When my first child was born, a baby girl, I received a piece of advice I will never forget: “The boyfriend your daughter brings home one day will look a lot like you.” At first, I laughed it off. But then he added, “If you’re short-tempered, controlling, or dismissive toward her and her mother, don’t be surprised when that’s who she chooses. But if you’re gentle, strong, respectful, and loving, she’ll expect nothing less.” That hit hard. Because it’s true. As fathers, we are the first model of masculinity our daughters ever know. We set the standard for how they’ll expect to be treated. We condition them — often without realizing it — to understand what love looks like, what respect feels like, and what kind of man deserves their heart. Parenting books talk endlessly about rules, boundaries, and screen time. But the most powerful parenting happens in the quiet, unseen moments. The lessons that matter most aren’t the ones we preach, they’re the ones we live. Our sons learn what it means to be a man by watching how we treat their mothers. Our daughters learn what to expect from men by watching how we treat them. Every “please,” every “thank you,” every small gesture of affection or apology adds up. When I hold my wife’s hand, open the door for her, or compliment her in front of our kids, it’s not performative, it’s instructive. I’m teaching my sons that strength and tenderness aren’t opposites. I’m also teaching my daughter that she’s worthy of kindness, and respect, and that love is something that builds up and does not tear down. That’s the heart of true masculinity, something our culture seems desperate to erase. Masculinity today is mocked, diluted, and too often confused with aggression or arrogance. But real masculinity isn’t about dominance — it’s about discipline, leadership, and sacrifice. It’s about taking responsibility even when it’s inconvenient. It’s about doing the hard thing when it would be easier to walk away. And the first place our kids see that isn’t in a movie or on social media — it’s at home.  They’re watching us in the small moments: how we react when we’re tired, how we speak to our wives, how we handle stress or disagreement. Whether we know it or not, every day we’re shaping their definition of manhood, womanhood, and marriage. And it turns out, there’s science to back it. A study by researchers at Durham University and two Polish institutions found that women who had very positive childhood relationships with their fathers were more likely to choose partners whose faces resembled their fathers’ facial features. The researchers discovered this correlation only when the father-daughter relationship was rated high in positivity; when the relationship was weak or strained, the effect disappeared. A 2009 study by Hall and Scott, “Paternal Influences on Daughters’ Heterosexual Relationship Socialization” also found that a father’s presence — or absence — shapes his daughter’s attitudes toward intimacy and commitment. The way a dad engages his daughter in conversation, affection, and conflict resolution leaves a lasting imprint on how she approaches romantic relationships as an adult. In short, the data backs up what fathers have known instinctively for generations: how we treat our daughters, and how we treat their mothers, echoes into their future relationships. Our behavior becomes their blueprint. That’s why the health of your marriage is an essential part of your parenting. Kids don’t just need parents who are present — they need parents who are present to each other. They need to see affection, laughter, prayer, teamwork, and even conflict — and how to resolve it with grace. When children see Mom and Dad treating one another with respect, they’re learning what partnership looks like. When they see parents who can disagree without demeaning each other, they’re learning how to handle conflict in their own relationships. When they see Mom and Dad share a kiss in the kitchen, flirt a little, or laugh at each other’s jokes, they’re learning that love is something worth celebrating, not hiding. Our marriage isn’t perfect. None are. My wife and I have had our share of hard conversations, silent car rides, and long nights trying to figure things out. But that’s okay. Kids shouldn’t see a flawless marriage — they should see a faithful one. They should know that love doesn’t mean the absence of struggle; it means the presence of commitment. When they watch us work through problems without tearing each other down, they learn something sacred: that love isn’t a feeling that fades when it’s tested — it’s a decision that deepens when it’s challenged. In Ephesians 5:25, the Apostle Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” That’s not a suggestion — it’s a command. It means love costs something. It means choosing humility over pride, patience over irritation, service over selfishness. When a father lives that way, he’s not just leading his family — he’s forming the moral compass of the next generation. I’ve come to believe one of the greatest gifts a man can give his children is to love their mother well. A daughter who grows up seeing her father treat her mom with affection and respect will never mistake manipulation for love. A son who watches his dad pray with his mom, comfort her when she’s hurting, and apologize when he’s wrong will grow into a man capable of doing the same. There’s a famous saying I love: “More is caught than taught.” It’s true. The words we say about faith, family, and respect don’t mean much if they aren’t backed up by the way we live. When my daughter sees me pray with her mother, she learns that faith is the foundation of our home. When she sees me hold the door for her mom, she learns that chivalry isn’t outdated — it’s daily. When she sees me mess up and come back to apologize, she learns that real strength includes humility. And when she sees me fail — and she will — but sees me keep showing up, keep trying, keep loving, she learns that grace is stronger than perfection. Someday, she’ll walk into a restaurant with a young man, and without realizing it, she’ll compare him to me. She’ll notice how he talks to the waitress, how he reacts when something goes wrong, how he treats her when she disagrees with him. That’s when the years of quiet, consistent example will bear fruit. That’s when the invisible lessons will become visible. So, when I think about being a better parent, I don’t just think about bedtime stories or ball games. I think about marriage. Because our home is a living classroom, and our marriage is the curriculum. If we want to raise strong, grounded, faith-filled kids, we have to start with ourselves. The next time your kid asks what love looks like, show them. * * * Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast We The People. Follow him on IG and X @GatesGarciaFL The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire. Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to DailyWire.com/Subscribe to join now.

Graham Platner’s campaign manager quit just days after starting the job, the latest in a seemingly unending series of upsets for the Maine Democrat’s struggling campaign. Axios reported Monday that Kevin Brown, a friend of Platner’s, resigned his post shortly after taking it up. Brown follows Platner’s political director, Genevieve McDonald, who resigned earlier this month after Platner came under fire for a series of Reddit posts in which he called himself a communist. McDonald made waves following her departure for publicly commenting about Platner’s tattoo with Nazi-era connotations, which he has since gotten covered up. “Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest,” McDonald wrote on Facebook. “He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means.” “Years ago I got a skull and crossbones tattoo with my buddies in the Marine Corps,” Platner wrote on X last week. “I was appalled to learn it closely resembled a Nazi symbol. I altered it yesterday, into something that isn’t deeply offensive to my core beliefs.” “I am very sorry to all of you who had to contemplate a symbol of hate over the past 48 hours,” he added. Platner told “Pod Save America” that he’s “not a secret Nazi” when discussing the Totenkopf tattoo.  “Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general. I would say, lifelong opponent.” Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to DailyWire.com/Subscribe to join now.  “At no point in this entire experience of my life not once did anybody say ‘Hey, you’re a Nazi.’ It never came up, until we got wind that in the opposition research somebody was shopping the idea that I was secret Nazi with a hidden Nazi tattoo. And I can honestly say that if I was trying to hide it, I have not been doing a very good job for the past 18 years,” Platner said.  “We got those and then we all moved on with our lives,” he added.  However, a report in Jewish Insider indicated he knew about the meaning of the symbol as of at least 2012.  Platner is facing Maine Governor Janet Mills in the state’s Democratic primary, the winner of which will likely take on Republican Senator Susan Collins in a highly competitive general election race. A recent poll of likely voters from SoCal Strategies indicated that Mills is leading with 41% compared with 36% for Platner, The Hill reported on Saturday. Another poll from the University of New Hampshire, taken from Oct. 16-21, showed that 58% of “those who plan to vote” are backing Platner, compared with 24% for the governor.

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A coalition letter sent by conservative leaders on Monday is calling on Republican congressional leadership to continue its opposition to extending the expanded Obamacare subsidies even after the government shutdown ends. “We urge you to adhere to your principled opposition to the expanded Obamacare subsidies … even after the current government shutdown has concluded—and even as the December 31st expiration of the expanded subsidies gets closer,” the letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., states.  Paul Teller, the president of Teller Strategies and the organizer of the letter, told The Daily Signal that “the reason for the letter was the Republican leadership signaling they’re willing to make a deal as soon as the shutdown is over. But Republicans wouldn’t say that about anything else. We wouldn’t say we’ll make a deal on abortion as soon as the shutdown ends, or we’ll make a deal on raising taxes as soon as the shutdown is over.” The letter notes that the enhanced Obamacare subsidies were passed by a Democrat-controlled Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden as a temporary measure to alleviate the pain of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, they were enacted with an expiration provision. Coalition Letter–No Ocare Subsidies in Shutdown or Beyond–10-27-2025 (1)Download The letter, signed by representatives of 37 groups, also explains that the expanded subsidies fund insurance plans that cover abortions and sex changes, and it allocates benefits to some affluent households making more than $500,000 per year.  “We shouldn’t be extending any part of Obamacare, but an expanded add-on part would be even more devastating, because then it’s, now we’re helping grow and keep Obamacare big and own that kind of thing,” Teller said. The letter was signed by an array of leaders in the conservative movement, including Chad Connelly, president and founder of Faith Wins America; Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action; and Paul Gessing, president of the Rio Grande Foundation, among others.  The coalition push comes as the government shutdown nears a full month after Senate Democrats refused to support a stopgap spending continuing resolution passed in the House of Representatives and supported by a majority of members in the Senate. The shutdown has left thousands of federal workers furloughed and the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo closed to the public.  Last week, Senate Democrats blocked the passage of a bill that would have compensated essential federal workers, including active-duty members of the U.S. military. They previously had blocked another Republican bill to fund the Department of War. President Donald Trump has sought to alleviate the pain of the shutdown by repurposing $8 billion in unused research and development funds from the prior fiscal year to pay the military.  The post Conservative Groups Urge Resolve Against Extending Obamacare Subsidies appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Biden administration’s Department of Veterans Affairs improperly awarded $10.8 million in bonuses meant for staffers who directly serve veterans to highly paid senior executives. Under President Donald Trump, the agency is close to recovering the remainder of the lost funds. The VA improperly awarded $10.8 million in “critical skills incentives” to more than 180 senior VA officials, the VA’s inspector general office revealed in a May 2024 report. Trump’s VA has nearly completed the recoupment of the nearly $11 million in inappropriately awarded bonuses to senior VA officials under the administration of President Joe Biden, The Daily Signal has learned. “Under President Trump and Secretary [Doug] Collins, we are transforming the department from a bureaucratic organization to a service organization that puts Veterans at the center of everything we do,” VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz told The Daily Signal. “This is a welcome change from the Biden administration, whose obsession with bureaucracy and woke causes led to millions in bonuses for undeserving VA bureaucrats and major distractions from the mission like gender dysphoria treatments,” he continued. More than 96% of the wrongfully distributed funds have been recovered, according to the VA. After learning about the improper payments in September 2023, Biden’s VA secretary, Denis McDonough, canceled them and ordered the managers to pay them back. But at the start of the Trump administration, about $1.4 million in bonus money remained uncollected. As of mid-October, less than $400,000 remains outstanding. To recover the money, the Trump VA has denied all requests from recipients of the bonuses to stop or slow efforts to recoup the money, a spokesperson told The Daily Signal. The bonuses averaged $61,000, with several managers collecting more than $100,000 in payments. The VA has also worked with the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies to make sure former VA employees were paying the bonus back. As of last week, all employees and former employees who received the bonuses have either paid their bonus back or are in the process of paying them back via installments. The bonuses were intended to supplement the salaries of employees in high-demand jobs for which there is a shortage of trained workers. Senior VA managers were specifically excluded from the payments. In October 2023, Biden’s VA issued collection notices to “all senior executives” who improperly received payments, according to the VA’s inspector general office report. Managers were given the option to return the bonuses by Dec. 31, 2023, or enter a repayment plan. The Trump administration’s success in recovering the remainder of the funds is an example of one of the many ways the VA is maximizing its taxpayer funding for serving veterans, according to a VA spokesperson. For example, the VA has partnered with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to identify and recover $106 million in duplicative billing. On Oct. 4, the VA terminated special salary rates for about 15,000 employees in human resources and information technology.  The post EXCLUSIVE: Trump on Track to Recoup $10M Improperly Paid to Agency’s Senior Executives Under Biden appeared first on The Daily Signal.