He Makes Time to Interact with His Children

Dylan and Allison Herman put their children at the top of their priorities, and Dylan’s interactions with the kids are meaningful, if sometimes challenging.

“I’ve taken Remi fishing ever since she could walk,” Dylan said of his six-year-old daughter. “I try to get her out of the house as much as possible. She caught her first fish in Alaska—a beautiful rainbow trout—and that just kind of stuck with her. She likes hunting with me too, so we do that anytime we can.” Sophie, 5, is content “just spending time with me, and she doesn’t care what we’re doing if she’s with me,” Dylan said warmly “She likes it when we read books together, especially our National Geographic book with dinosaur information; we look at the pictures a lot.”

Like his big sister, Remi, three-year-old Seiley enjoys fishing with his super-strong dad. “I took him fishing at Priest Lake last summer, hiking over boulders to get there and carrying him on my shoulders the whole way. He actually caught his first fish up there,” Dylan said proudly. “His uncle—my little brother—went with us.”

Asked to share his parenting philosophy, Dylan said this: “Spend every moment that you can get away from whatever you’re doing—from whatever is holding you back—even ten minutes or thirty seconds, whatever you can do. Dads need to stand up and be involved,” he said, “because “you’re never going to get the time back. They grow up fast and every moment is precious.”

Parenting is challenging, Dylan admits. “Sometimes things get intense and I have to walk away. Sometimes I get upset. I was in the army for nine years. Children can be overwhelming, like all three of them at one time at dinner when one wants to eat this, another wants to have that, and the third child wants this most nights, but just not tonight,” he said with a chuckle.