead them out - Basically guiding them through emotional regulation

• Empower the future - This is more for older kids, but I see the value

One of the biggest things I learned from his content is that a lot of trouble spots come from a lack of creativity and laziness by the parent. He mentions “getting curious, not furious” when dealing with tough situations and that has been a very helpful rule of thumb.

By asking questions, re-shifting the focus (singing, turning a task into a game), and not just saying “no” over and over, I’ve gone from feeling helpless during meltdowns to experimenting with more creative ways to diffuse the situation.

I am far from a 100% hit rate, but I do feel way less lost than I did previously now that I have some guardrails to fall back on when shit hits the fan.

I do recommend the book, but I also think you could get a ton of value from just scrolling through his videos on IG or TikTok.

💸 DEPOSIT KINGDOM: Ron Stewart would sacrifice his family to draft this WR. Ron is one of my favorite personalities/analysts in fantasy so had a ton of fun interviewing him about his favorite ways to attack best ball drafts.

🤓 FANTASY LIFE: Weekly Roundup. This week we covered a wild weekend of NFL news, dug into the Terry McLaurin drama, tilted an ESPN Top 10 list, and put together a Best Ball 101 primer for true newbies.

I regularly write the Fantasy Life Newsletter. Get it in your inbox free every am:

☕️ BEST BALL BREAKFAST: 5 Best Ball Mania Drafts As Major News Flies In. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell joined me for the final one.

🎉 BEST BALL BASH + RANDOMIZER: A Suspicious Guest & An Epic Wrestling Battle. The best Bash+Randomizer 1-2 punch yet.

🥃 BEST BALL AFTER DARK: A Big Dog Draft w/ D4VE. Best Ball/Dawg Bowl crusher D4VE joined me for a $500 draft. For After Dark shows, you can become a YT member for access or subscribe on Spotify for a private RSS feed (I post the video/audio there directly after the show).

⏰ OFF & ON THE CLOCK: The Great TE Debates (From 4 to Solo!). We dug into TE strategy for both The Eliminator contest and The Dalmation ($101, 3-max).

🚢SHIP CHASING: Evan’s Silva’s 2025 Targets, Fades, & Slot Demons. Great time catching up with the Big Dog.

☣️ LOLZ: Coldplay Affair, Rashee Rice & Best Ball Combos. All that CEO had to do was not fall to the ground.

💪 THE SWOLECAST: A Great Idea With Horrendous Execution. An all-time awful episode. There’s nothing else to say.

📈 ADP CHASING: 3 Key ADP Risers/Fallers & An Emergency Draft. Things went off the rails with no Pat or Davis.

We did After Dark on Thursday, so next show is Monday’s edition of Best Ball Breakfast. The BBM2 Champ will be on…

🚶 Book #6 for July (15%): Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir by Craig Mod.

I’m normally a Kindle bro, but I’ve been ordering hard copies for the past couple books I’ve read, including the parenting book from the intro and this new selection for July. Craig includes a ton of photos from his walking journeys and I’ve enjoyed getting to flip through them by hand.

I’m loving how he is weaving in his walking experiences with both the history of Japan and his own personal history.

I’m already jealous of how much time he is able to spend walking.

☁️ Book #5 for June (COMPLETED): Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
🐊 Book #4 for May (COMPLETED): Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades by Rebecca Renner
🍌 Book #3 for April (COMPLETED): The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King by Rich Cohen
💉 Book #2 for March (FINISHED): Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe.
🐃 Book #1 for February (FINISHED): The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry

Got a question for me? Reply to this e-mail and I’ll get back to you…