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 ...

Mankind is so blessed to have the gift of music. The world would be a much sadder place without music, and I believe Walter Savage Landor was spot on when he wrote, ‘Music is God’s gift to man.’ Thanks to my parents (Dads4Kids founders Warwick & Alison Marsh), my siblings and I were all very blessed to be exposed to, and learn via private tuition, music from a young age. While ...

“No generation knows better than ours the terrible consequences of growing up without a father. Fatherless boys are far more likely to grow up and commit violent crime, mistreat women, and act out against society in every other way. Girls who do not have a father to honour — and, hopefully, to love as well — are more likely to seek the wrong men and to be promiscuous at an early ...

by Bill Muehlenberg Fatherlessness is a growing problem in the Western world. Whether caused by divorce and broken families, or by deliberate single parenting, more and more children grow up in Australia without fathers. Concerned groups have argued that a mother and father are crucial in the raising of children. Father absence has been shown to be detrimental to the well being of children. The following is a summary of the evidence for ...

Communication is fundamental to our relationships and the flourishing of families. If we want to do it well, there is a science, art and spirit to communication. We all like to think of ourselves as good communicators. Unfortunately, what that usually means is: I have lots to say and I’m not afraid to say it! That’s because a lot of people equate being talkative with good communication. In truth, effective communication ...

As a parent, we have so many things to look after; Making sure our kids actually eat, then also making sure it’s something that will actually benefit them; Having somewhere to sleep, preferably in a bed — warm and dry is great; and then, of course, education in our Western culture, in particular, is fairly important. Do we really need to do all of this? On top of all of this, ...

Walk through any quality ’80s film, and the reoccurring theme is staying power. Daniel LaRusso, Rocky Balboa, Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo? Staying power. Axel Foley, Ripley (Aliens), John McClane, Mr Miyagi, and Maverick? Again, staying power. Add to this, characters played by some of the 80’s best female actors: Meryl Streep, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathleen Turner, and Goldie Hawn. Their undeniable hidden strength is staying power. Look at the ...

by Dan Hart As the US celebrated Father’s Day recently, two recent studies confirm that fathers play a central role in the mental health and behaviour of their children. In a report that compared dozens of studies conducted between 1987 and 2022, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) found “clear correlations between children raised in fatherless homes and developmental challenges ranging from bad grades, anxiety, and suicide to violent behaviour, drug ...

It was Christmas Day 2008, a significant milestone for my wife Jodi and me. Earlier that year, we had been thrown into the proverbial deep end as first-time parents of beautiful twin daughters, so this would be a Christmas like no other. The decorations were divine, we had food with all the trimmings, and the precious presents were beautifully wrapped (by my wife, of course) all ready to go. It was ...

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 ...

In a fast-paced world, our attention is a rare and valuable commodity. Is your marriage suffering from attention deficiency? True confession: some evenings you’ll find us sitting on the couch with the TV playing, and us both on our laptops or other individual devices. We know — it’s not particularly noble and we have a sense of unease with it. But truly, movies and TV simply don’t seem to hold our ...

Being a Dad and working long hours do not always fit neatly together. You will have to take time to work out how you can balance both in a positive and productive way. Being the family provider and wanting to be a “good” father and do well at work can create a lot of pressure on Dad. So it’s worth taking some time to put it all into some perspective. Coming home ...

“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 ...

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 ...

A South Australian dad has put himself between danger and his daughter, after the curious toddler encountered a deadly Eastern Brown Snake. Noticing she’d become distracted by something in the hallway, Jake Coombe used his body to shield her. The father who lives with his family on an acreage told The Advertiser they’d just returned from holiday. “Alba was carrying a fishing reel, and I saw her drop it, to run for ...

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 ...

Daggy-dad films are somewhat of a rare breed. This is despite the sub-genre’s classics being among some of the most rewatchable films ever made. A popular pejorative, the word ‘dag’ is uniquely Australian, meaning untidy, dishevelled, and eccentric. Expanding on this, Urban Dictionary describes a ‘dag’ as someone who has no style, or sense of fashion. A daggy dad is not particularly trendy, or avant-garde. He’s often portrayed as aloof, believing ...

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 ...

My kids and I were watching a Disney movie recently. In the movie, a dad who was coaching his child’s sports 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 ...