Great news! This Thursday 4 September, Aaron Dickson will be coming to Australia as a guest of Dads4Kids to help and inspire Aussie dads. This tour will be called ‘Love Your Children’ Tour (code for fatherhood explosion) – Australia, look out!!

We already have Aaron booked in at Sunrise Channel 7 for 7.45am on Friday 5 September, prime time in TV land. Later that morning he will also be on Channel 9. Hopefully you will also hear him on the radio or see him in the newspaper.

Some of our readers may be asking – Who is Aaron Dickson?

You might remember the First Date Video we told you about a few weeks ago? Well Aaron is the father behind the First Date YouTube that has garnered over 8.5 million hits.

Interestingly Aaron Dickson’s YouTube Channel, which features his beautiful daughters, has 126 clips on it, but only 2,179 views. Obviously First Date is cleverly made, but watching his other YouTube clips shows that this is a guy who regularly makes dates with his children. One of the earliest videos from 2012 chronicles him taking Analynne out to McDonalds when she was one. Here is a father who practises what he preaches. I wish I had been this good when I was Aaron’s age, but I guess there is always room for improvement. Yes, there is hope for us all.

What is Aaron Dickson’s secret. Watch the following clip and find out for yourself!

Aaron Dickson at home with his family

You guessed it! Aaron has a great dad. Let me sum up his advice to the readers of Dads4Kids.

1. Be There – If you are a dad, you are a teacher. Being a good Dad is seeking out those teachable moments, but as Mr Dickson senior says, “In order to create those teachable moments, you have to be around”. As Dr Bruce Robinson says, we have to ‘Be there for our children’ (the first letter in the Fatherhood BUS).

2. Focus – You have to focus on your family and your children.

3. Values – You have to have a set of values. As a father you must know what it is you stand for. Then as a parent you have to impart those values to your children. Mr Dickson wisely points out, “It doesn’t happen without a plan or without making the time to make the plan in the first place”.

So there you have it, from a man who also took his daughters out on special dates. Now the next generation is creating 8.5 million views on a heart warming video that shows the importance of making a plan. You see Aaron’s very first date with his daughter Analynne at one year of age has received 38 views and didn’t cause any international reactions. However her expressions of rapt attention and bubbling joy throughout her chronicled life are worth noting, and it has a lot to do with a father’s love. Now there is a ‘man with a plan’ as Dr John Gray says.

When it comes to Daddy Dates, I was a late starter. I took my 10 year old daughter to Sydney once to see Legally Blonde at the movies. She has yet to forgive me for dancing down George Street around the lamp posts.

Lesson #1 when you take your daughter out for a date: Do not embarrass her as I did with my daughter. It is her moment, not yours.

However there is hope for me yet, and I’m hoping that Aaron Dickson can give me a few tips in the lead up to Father’s Day.

Lovework

As John Gray says, “Women love a man with a plan”, but so do children.

Women spell love T-A-L-K.
Children spell love T-I-M-E.

Plan your first date and remember that it is your children’s moment, not yours.

PS. Keep an eye out for our new advert which we hope to share with you shortly. Also the Dads4Kids Father’s Day ‘Love Your Children’ Appeal is going well. We have received $3,550. Only $21,450 to raise in the next seven days. How exciting!! Australia’s children deserve the best this Father’s Day. Let’s make sure we give it to them. Click here to Give Now.