Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a father who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a man and a father. Above all, the Dad of the Month is dedicated to his children. Rich or poor, famous or not, he shines as an example of what fathering is all about.

Our choice for February is Mark Swift of Kenilworth, Ill., father of three.

Mark Swift grew up in a home with his father and brother. He was the youngest, and the stuff of babies was a mystery to him.

Years later when Mark and wife Ann had their first baby, the idea of parenting such a tiny person -- a girl, no less -- still held him in awe.

"I'd never held a baby and it was pretty freaky because they're very small," he says. "A large part of it was watching and observing because it was a completely new experience."

Now, 6 years after the birth of Alexandra, 5-year-old Emily and 2-year-old Gram round out the family. All fears and apprehensions are absent from his voice when Mark talks about fatherhood.

"I don’t know if I’m different [from other dads]; I just don’t want to miss a thing with them."

Among the best days of his life, Mark counts the days his children were born. Eager to capture those moments, he created time capsules for each child. When opened, each will find a major newspaper, newspapers from Mark's and Ann's hometowns, videotapes of the TV news, movies that won Oscars for best picture, and Grammy-winning CDs -- all from the day and year they were born. Son Gram's time capsule has one priceless feature of which Mark is very proud; immediately after Gram's birth, a nurse in the delivery room grabbed that's day's edition of the Chicago Sun Times and scribbled down the baby's stats.

By the time first-born Alexandra arrived, Mark had diligently researched the role of a father.

"I read as many Christian books as I could," he says. "They all had one common theme and that theme was time. You've gotta' spend time with your kids. And after a while, it becomes that you want to listen and you want to spend the time."

Mark's wife, Ann, says it makes her happy to know that her children feel so adored by their father.

"One thing that always draws my attention is that he's very respectful of his kids and truly listens to them," Ann says. "He really is interested in their opinions, even at their young ages."

Through the simple act of listening, Mark says he's amazed at what he's learned from his children.

"[My daughter Alex] saw a picture of these children in Chechnya and she asked, 'Why is there war? Why can't they be safe?' She's 6 years old and she wants the answers to the same questions we all do," he says. "The intellectual thoughts of a child occur at a much younger age than I'd imagined."

Mark has harnessed this innate concern for others and tries to teach his children to not only ponder inequity, but to do something about it.

"We have a family jar that we throw all our change in," Mark says. "We take it to the bank, roll it up and buy toiletries and we give them to people that are putting together baskets for Thanksgiving time. I want [my children] to know that simple things like toothbrushes are luxuries to some people."

Each Easter, Mark and his children take books to shelters for children. The kids pitch in once a month and help their dad make casseroles for a local soup kitchen. And every Christmas Eve when the kids help bake cookies, it's the local firemen and policemen on duty that night who are the lucky recipients.

"Life is great and [my kids] have all the clothes they need and all the food they need," Mark says. "There are a lot of people out there who don't, and you have to reach out and help them."

Ann realizes that her husband is far different from the typical husband of a generation before.

"When we grew up, society just didn't encourage fathers to be that involved," she says. "But I think [Mark] just really wants to be a part of their lives. He doesn't want to wait until he's a grandfather to develop a relationship with his children."

The changing face of fatherhood is indeed generational, according to Wade Horn of the National Fatherhood Initiative.

"There's a sense of 'I want to do if differently, I want to spend more time with my kids.'"

Because of this drive to do things differently, Horn says many of America's children -- like the Swifts -- are faring better.

"You name the outcome and kids do better. Kids with an involved, committed and responsible father are more likely to do better at school and get higher grades. They're less likely to be held back, more likely to graduate. They have fewer behavioral problems as adults. Boys are less likely to get in trouble with the law, girls are less likely to become pregnant as teenagers, and both are less likely to commit suicide," Horn says. "Lucky is the child who lives with a loving, responsible and committed father."

As Ann thinks of her children, she agrees that they'll have a far better life because of the way they're being raised.

"It's an interesting process to watch that bonding and to watch that closeness. Hopefully it's going to be preparing them for very healthy expectations of their spouses later in life," Ann says. "I wonder if they realize how lucky they are."