As I have visited with fathers of young daughters, I am finding that the Disney Princesses are extremely popular with their little girls. I knew about the earliest Disney Princesses like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, and even Ariel from my daughters' own growing up. But the list is growing. Now we also count Pocahontas, Mulan and Tiana as princesses.

So I decided it was time to create a guide for dads to know the main Disney princesses and what they mean to our daughters.  For each princess, there is a profile and some information to make playtime with your daughter as she channels her favorite Princess a but more rewarding for both father and daughter.

Good luck and enjoy playing Princesses with your daughter.

More on the Disney Princesses from About.com Guides:

• Find your Disney Princess personality
• Disney Princess Games
• Top Disney World Picks for Disney Princess Fans

Little 11 year old Jessi Slaughter has become an Internet phenomenon.  If you haven't heard the basics of the story, here it is.

Jessi lives in Florida, and was the victim of some vicious rumors posted about her on or about July 10, 2010.  A couple of days later, she uses her webcam to post a video rebuttal on YouTube and 4Chan.  The Internet trolls picked up her tirades and began to post rude and defaming comments all the more.  As her video rants and the offsetting comments began to build momentum, the whole issue became an overnight sensation on the Internet.  She became the victim of pranks at her home, with harassing phone calls and the like.

Her father, trying to undo some of the damage, not only reported the incidents to police but also posted his own video response.  Unfortunately, things only became worse and the threats continued until Jessi was taken by police into protective custody.

The story certainly isn't over yet, but there are some important messages for fathers of tweens and teens active on the Internet.

• Keep computers with Internet access in public areas, not in kids' bedrooms.  Little Jessi's issues happened without any parental supervision.
• Know where your kids are going on the Web.  Sites like 4Chan, Stickynoodz and Sticky Drama can be dangerous for young people.
• Monitor your children's Internet activity.  Software like K-9 Web Protection and Covenant Eyes can give parents pretty good control and regular updates on your teens' online activity.

More on Internet safety:

• Your Family and the Internet
• Dads and Identity Theft
• Protecting Your Child from Sexual Abuse

A new service, GotSitter.com offers families the chance to easily schedule babysitting with people they already know and trust, eliminating the frustration of calling many babysitters before finding one who is available. On the other hand, babysitters can find jobs quickly and safely online with families they are already connected to by posting their availability on the easy-to-use website.  The system works like this:

• Parents register (Free for an introductory period) and then list their favorite sitters
• Babysitters register as well and list their available hours
• When a parent needs a sitter, he or she logs a request and if the schedule matches the sitter's availability, then a text message is sent to the available sitters to try for a match

This seems like a great system and has built in safeguards, like both parents and sitters need to approve the connection with each other and the sitters' parents can be copied on all emails and text messages.  If you are looking for a good way to connect with already trusted sitters, then GotSitter.com may be a good way to go.

I love innovative ideas for making the challenges of life a bit quicker and easier to handle.  This is one of those great creative ideas!

Photo courtesy of Photodisc / Getty Images

I'm not talking about cravings here (although I know from first hand experience the challenge of finding an Italian sandwich after midnight in a small town).  What I am talking about are foods that will help nutritionally with pregnant, nursing and postpartum moms.  The folks at NursingSchools.net recently published a  list of the 50 "superfoods" for pregnancy and postpartum moms which I think you will appreciate if you are an expectant or new father.  Good tips here for good nutrition.

More help for new and expectant fathers:

• Getting the most out of childbirth classes
• Body changes during pregnancy
• Babyproofing at home
• First time alone with the baby

Photo © CDC / James Gathany

I was recently introduced to Kitchen Monki (think Monkey) as a resource for stay at home dads (or moms) or whoever has responsibility at home for cooking and shopping.  The idea behind Kitchen Monki is to select favorite recipes from their site, then use them to create a weekly or monthly menu of meals, and then have that list generate a customized grocery shopping list.  Once you join and set up your account, you can then post and share your favorite recipes and get tips from other busy parents.  And if you are a Facebook regular, you can even log into your Kitchen Monki account directly from Facebook.  I was really impressed with the ease and functionality of this site and what it can do to help make life a bit easier for stay at home dads.

More information for stay at home dads:

• Start a Successful Playgroup
• Making Chores Work
• Balancing Work and Life as a Stay at Home Dad
• Favorite  Brown Bag School Lunches

Are you struggling like many dads with what to do about social networking?  Then this article from David Pogue at the New York Times is for you.  It is a very basic and easy to understand outline of what you can expect from the major social networking sites:  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, FourSquare, and Yelp.

More on social networking and technology for fathers:

• Social Networking Sites for Fathers
• Top Ten iPhone Apps Every Dad Should Have
• Essential Blackberry Software for Fathers
• Setting Up and Running Your Fathering Blog

Image courtesy of Getty Images

Many parents hope and work for a close relationship with their children - essentially a side-by-side relationship. In Soul to Soul Parenting, Annie Burnside advocates an even deeper parent-child relationship -- one that is soul-to-soul.

In Soul to Soul Parenting, Annie Burnside shares her own and her family's journey to deeper spiritual meaning and offers 22 parenting "vehicles" for integrating spirituality into family life.

While we raised our family with a decidedly spiritual focus and I try to live a spiritually rich life, the ideas and principles included in Soul to Soul Parenting offered insights and ideas for doing even better.

Check out my review of this very thought provoking and helpful book.

So, it has been a while since the divorce and you are anxious for some female companionship. Dating is more difficult after a divorce than when you were single the last time. How should a divorced dad go about finding and dating women? And what do you say to the kids and when?

In Montgomery, Alabama, the Fatherhood Program is helping fathers learn to be better fathers and more involved in their families, whether or not they have a direct custodial role.  With growing emphasis from the Obama Administration on responsible fatherhood, programs like this one are gaining momentum and finding grant opportunities to grow.  Read about the Fatherhood Program in the Montgomery Advertiser and see some of the good things happening for fathers, mothers and children resulting from this program.

There are few relationships more precious in a healthy family than the bond between a father and a daughter. While I love all my children, my daughters and I have always shared individual and special relationships. But I know well from watching other fathers and daughters I know that there are few things as emotionally painful as a daughter's failed relationship with a father who can't or doesn't develop close and healthy bonds with his girls.

I recently read The Unavailable Father by Sarah Simms Rosenthal, who is a researcher and family therapist with lots of experience in counseling women who lived with an emotionally absent father.  Whether the father was abusive, addicted, or just self-absorbed, the consequences can be very negative and very real.  I put together a short review of The Unavailable Father, and I would highly recommend it to any woman who had such an experience growing up, and to any father of daughters to better understand how his behaviors can impact his daughter all through her life.