A stay-at-home dad with a wife who works in Manhattan attempts to find a sense of control by tenderly disciplining his young son after he puts himself in danger.

After he gets divorced, a father finds renewed purpose through his role as a single parent and the precious time he spends with his children.

A single father overcome with grief from his wife's death attempts to find solace through media attention, but consequently becomes less and less aware of the needs of his son.

A man and his pregnant wife move from St. Louis to upstate Maine with their two boys. One Sunday, the man brings his two boys to the dockyard and must navigate how to parent as a working-class dad.

When a middle-aged man's wife moves away to go back to school, he worries that he will not be able to care for their three children on his own. As the year goes on, the wife becomes increasingly distant, and the husband, resentful of her for leaving, wonders if he can trust her or if their marriage will soon fall apart.

An unemployed husband learns of an affair between his wife and her boss. He writes an emotional letter to the boss that details the course of his failing marriage, and he pleads with the boss to not take his wife away from him.

In the late 20th century, an aging couple's daughter returns to live with her parents in an attempt to flee her failing marriage. While the mother easily slips back into her maternal role, the arthritic father struggles to empathize with his youngest child, and, in his increasing frustration, commits an unforgivable act that isolates him from his family.

A young man returns home to find a girl in desperate need of a father figure. After a few seemingly unsuccessful attempts to win her trust, he has almost given up - until an encounter with a snake in the woods gives him the chance to truly put his life on the line for her sake.

A disgruntled magazine proofreader returns to his childhood home in attempt to repair his parents' ongoing divorce.

A series of vignettes about various sons along a family tree.