Fatherhood is to a son’s manhood, as manhood is to a dad’s fatherhood. They’re inseparable elements in the way fathers raise their sons to be men, because they reflect each other. A few points in a recent piece from All Pro Dad’s BJ Foster hit a six on the subject. Role Models Foster offered four ways to father their sons into manhood, introducing his argument with a simple: ‘Sons need their ...

I match up as a handyman as Arnold Schwarzenegger would as a ballet dancer. For me, anything more complicated than stapling four pieces of paper is a project. It requires plans, an almighty amount of careful thought and concerted visualisation. Therefore, offering to build my daughter a robot costume for the Book Week parade a couple of years ago was both terrifying and exciting. The terrifying thought came of my own ...

There’s a heavy silence around the connection between teen suicide and social media. Victims of this epidemic are usually in their teens, and come from a variety of backgrounds. While the consensus is that this connection is difficult to find, one study said there was a ‘direct association between heavy social media/internet use and increased suicide attempts.’ Factors include unrestricted access to the internet, resulting in exposure to inappropriate content, and ...

Launched in 1999, and now celebrated in more than 90 countries worldwide, International Men’s Day is going from strength to strength. International Men’s Day celebrates positive male role models and the loving strength that men bring to their families and communities. We highlight the need to address the male suicide crisis and we often campaign for improvement in men’s health. One of the six pillars of International Men’s Day is: “To focus on ...

We remember sitting with a young couple who were locked in combat. She was prone to reactive outbursts and he was mystified as to what he was doing to trigger it. As we probed her about her family of origin, the penny dropped: she was repeating a relationship pattern that she had established with her mother. With this new insight, the couple was able to identify her conflict preconditions which equipped ...

There are hills surrounding Hobart that shouldn’t be attempted without crampons and ropes. Building on the side of such precipices affords extensive vistas over the city and beyond to a succession of mountains or ocean horizon. The gentler slopes also made for a great proving ground for my daughters as toddlers when gravity plucked hold of them to propel them forward while their trainee legs worked to get ahead of their ...

We all have dreams: to start a business… volunteer in a third-world country… write a book… Dreams are important. And then God answered: Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. – Habakkuk 2:2 (The Message) I’ve recently learnt a valuable lesson — to not get too attached to my dreams. Let me tell you my story… ...

Adventure is essential for developing maturity and independence through firsthand experiences. When undertaken as a family, adventure forms lasting marvellous memories and excellent life skills. Some time ago, I rang a friend who was going around Australia on a 41/2-month adventure with his family. They were just about to cross the Nullarbor Plain, which contains the longest straight stretch (146.6 km) of road in the world. This section of road is ...

Australian dad James Brougham is setting the dad-life bar high, running 500km while pushing his kids in a wheelbarrow to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS). So far, the single father and his young sidekicks, both under the age of six, have made it 387km, raising AUD $7,196 for the medical aviation organisation founded by the Reverend John Flynn in 1928. Relying heavily on donations to stay solvent, ...

The family law system is unfairly stacked against separated fathers who simply want joint custody of their children. “Custody — Blood is Thicker Than Water” is an inspiring true story of a loving father who fought the system so that he could be a dad to his son. As Dads, we are all our brother’s keepers. In this case, Single Dads are our brothers. We must all do our best to ...

A majority of dads bond with their daughters through shared activities. Dad and daughter bonds are linked to what a 2013 Baylor University study called ‘closeness in the doing.’ “This is,” Baylor affirmed, “the masculine style of building closeness.” Mums tend to bond through the “feminine orientation of talking” — an observation the study described as “closeness in dialogue.” Building Memories Leaning on experiential data, Baylor noted, “When asked what key ...

There’s an old adage in the world of parenting advice: Kids spell LOVE as T.I.M.E. Kids don’t need things nearly much as they need a parent’s attention and availability. It’s a classic mistake that we make all too often; we give them stuff we’ve bought instead of the thing they most need from us — our interest and investment in them. Or we do things for them instead of with them ...

Focus on Effort, Not Outcome Do you get excited when your children get everything right? Or do you get excited when your children make mistakes and feel like what they’re doing is hard? Studies show that when we praise or reward kids for being brilliant, they get caught up in ‘proving’ how good they are. And this leads to them avoiding things they could fail at — because failure might mean ...

LIFEMARK is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Furthermore, it is definitely the Kendrick brothers’ greatest movie yet! That’s why I am writing to you to encourage you to see LIFEMARK at the movies this week before it disappears from the big screen. Thankfully, LIFEMARK has only dropped down from 74 screens last week to 54 screens. Sadly, in some of those cinemas, it is only showing once ...

In this edition of ‘What Guide Dog Puppy Raising Taught Me About Raising Kids’, connection was a key thing our fourth pup thrived on. This wonderful pup’s name was Keith, and he was a compassionate black Labrador who loved to spend time with us. Keith was full of personality and loved to work and just be a companion to anyone who would spend time with him. An interesting fact about Keith ...

"Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue" (2010) is the third movie in the Disney Fairies series. It follows the adventures of Tinker Bell (of Peter Pan fame) and her fairy friends on their summer sojourn in the human world.

The culture of your family will be based on 3 things: What you allow What you don’t allow What you demonstrate/how you live your life I know what you’re thinking: that is way too simple, and way too obvious. Yes! Just the way I like things. At least when things are simple, I can pretend to understand most of them. Although these 3 elements are simple and seem obvious, the number ...

As a parent, you have to be able to lead family discussions with a listening ear, respecting each family member’s point of view. From the diversity of opinions, in love you can forge a united course of action. Sincere agreement is vital for harmony and effectiveness. Many years ago, Dads4Kids convened Australia’s first-ever Fathering Forum in Federal Parliament in Canberra. Almost 30 different groups were represented. The one thing each group ...

James Richards, a dad in the United Kingdom, has taken a different approach to discipline, and he’s winning props for the idea. The Kent father-of-three came up with a creative way to reach his chore-averse kids by using an example from history to teach them gratitude, as well as the difference between work and slavery. Richards, fed up with his children going AWOL from the housework, decided to act. Visual Reminder ...

Some of the most fascinating research being done right now to help kids be positive and resilient deals with the idea of strengths. Do you know what your children’s strengths are? Can you name them? Take a minute and think about that. Do you ever talk with your children about their strengths? Children who know their strengths and use them regularly are more resilient, less likely to experience depression or anxiety, ...