Happy Father’s Day 2026 from Timothy S. Johnston |

Happy Father’s Day 2026 from Timothy S. Johnston

Here’s my message for you today.

To al the great dads out there, I have a few quick thoughts, particularly for the newer dads. Take these with a grain of salt, because it’s possible they won’t apply to your family situation. I can only speak from my own experiences.

TSJ’s Advice for Dads

1. Read to the Kids

Read to your kids, especially before bedtime. You won’t believe how much kids love this, and it makes the bedtime routine easier. It also increases literacy in children, improves creativity and imagination, and encourage kids to read for pleasure. These kids tend to do better in school and are also more likely to attend post-secondary institutions.
Start reading to them right from birth; infants don’t know the words, but they learn the patterns and inflection you use — especially the rhymes — and they absolutely love it. They associate the words with the pictures and they begin speaking earlier in life. If you can’t afford many books, the library is your ticket.
Make sure your kids also see you reading! This encourages the pattern/habit. Literacy rates are higher in these children.

2. Family Dinners

I can’t stress the importance of family dinners enough. After each day, at the same time if possible, reconnect as a family, talk about your day, and enjoy each other’s company. This becomes a reward after each day. The idea is: work hard, then enjoy dinner with people you love. Play the game, “High, Low, Funny.” Each person describes these elements of their day.
I understand many people work shifts or evenings in the hospitality industry or the trades. Try your best to adjust and pick a time that works for everyone.

3. “Fun Friday” Reward

At the end of each week, have “Fun Friday.” This is the reward for working hard in school all week. Order in food, or go out for dinner. Watch a movie at home. Play a board game. Get popcorn and favourite snacks. Your kids will love this routine. I can’t tell you how many times I watched Cinderella. I was so sick of it. Barbie movies too. But soon the movies changed to School of Rock or Night at the Museum or Back to the Future or Star Trek or Star Wars. Then, one miraculous day, when the kids became teens, it became Predator, The Thing, and Terminator. Sharing these films with my kids was pure joy.
If you work shifts or weekends, pick another day and stick with it so it becomes routine for everyone.

4. Home Life

Share the duties at home with your spouse/partner. It’s important your kids see this as they grow. The types of duties don’t matter. Just do your fair share.

5. Extended Family

Your kids will appreciate visiting friends and family for fun days or even holidays. These will be foundational memories they will never forget. A visit (as a family) to a friend’s house for a barbeque, for instance. Or a weekend away to an amusement park with the cousins. Or just a night to play board games and have a campfire in the backyard. These become core memories.

6. Education Fund

For new parents, I highly recommend starting education funds to send the kids to post-secondary education like college, university, or a trade school. In Canada, we have a fund called an RESP. Start automatic deductions each month for these. Even a small amount at the start, say $25 from each paycheque, will grow quickly. Increase the deductions as your own pay increases.

7. Meet the Teacher and School Days

I say the following as both a parent and a former educator:

Go to every single “Meet the Teacher” evening. Even when there are no issues, this is vitally important. Your child needs to know that you are invested in their education and you care about what their school life is like. It’s also crucial that your child knows there is a direct line of communication between you and the teacher.
Go to every school event your child is involved in as is possible. Concerts, arts nights, sporting events. Show them you care.

Happy Father’s Day!

I am not a perfect dad. I’ve made many mistakes, but I try to learn from them. I also know other families have different circumstances from mine.

Being a dad is incredibly tough. There are so many hard days. Sometimes you’ll be sad. Sometimes you’ll be irritated. You have to sacrifice your own needs literally every single day. When your child is sick, or hurting, or sad, life can be miserable for everyone. But that’s the commitment we made by having children. It will all pay off in the end and there is also so much joy and pride and happiness that comes with fatherhood. The benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, I promise you this.

Children need to know that 1. You care and 2. Life should be fun. Don’t let them down.

I understand there are many blended families out there, and work patterns that differ between spouses and kid’s education routines, and some of this advice doesn’t apply to you or it will be a challenge. Also, sometimes finances can be an issue, especially for young families, and it’s impossible to vacation or go out at all. Many families also have children with special needs. However, I know you can make it work for the kids, who are the most important element to focus on. Children need to know that life is fun. Don’t let them down!

Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there! I’m proud of you all!

— Timothy S. Johnston, 21 June 2026

PS: Here’s my dad in 2023 on his 83rd birthday. He’s wearing quite a toque and he’s very proud. And by the way — my tips as a dad came from my own upbringing. Pay it forward and pass them down!

What’s your advice for (new or newer) dads? Tell me in the comments below.

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 21 June 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007