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 ...

As a parent, I make a lot of mistakes. But my kids are gracious to forgive if I’m humble enough to admit my mistakes. Canadian-born Hollywood actress Mary Pickford said: You may make mistakes, but you are not a failure until you start blaming someone else. My Sad Brag – I’ve Made More Mistakes Than You If you’re a parent, you have made more mistakes than you know. Don’t you feel ...

Having “the talk” with kids is a jarring part of parent life. Even with homeschooling making this job a little easier, I’m still asking myself the same awkward question everyone else is: “How in the hell do I talk to my kids about sex, without the cringe, or me tripping over the wrong words?” The best execution? Use a scalpel, not a bat. Get creative. I approached the topic with a ...

Learning from conflict will make any dad a better one. “A joyful heart is good medicine”, wrote Solomon, “but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Prov 17:22). In his context, Solomon understood ‘joyful’ to mean delight, celebration, a form of cheerfulness, the shining of something bright. There’s a reason he speaks of joy and being crushed with a slight pause between two breaths. A joyful heart and a crushed spirit ...

New dad disorientation tends to affect most men faced with the daunting task of finding their fatherhood feet. Thrust into the dad-life, first-time fathers, like their newborns, have a period of adjusting to new routines, and a new identity. The technical term is ‘post-partum disorientation’. Although similar, PPD is not to be confused with ‘postpartum psychosis or depression’. Psychology Today define PPD as a time of “reorientation, and self-redefinition, where old ...

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 ...

The more I pull back from my kids time-wise, the more they pull back from me, physically, mentally and emotionally. I am a firm believer that if you care about someone then you would not let anything stand in the way of spending time with them. – unknown I remember a great speaker and family expert who used to tell a story of a friend who was doing very well financially ...

“I wish I had been a better Dad and spent more time with my kids.” These were the words that many men spoke, often with tears, when Dr Bruce Robinson told them they didn’t have long to live. Dr Bruce Robinson is a respiratory specialist. When people have a lung cancer check they come to see him. In my video interview below with Bruce, he tells how he has told the ...

Some time ago I was busy working in my own office when I heard my wife talking in the next office to a stranger. Being the inquisitive type, I opened my door to shake hands with Bill, who was inspecting the 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 ...

For Hollywood dad, Kirk Cameron, modelling manhood is dad-life proper. Get past the Americana exterior, and the former atheist’s down-to-earth grasp of back-to-basics parenting has gravitas. Known for his role as Mike Seaver in the seven-season sitcom, Growing Pains, Cameron is also a father of six. Four of whom he and his wife of 31 years adopted not long after getting married. Two of whom, arrived later on. He recently shared ...

My kids and I were watching a Disney movie recently. In the movie, a dad, who was coaching his child’s sport team, yelled at his son. After the coaching session, the boy asked his Dad, “Why did you yell at me but you didn’t yell at all the other kids?” His Dad yelled back in exasperation, “I don’t care about the other kids.” I was struck by the irony of this ...

Our culture pressures us to keep working and consuming. It takes a conscious effort to step back, take a breather and re-prioritise, but doing so is really worth it for good health and peace of mind. “We have more ‘things per person’ than any other nation in history. Closets are full, storage space is used up, and cars can’t fit into garages, having first imprisoned us with debt. Possessions then take ...

Recently, I was able to catch the 2021 comedy-drama "Fatherhood", starring the irrepressible Kevin Hart of "Jumanji" fame. The film centres on single dad Matt Logelin, left alone with his baby daughter Maddy after Matt’s wife Liz unexpectedly dies following childbirth. It is based on a true story

I was asked to share some of my experiences of being a dad. The only reason that I am doing so is that I was the first to say “yes” to the invitation. Your story is as unique as mine. Your tales of being a dad are equally special. Your own feelings about being a proud dad are as genuine as mine and your dad jokes are likely to be just ...

An ex-con has set up a fantastic initiative called Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club, aiming to prevent fatherlessness from harming the next generation. By getting dads involved with their children’s education, Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club improves the lives of both father and child. The tragic mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, along with the continuing body count from shootings in Chicago, Illinois, shines a spotlight on the urgency to answer the absent dad ...

When you analyse the social science about the importance of dads, it is unequivocal. Dads are vitally important to their children’s success in a myriad of ways. As George Herbert said, “One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.” This is not speculation — it is reality. Joshua A Krisch puts the case well for this in an article titled “The Science of Dad and the ‘Father Effect’“. The subtitle says ...

Five more tips for dads on how to maximise your Minecraft gaming fun for some quality time with your children. For decades, I’ve been an avid videogame consumer. From an Amstrad in the ’80s, to rented Nintendos in the 90s, to console, and PC level MMORGs in the 00s, videogaming has been part of the casual way I’ve spent my downtime. While I’ve all but resigned from this virtual playground — ...

An examination of various parenting styles and reflection on our own modes of parenting, can be very beneficial in honing our parenting skills for the sake of our children as they grow and mature under our guidance and discipline. Two of the best parenting styles are ‘democratic’ and ‘authoritative’. The bare-bones definition of the democratic parenting style is, ‘Allowing a fairness and respect to develop between child and parent. It involves ...