Adoption is a beautiful thing. But God’s first and best plan is the natural family. My wife and I are extremely pro-family. Who would we be to interfere if Squish’s birth parents wanted to get back together and keep Squish?

Without spending intentional, quality time with each other, we quickly get out of sync. When we do, our patience wears thin, our tones get harsh, and bickering over small things increases. The speed at which disconnect can occur always shocks me. 

People like Joe are the inspirational reminder to stay simple when giving a sense of worth to my daughters in our precious moments of connection.

I find myself huffing in annoyance when sorting out his attempt to pack the dishwasher. He has seemingly not calculated the maximised available space-to-ickiness-of-surface ratio.

First things first: Happy Father’s Day! It’s an honour to be communicating with you on this most important and special day. Whether you’re a father of younger or older kids, a grandfather, or a father figure to some precious people in your life, our prayer here at Dads4Kids is that you have a blessed Father’s Day with family and friends. Secondly, the first-ever TV documentary on the Dads4Kids Men’s Leadership Summit, ...

My wife and I are in the process of adopting a baby girl, known affectionately as ‘Squish’ here at the Daily Dad until her adoption is finalised. I am now writing a weekly column as we learn the ins and outs of parenting a newborn, and as we navigate the joys and challenges of adoption. Enjoy this week’s edition of ‘The Adventures of Squish’. The Most Important Meal of the Day ...

Fathers are fun – and serious too! And you learn more from them than you do at school. Think of all the good times you’ve had. How would it be without your dad? Everything would be harder with no mentor for growth. Reflect on the man who loves you the most. Soon will come the day for you to fill his shoes. Do you think your dad would accept an excuse? ...

A few years ago, Francine was a guest on Vision Radio for marriage week. One of the callers shared how his and his wife’s early ‘family of origin’ formation had caused them a lot of conflict. Their differences in expectations and values had caused them a great deal of grief. All married couples will experience both positive and negative effects from their family of origin formation, even those of us from ...

Father’s Day for me is always a list of questions. For example, how can the fatherless write anything good about fatherhood? Ask for a positive vibe, joyful word, or quirky rhyme, and all I once could offer in response was numb bewilderment. I had learned the hard way that sharing my experiences can be like a bulldozer to those unprepared to hear about them. Fatherlessness is what Father’s Day once meant ...

Six-packs of business socks were on special a few days ago at Aldi. If they weren’t one short of a week’s worth, I might have racked them up at the till. In my momentary contemplation of snappy-coloured toe and heel, a fellow shopper spontaneously announced a thought to me – “Perfect for Father’s Day!” She tossed the socks into her bag and trollied off, seemingly content that her Father’s Day obligation ...

Blessed is the father who spends time with his child, for he shall reap a garden of remembrances. Blessed is the father who gives consolation to his child’s minor misfortunes, for he will be called on for great things in life. Blessed is the father who is proud of his child, for he shall have a child who is proud of his father. Blessed is the father who imparts love, for ...

Before I had kids, I would have known exactly how to deal with this situation: Jack, my 2-year-old son, is crying for reasons known only to himself as we make our way through Woolworths. Tyson, my 3 1/2-year-old, is good as gold… until we reach the cleaning aisle, of all places. Ignoring Jack’s tears as best I can, I put a box of OMO laundry powder in the trolley. That was ...

Today, we are excited to give you the first glimpse of our new Dads4Kids Father’s Day Community Service Announcement/TV adverts. Richard Attieh and his team at the Australian Television & Media Group have done a great job. See it below. We expect Channel 7 Metro and the regional stations which broadcast 7, 9 & 10 to get behind it. Hopefully, Channel 9 will do the same. Sadly, Channel 10 Metro is ...

by Assal Habibi  Observing a pianist at a recital – converting musical notations into precisely timed finger movements on a piano – can be a powerful emotional experience. As a researcher of neuroscience and a pianist myself, I understand that the mastering of this skill not only takes practice, but also requires complex coordination of many different brain regions. Brain regions – that are responsible for our hearing, sight and movement ...

In recent weeks, I’ve shared a few anecdotes about our newly adopted baby. She’s known as ‘Squish’ here at the Daily Dad until her adoption is finalised. I am now writing a weekly column as my wife Angie and I learn the ins and outs of parenting a newborn, and as we navigate the joys and challenges of adoption. Here is this week’s edition of ‘The Adventures of Squish’. We Don’t See Miracles Every ...

Recently, we came across this quote from Simone Weil, a 20th-century French philosopher, Christian mystic and political activist. “God and humanity are like two lovers who have missed their rendezvous. Each is there before the time, but each at a different place, and they wait, and wait, and wait. He stands motionless, nailed to the spot for the whole of time. She is distraught and impatient. But alas for her if ...

The collective noun for clowns is a pratfall, and it makes no sense that you can have a rout of snails. Snails could as much create a rout as my kids would volunteer that they have homework. And, you might think that the rush of students on the three o’clock bell might be a whoop, given the ecstatic noise. However, chimpanzees had first dibs on whoop, and so I am swarmed ...

One of our readers, Joelle from Colorado, shared a photo of her son Chase looking very upset.  The reason?  Joelle wouldn’t paint his nails purple. It all went wrong for me recently when my son Jono was unable to carry each of the seven cars he had carefully selected for the four-minute drive to pick up his big sisters from school. He wouldn’t let me carry any, and he wouldn’t leave ...

The blockbuster, record-breaking smash hit movie from the United States, Sound of Freedom, is coming soon to cinemas across Australia and New Zealand! Based on the incredible true story of Operation Underground Railroad founder and former Department of Homeland Security Special Agent, Tim Ballard, the Angel Studios-distributed film is on-track to gross well over A$300 million globally. Considering the film’s production budget is only around A$23 million (low-budget by Hollywood standards), ...

For the uninitiated, Swiftie Dads are a phenomenon. They’re fathers whose daughters are massive Taylor Swift fans. According to GQ, these dads don’t just chaperone their kids to concerts; they’re dad-sized “groupies” who don the merchandise, sing the songs, and play along. Gone are ‘bored dads at a One Direction concert.’ These dads are ‘ecstatic about Taylor Swift concerts too’, added GQ. Although I am completely sceptical about the darker whole ...