Some time ago I was sitting eating with dinner with my family and enjoying their company. We had a young woman staying with us so I asked her how our home was different to the one she was raised in. She said with a sigh, “We hardly ever ate our dinner at the table. Mostly it was always around the TV and as a result we didn’t talk as a family ...

Just this morning I walked out my driveway at 6AM to go down to the Gym with my wife and I found a dead black snake in our front driveway near the road. It was only a baby about 400mm long and I felt quite sorry for it. Seeing the poor deceased baby snake made all the memories from my childhood suddenly flood back through my mind. You see I love ...

Happy Father’s Day! We at Dads4Kids salute you for your unswerving commitment to being a Dad. See below the 60 sec version of this year’ Father’s Day community service announcement which is now playing on the following stations across Australia: SEVEN Network, NBN Newcastle, Prime 7, Southern Cross, Imparja, WIN TV, Australian Christian Channel, SBS and Channel 31.  We always try to come up with a new advert to encourage Dads ...

The whole world was gripped by the story of 12 boys and their coach, trapped in a cave for 18 days but then rescued by hundreds of men of all nationalities. The men who rescued these boys had one thing in common, they were all possessors of a thing called ‘toxic masculinity’. One of the Thai divers, a former navy seal, was so imbued with this so-called toxic masculinity, he gave ...

Let me give you ten irrefutable reasons why you as a father need to make sure that you get your family to turn off the TV, computer, mobile phone and eat together as a family. Of course, there will be some occasions when this is just not possible. For instance, when Australia gets into the grand final of the World Cup Soccer competition. Now, that’s a good reason to have a ...

‘Family Still Our Pride’ was the two page headline in Australia’s biggest selling newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph. This headline appeared several years ago but there is no reason to believe anything has really changed in the Australian psyche. Family is still number one for the vast majority of Australians, and I do mean vast. The article went on like this, “Scrabble anyone? It seems family time is back – our favourite ...

Carey Casey, CEO of the National Fathering Centre in Kansas, encourages fathers to ‘get down on your knees’ to play with your children. If you have young daughters, Carey says dads should ‘be happy to have a tea party with them’ even if it is not quite your cup of tea. Carey Casey shares a Fatherhood Story Roland Warren, former CEO of the National Fatherhood Initiative, describes the three laws of fatherhood ...

Harmon Killebrew said, “My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, ‘You’re tearing up the grass’; ‘We’re not raising grass,’ Dad would reply. ‘We’re raising boys’.” That may well have been the reply of Dan Fowlks to his detractors. Dan’s viral video has been seen well over 161,000,000 times on Facebook and totalled multi-million views on YouTube and other platforms. The ...

Ronald Regan said, “Each generation goes further than the generation preceding because it stands on the shoulders of that generation”. That is the hope and heart of every father. Listen to the video below of my daughter singing the Star-Spangled Banner at a USA/Canadian Ice Hockey match so that I can tell you the story behind the video and give you three keys to help your children do better than you ...

‘When I’m Gone’ is a song by controversial rapper, Eminem, that really hits home in more ways than one. In 2006 this song went to the top in the Australian charts and Top Ten around the world. Interestingly Australia was the only country where it went to number one. I think Australians are attracted to honesty and Eminem lets it all out of the bag. Eminem, Marshall Mathers, has been one ...

Charles Chestnutt said, “The workings of the human heart are the profoundest mystery of the universe. One moment they make us despair of our kind, and the next we see in them the reflection of the divine image”. These words are probably an apt description of the new cinematic story/documentary called the ‘Heart of Man’ that can be seen in Australian cinemas this coming Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 June. ‘Heart ...

The Law of Iroquois says, “In every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations”. If you want to leave a legacy for your children, you should do the same. However, following such wise advice is always easier said than done. There is another saying that I learned many years ago, “If only age had youth and youth had age”. Perhaps this sums up the ...

Dads4Kids has been running leadership summits now for many years. I am constantly surprised at how effective such gatherings are at empowering men to change. I remember the phone call I got from an employer of one of the men, a week after one of our early Men & Father’s Leadership Summits. His first words on the phone were rather dramatic. “What did you do to my employee?” It was almost ...

This is an amazing story by my good friend Mark Jeffery who has four beautiful children. Mark is a single dad and a faithful board member of Dads4Kids. The short title of the story says it all, “Heroes – Dads in the Emergency Room.” My daughter sliced into her thumb with a Stanley knife – still makes my skin crawl every time I say it. When it happened she was at ...

Earlier this year Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, my friend from Trinidad in the Caribbean, called for the inaugural celebration of International Day of the Boy Child on May 16. Dr Jerome Teelucksingh also founded International Mens Day. I suggested to Jerome for the sake of ease of communication that we shorten it to International Boys’ Day or more colloquially just Boys Day. Jerome said yes, and so the team at Dads4Kids helped ...

They say a friend in need is a friend indeed. Yes, we need your help. Dads4Kids the organisation I volunteer for is in the process of renewing our website and newsletter. We also want to grow and improve our range of services, but we need your expert advice to do so. All we are asking is that you give 5 minutes of your precious time to fill out the Dads4Kids Online ...

Mothers are under more pressure today than they have ever been. That’s why Dads4Kids is initiating a “Thanking Mothers” CSA TV Ad campaign scheduled for release in the lead up to Mother’s Day on 13 May 2018. Unfortunately, the amazing sacrifice that mothers make is often invisible to Dads and children. Mothers are not appreciated as much as they should be in the broader community either. The team at Dads4KIds want ...

If there is one thing I am passionate about it is dads connecting with their children for the purpose of transitioning into manhood and or womanhood. This ceremony is often called a rite of passage but it could just as easily be called a celebration of womanhood or a celebration of manhood. The Jews, in their culture, call it a ‘bar mitzvah’ for boys and a ‘bat mitzvah’ for girls. This ...

I hate change because change brings challenge. I love my comfort zone. When someone asks me to change, I usually feel bad because there is a real likelihood that I was wrong in the first place. Most of us don’t like being wrong. We all like to stay in our comfort zone. I have always been a pretty messy person. When I was growing up I used to clean my room ...

Australia will never forget Easter 2018. While much of the nation was celebrating the death and resurrection of the most ethical man in all of history, the greater part of Australia was mourning the death of ‘ethics in sport’ with no sign of resurrection in sight. The good news is that the 9th Commandment is now law in Australian cricket. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (to win ...