Ian Grant, the author of Fathers Who Dare Win, is a world-recognised speaker and founder of New Zealand’s Parents Inc. He is and has been a ground-breaking pioneer in the International Men’s movement To give you further food for thought, I have reprinted below Ian Grant’s hard-hitting article called “Let’s Give Fatherhood a Better Name.” Like coming out of a painful nightmare, suddenly our society has woken up to how important ...

Alright then, just sign here and you can take him home. Home? Taking him home? And not just him, but my wonderful and rather tired and sore wife. There’s a lot involved in taking your baby home from hospital. You’ve got to have somewhere for them to sit in the car, somewhere for them to sleep at home, and a decent supply of nappies, cloths, creams, and so forth. We had ...

“Yes Day — you have to see it, Warwick,” he said with unbridled enthusiasm. “It is a great family movie that every family should watch!” His strong recommendation really caught my interest. For one thing, he is married but has no children. Secondly, my friend is a very switched-on, media-savvy guy, who is passionate in his support of fathers and families.   Yes Day, the movie, is based on a bestselling ...

What on earth do I do now? That’s the thought that went through my head. I held my newborn son in my arms, I looked down into his eyes, and in him I saw someone who would be completely reliant on my wife and me for his every need, someone who I could build up or break down by my words and actions, and someone who would love me regardless of ...

I can remember as a young 7-year-old boy going to an Easter Egg-rolling Competition in Scotland. You are probably thinking — what is an Easter egg-rolling competition? Good question! Easter egg-rolling seems to have Viking and Nordic roots. It is a custom in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Scotland and the northern parts of England. Now US presidents even do it! Apparently, it is symbolic of the stone being rolled away, and so ...

Fatherhood; it’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times. Sorry Charles Dickens for stealing your thunder, but it’s true. Being a dad is one of the most wonderful things to ever happen to me, as well as one of the most terrifying. I’ve been a father for 11 years now, which is long enough to be able to reflect somewhat on the journey so far, and also long enough ...

When all hope is lost and you are at the end of your rope, whom do you call? Until recently, you could call Eric Trezise (1930-2021), friend of the friendless and hope for the hopeless. Sadly, Eric passed from this life to the next recently, at 91 years of age. I first met Eric Trezise at the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Forum in Parliament House, Canberra in 2005. Tony Miller, founder of Dads ...

Editor’s Note: I worked closely at times over the last few decades with Ps Eric Trezise. He was the equivalent of an army chaplain in Vietnam and spent his life in service of others. More importantly, in service of his Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. The story of Eric’s life (1930 – 2021) could fill several books. He was awarded an OAM in 2001 for his successful work in youth suicide ...

Elbert Hubbard said, “Do not take life too seriously, you will never get out of it alive.” Victor Borge said, “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” Comedian and counsellor JP Sears put the above advice into practice in his brilliant YouTube video called “Man Scripts — How to Never Get in Trouble with Her Again”. These scripts will put a smile on your face and a laugh in your ...

We may have found a cure for most evils; but we have found no remedy for the worst of them all, the apathy of human beings. The above quote is from Helen Keller, which makes it all the more pertinent. Helen Keller was both deaf and blind, but somehow broke through her massive impediments in communication. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts ...

Benjamin Franklin said, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” That is the case between men and women today. We have a choice. We either end the Gender War, or lose our unique identity as men and women in our society. Fatherhood and manhood are under attack, but so are motherhood and womanhood. The video below is a prime example.   You probably know ...

What is a Dad? The poem below says it all: A dad is someone who wants to catch you before you fall but instead picks you up, brushes you off, and lets you try again. A dad is someone who wants to keep you from making mistakes but instead lets you find your own way, even though his heart breaks in silence when you get hurt. A dad is someone who ...

“My Daddy’s a Champion” was the headline at the top of the Daily Telegraph, one of the biggest selling daily newspapers in Australia several years ago. The story inside the paper was even better. I have never met Daniel Geale, but you can tell he is a lot more than a prize fighter. Daniel is also aspiring to be a great Dad.   I will let you make up your own ...

Some time ago, I was busy minding my own business in my office, when I heard my wife talking in the next office to a stranger. I opened my door to shake hands with Bill, who was inspecting our fire services in our office on behalf of the landlord. Bill, realising he was in the offices of Dads4Kids, started to ply me with questions about parenting. He asked, “How should I ...

Valentine’s Day is next Sunday, 14 February. It is a date worthy of celebration. It just so happens that it is one of our bi-weekly date nights, so it won’t be hard to celebrate. Getting a restaurant with a free table will be the hard part. You have heard me say it before, and if you hang around with us for any length of time, you will hear it again and ...

Ian ‘Watto’ Watson said, “I have never seen a bloke go backwards with encouragement.” Ian Watson spoke at the very first Men’s Leadership Summit at Paluma Range, north of Townsville, in 2013. Sadly, Ian passed away in 2019. The good news is that he left a massive legacy of encouragement for men the world over.   Rhonda McKenzie, Ian Watson’s niece, said this about him at his memorial service in a ...

We as fathers need to pass on our love for Australia to our children. If we do not, who will? I am not talking about some sort of jingoistic conceit for our country, but a clear and deep love of our nation despite our nation’s many weaknesses. Yes, and we need to pass on to our children a deep love and respect for our Indigenous people too! I believe we have ...

Dale Carnegie said, “Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.” Dale Carnegie wrote one of the world’s best-selling motivational self-help books of all time, How to Win Friends and Influence People, in 1936. This book has sold over 30 million copies and still appears on bestseller lists, even to this day. Maybe Dale Carnegie should have written a special book on toilet-training for toddlers. He could have called ...

I look forward to family get-togethers at Christmas, because there is always lots of laughter. Our family’s principal humourist has recently had his first child. As we were enjoying our Christmas family dinner, we were all talking in earnest about his baby son’s resemblance to both his parents. Of course, the discussion revolved around whether he was more like dad or more like mum. Perhaps the 3-month-old baby could understand our ...

Dads4Kids often gets heartbreaking calls from single dads who have been shut out of their children’s lives in the process of family breakup. We have advocated at a parliamentary level for a fair go for single dads who can’t see their kids. Sadly, the changes to the system have been wound back. The legal bias and the complex problems single fathers face as a result are beyond human understanding. Sadly, we ...