With school about to start many of you may be thinking of starting a new mother-daughter book club or getting your established group going again after summer break. While making your plans, don’t forget about those important silent members of your group: dads.

Even though dads don’t usually participate in discussions, they can play an important role in helping make your book group successful. How so? Depending on the age of your daughter and whether or not you have other children dads can:

• Entertain your other children and get their meals while you and your daughter attend a meeting.
• Listen in as you read a book club choice, so your whole family can discuss the book.
• Help you get ready when the meeting is hosted at your house, and help you clean up after everyone leaves.
• Take charge of the household if you go away overnight with your group.

When dads get involved they also reap benefits, such as:

• Having dad-only time with siblings when they plan a fun outing to a movie, a restaurant, or a local attraction.
• Building a connection with their daughters when they ask about book club books and talk about some of the issues.
• Expanding their social network by getting to know some of the other dads and siblings of book club members.

Over the years my husband has enjoyed his dad-only time with one daughter almost as much as I’ve enjoyed book group with the other. And we sometimes have great conversations about what’s going on in a book we’re reading. It’s helped us all feel connected in many ways.