Being a father carries with it some pretty serious responsibilities. That is why it is so important to learn to laugh, and that’s why we at Dads4Kids publish weekly doses of humour for busy dads. In 1979 Norman Cousins wrote, ‘Anatomy of an Illness (As Perceived by the Patient)’. Cousins had Ankylosing Spondylitis, a rheumatoid-like disorder. Considering the hospital noisy and impersonal, Cousins checked into a hotel room where he read ...

I must be one of the stupidest people I know. Some time ago I was invited to speak at the opening of a local charity called ‘Assist’ run by Brian Pember, a friend of mine. I wrote the address down in my diary when Brian invited me to speak. I took my diary with me in the car but, guess what, I didn’t look at my diary and ended up going ...

The term ‘Caramello Life’ is coined by fatherhood researcher and advocate Dr Bruce Robinson from Perth, Western Australia. Bruce was nominated for Australian of the Year 2014 and was high in the running, but lost to Adam Goodes, a well known Aboriginal Australian Rules footballer. Being a good friend of Bruce’s, I rang him to ask exactly what he meant by his newly minted term. This is what he said, “When ...

As we learned in last week’s newsletter, ‘the Joy & Terror’ of fatherhood, we can experience times as fathers when we are driven to the point of extremity and simply do not know what to do. That is when we must, as MC Hammer once said, “Pray just to make it today”. From my own experience as a father, prayer has been the key to any success I have had. It ...

If you are like me, you care about Australia and you would like to do something to make things better, not only for your children but for the community as a whole. The reality is that in many ways we are more connected than we have ever been through social media, but less connected at a human level. As Jay Bayer points out so well in his article, ‘Social media, Pretend ...

It is International Men’s Day on Tuesday 19 November. See the promo video and for a laugh check out this funny video put together a few years ago. Celebrate this day in whatever way you can. The theme this year is “Keeping Men and Boys Safe” and the five challenges are: Tackling male suicide Keeping men and boys safe to allow them to become tomorrow’s role models End tolerance of violence towards ...

Father’s Day really is one of the great days of the year, along with Mother’s Day. Dads should not be afraid to enjoy their fifteen minutes of fame. Whatever you do this Father’s Day, make sure you appreciate your children. They should be the major benefactors of your Dadness, and I don’t mean just the Dad-jokes. If you would like to help out with our Box of Kisses Father’s Day Appeal ...

I was speaking at a DIDS meeting in rural New South Wales last night and I was commending the group for becoming real lifesavers in reaching out to each other in support. I told them that this country was once renowned for its mateship, and sadly I believe we have lost that somehow. We have lost the knowledge of what being a mate is all about. It is my belief that ...

Firstly, I would like to thank all of you who contact me; it’s your support and kindness that keeps me going. I was out on the town one night this past week. One of our volunteers is a muso, and he and his band were playing a gig in a local hotel. It was a great night, mainly because of the fact that a whole lot of our other volunteers turned ...

Please read this attached e-mail that I sent to 60 Minutes in an effort to try and get any help or understanding. It is hard to find a reason to go on when even your cry for help is told to be quiet. Dear Sixty Minutes, Please, you have got to listen! Just read through this e-mail at least. You must be aware of, or at least heard comment made of, ...

Today, the Sydney paper carried a story of a well-known identity, Rene Rivkin, who suicided weeks after splitting from his wife of 32 years. It was front-page news in most of the major papers. A local newspaper here carried a similar sad story of death. It was a well-known local radio announcer here. The newspaper here failed to say what had happened, only that the death was considered not suspicious. We, ...

Plan some time out for yourself — things you enjoy doing, with friends or alone. It maybe off to the sports arena, or the movies, or just a simple lunch at the fish markets. Try inviting some friends over if you can cook, or invite yourself over to some friends. It doesn’t have to be expensive to have fun. Cook yourself breakfast in bed, or have a video day. Plan some ...

A few years ago I was a happily married man — a beautiful wife, three sons, a home  that  was well on the way to being paid off, a job, and settled in the community.  We had just had our 10-year anniversary — a night on the town for the family.  A few bumps along the way, including some really tough surprises with our sons’ births, but everything was fine — ...

In June, 2000, a 44-year-old father experiencing family separation killed himself in the bush in the Victorian Gippsland region. Greg Wilton had a five-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. This event made national news because Greg Wilton was also a federal parliamentarian. Each year in Australia, more than 2,500 people die by suicide. This is significantly more than the national road toll (about 1,700). Most people are aware of the focus ...

I recently represented the Fatherhood Foundation (Dads4Kids) at a national workshop conducted by the Department of Health and Ageing. Our task was to contribute towards an understanding of suicide amongst men in the 25-44 age group, and to assist in developing a strategic approach to prevention. Some of the discussions and debates about the causes of suicide within this age group reminded me of the children’s story about the animals that ...