This week on The Dad Compass, Dmitry and Patrick get back to the core of what the show’s all about — fatherhood. In this episode, we break down five of the most valuable level-up tips for dads — real stories, real struggles, and the lessons that actually help you grow as a father.

We talk about:
00:00 – Intro & Why Fatherhood Feels Repetitive
03:00 – Learning to Be Present and Communicate
07:00 – Using Time with Your Kids as Decompression
09:00 – Letting Go of Comparison & Finding Your Own Dad Style
13:00 – Building Confidence in Your Kids (and Yourself)
18:00 – Being Stern but Leading with Love
31:00 – Understanding Emotions and Micro-Reactions
43:00 – Weekly Wins and Reflections
55:00 – Would You Rather: Famous or Forgotten? (Hawk Tuah & Cranberry Guy 🤣)

🔥 Key Takeaways:

• Be present — your kids feel it more than you realize.
• Don’t compare your dad style to anyone else’s.
• Confidence starts with connection, not correction.
• Discipline with love, not anger.
• Your kids mirror your emotional tone — lead calmly.

Halloween once meant pillowcases full of candy, unsupervised chaos, and trick-or-treating until the streetlights came on.
Today? Moderation, parent escorts, and candy trades for toys. Times change.

In this episode, the dads break down:

🎃 The real origin of Halloween
🍬 Candy ranking wars (Whoppers caught a stray)
👻 Horror movies then vs now
🧠 Changes in parenting and childhood freedom
🤣 Dumb childhood candy heist stories
📈 How family dynamics change as kids get older
🔥 A dad win: first job + firefighter trainee update

Whether you're a millennial parent nostalgic for 90s Halloween, or you're trying to survive trick-or-treat season with young kids — you're in good company here.

👇 Drop your answers in the comments:
Would you rather give up:
1️⃣ Alcohol
or
2️⃣ Your favorite food forever?

| Time | Topic |
| ----- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| 00:00 | Cold open: Halloween week chaos |
| 00:25 | Time change & early waking kids |
| 01:00 | Halloween history retold (in Dad Compass style) |
| 02:40 | When did candy become part of Halloween? |
| 03:30 | Beer tally + sushi blackout story 😂 |
| 04:45 | Candy state data + razor blade paranoia |
| 06:15 | Candy ranking showdown |
| 08:55 | Candy corn slander (deserved) |
| 10:30 | Horror movie rankings + childhood trauma |
| 14:45 | 90s trick-or-treat savagery vs today |
| 17:00 | Parenting rules then vs now |
| 21:00 | “Boo Ghost” candy-trade tradition |
| 24:30 | Kids’ independence & Halloween safety |
| 28:10 | Dad wins: first job & firefighter certifications |
| 31:40 | Would you give up alcohol or your favorite food? |
| 33:50 | Final thoughts + audience questions |

#dadpodcast #thedadcompass #fatherhood #parentingpodcast #halloween2025 #millennialparents #dadlife #parentinghumor #scarymovies #halloweenmemories

Welcome back to The Dad Compass Podcast, where fatherhood meets absolute chaos and comedy.

This week, Dmitry and Patrick kick things off with a ridiculous “Tom, Dick, and Harry” intro before diving into a rapid-fire round of hilarious, brutally honest dad questions. From The Perfect Neighbor Netflix documentary to the dumbest dad hills to die on, this episode has it all — poop on walls, Lego rage, stepdad awkward moments, and kids with creative bladder control issues.

They also open up about empathy, discipline, and what it means to parent through frustration without losing your mind.

💬 Topics Include:

• The Netflix doc “Perfect Neighbor” — and why Dmitry hated it
• Real-life parenting chaos: poop, glitter, and Legos
• Stepdad awkwardness & fatherhood humor
• The weirdest things dads have Googled
• Rapid-fire fatherhood questions gone off the rails

👨‍👧‍👦 Funny. Real. Unscripted. Welcome to fatherhood, unfiltered.

🕒 CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Tom, Dick & Harry Cold Open
01:20 – Netflix’s Perfect Neighbor debate
03:00 – Parenting & neighborhood chaos
07:30 – Smoking meat & parenting metaphors
10:00 – Ed Gein, true crime & absurd expectations
19:00 – Dad Unscripted: Bullying & empathy in school
23:00 – Rapid-Fire Dad Questions Begin
24:30 – Dumbest hill to die on
25:30 – Stepping on Legos religion
27:00 – Awkward stepdad moments
31:00 – Cleaning vomit, poop or glitter
33:00 – Weirdest thing dads Google
36:30 – The go-to “Dad lie”
38:30 – Dumb things we believed as kids
41:00 – Jersey Devil stories & bedtime terror
42:30 – Parenting scoreboard
45:00 – Breaking stuff trying to fix it
47:00 – Stepdad superpowers
53:00 – Kids that think they’re always right
56:00 – 1 Life vs 10 Lives – Deep Question Finale
58:00 – Wrap up, chaos, and call to action