Channing Tatum might be a lot of things on screen. Off-screen he’s a single dad, and the best-selling author of three children’s books. All three kids’ books were inspired by Tatum’s relationship with his own daughter, Everly. Central to the storyline is Ella (aka Sparkella), who, with the help of her dad, learns the value of acts like how to combat peer pressure, having patience, and telling the truth. Life Lessons ...

John is a parent at my daughters’ school. He is an affable dad, but affable is not enough permission for me to throw a hug on him as I make my way to the parent holding bay to wait for the 3:00 pm school bell. He doesn’t give off a hug vibe. I think that handshakes are more of John’s territory. To set the scene, John and I had been emailing ...

My soapbox needs an upgrade. Previously I made do with an upturned milk crate. I could – metaphorically – stand atop and crusade. My crusade is usually stirred of a parenting niggle but my audience is sometimes just me. This time around I want to stand a little taller and shout out a little louder. A new soapbox on a grander scale might help or maybe trade up to five milk ...

Back in school times, I felt the awkwardness of being one of four students in the mix of eighty school leavers not dolled up in black dinner suits or tuxedos. From the daggy surround of Mum and Dad’s brown Datsun 280B, I scanned the crisp black and white of young men and the sharp colours of gorgeous dresses delicately draped on girls. Back then, I craved the safety of mimicking the ...

Ironically, my marriage ended as it should have begun. After lodging divorce papers the other day, I ambled out of the court offices into Salamanca Place. I deliberately slowed my pace to the steady step of a bridal march in order to soak in the soft morning sun. The sun’s glow wrapped an embrace of blanketing cheer that warmed my sombre mood. Fifteen years earlier, wedding day rain was a disappointing ...

My two earthly angels are spirited souls. Some of their spirit erupts spontaneously from joy spilling out of a moment where our awesome is in sync. This afternoon was a classic. Now, I appreciate that at 2:59 pm my daughters’ energy levels are spent. Their reserve tank is down to fumes. Yet, the 3:00 pm end-of-school alarm triggers some primal force, and the tapped-out slump converts swiftly to a frenzied push ...

I send out a warm Mother’s Day wish for my mum to be blessed with genuine pride in having raised three awesome men. I admire the example of care she set in her nursing work, especially with the elderly. I saw Mum argue the case for patients to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect when the frailty of the aged patients prevented them from advocating for themselves. I hold ...

Divorce courts hate dads. There is no nicer way of saying it. As if the lack of charitable support for fathers separated from their kids wasn’t punishment enough. Partiality towards women in matters of divorce is wounding already-wounded men. Designed to reign in deadbeat dads, the system ends up beating dads who want to stay tuned in, and keep turning up. Family courts, it could be argued, are not in favour ...

Once upon a not-so-long-ago-time, I wasn’t a single dad. I was just a dad. Well, not “just”. For a just-starting-out dad, I had set some parenting goals. I quite deliberately set out to be anything but “just a dad.” I had a profound sense of parenting purpose. I was pounding with pride at the prospect of crafting a wonderful little person and was underway with nurturing and nursing my – our ...

A few years back I let go of a muffled swear word after pacing mile after frustrating mile of city blocks with my daughters looking for smart black flats that bucked the trend of imitation tramp. Ever alert to any parental blemish that might be used as evidence against me, my eldest caught my cussing which was supposed to be contained in my head. My potty-mouth shoe-shopping incident has become a ...

Bill runs his own business devoted to strengthening the relationship between children and parents. He artfully taps into the desire children and parents have for wholehearted connectedness. Bill simply prompts parents to maintain time and space in the relationship schedule for it to thrive. Bill shares with his parent and child audience various conversation starters to help them to sharpen up their skills to have the hearty conversations that make for ...

I am amused by the serious instruction of friends, “Do what you love and what feels right for you.” Their career counselling advice amuses me because they haven’t regarded that what I love and what feels right can sometimes yell wildly at each other in conflict. In the red corner, What-I-Love argues that there are Tassie mountain summits that I am yet to tread. In the blue corner, What-Feels-Right makes the ...

This year I am grateful that the Easter Bunny won’t be stopping by. The shambolic mess that the break‑and‑enter bunny left last year has left me thankful for a reprieve. There are many things that I celebrate at Easter… family traditions, the ceremony and stories of Easter accounts and the extra holiday time that I am able to share with my beautiful earthly angels. I definitely do not celebrate the intrusion ...

I am Joy. I am the happy-go-lucky character that sets out to stir my children into happiness when Sadness mopes forlornly into their day. I parent to have my daughters be afflicted with my happy contagion. That was before the Joy character of the Inside Out movie set me to believing that it is okay for Joy and Sadness to sit comfortably together. Joy – the movie character – had her ...

Sometimes on the other side of a wonderful parenting weekend, there is a sense that single parenting is a clock-on-clock-off thing. A full parenting weekend involves the tumble and fun and out of sorts and homework and silliness and around-the-house helping out. Then, it goes quiet when I mentally punch off my dad timecard after wrapping up the school drop-off, knowing that the mum shift starts that afternoon. And, while I ...

Sometimes my weekends are a maddening tussle to make the one-after-the-other events that seem to start flooding our Friday and spill into our Saturday and Sunday. Sport, birthday parties, youth group, housework, homework, school socials all back up, one against the other, to make our dad and daughters time fairly frenetic. Leading into my last weekend with Miss 7 and Miss 12, I knew that my Friday to Monday was going ...

“Inaugurated in 1957, the Australian Father of the Year has been awarded annually to high-profile, famous fathers, from prime ministers and politicians to sportsmen, business leaders, entertainers and musicians acknowledging the support, guidance and love they show to Australian children.” So says Wikipedia. I am not famous or high-profile. The smear-the-opponent style of politics means that I will never go there, and my dad jokes hardly rate as entertainment. A long ...

The proposed Family Law Amendment legislation by the Labor Government will be another case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, instead of fixing the hole in the hull to stop the ship from going down. Many of the reform proposals, such as considering the best interests of the child, are well-intentioned, but unless they solve the fundamental problem, they really become another layer of bureaucracy to waste taxpayers’ money. ...

A few weeks ago, on an impulse and wanting to share a snapshot of my post-separation status, I wrote a part-whimsical, part-serious piece about the worst parts of being a single dad. By implication, if some parts are worst, then there must be some best bits, says my cerebral dialogue. Voice Number One says the best bit is simply being a dad. Voice Number One ignores the “single” tag and just ...

Family law expert Patrick Parkinson says Labor’s proposal to amend the Family Law Act is a radical change that will take Australia back to when mothers were granted primacy in custody battles. The results for dads will be devastating.