The coronavirus pandemic really hit home to me when a close friend of mine here in Australia lost his friend and business partner to the virus earlier this week. The father of two left behind two young children and his wife. Thankfully, neither his wife or two children were infected with the virus, nor his two employees. This beautiful family lived in a south-east Asian country only a short distance from ...

Many years ago, I was awoken by the incessant ringing of my wife’s mobile phone. It was 12.30 am, so we knew something was wrong. The message was frightening. Steve Stylianou, a good friend and father of three, had collapsed with a suspected heart attack and was rushed to hospital. The request was simple – just pray! We mumbled our prayers as you do when you have been woken from a ...

What is Dad to do in the middle of a coronavirus epidemic? Firstly, he has to try to analyse the problem and gather information to protect his family, and particularly his children. A great man once said, “The truth will set you free.” What exactly is the Coronavirus? Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle ...

If you haven’t heard about Bluey, you have been “living under a rock” as Paul Keating used to say. The cartoon blue heeler that Australia has already fallen in love with is now going out to a global audience, thanks to a distribution deal between the BBC and Disney. “The warmth and authenticity of Bluey’s family dynamic is what first captured our interest in the show,” said Jane Gould, senior vice ...

We all have to move forward. The good news is that Dads4Kids is on the move. Earlier this year, Paul Lassig joined our team as the Dads4Kids Development Manager to take Dads4Kids forward. If we stop moving forward, we get stuck in the past, atrophy and die. It is the same for you and me as fathers. We have to keep challenging ourselves to get better, be more honest, and develop ...

Two weeks ago we celebrated Valentine’s Day, and by way of celebration I looked up an older article from Time Magazine called ‘The Science of Romance’. I looked up Susan Sprecker’s ‘Passionate Love Scale‘ featured in Time Magazine and ran the test on myself. After 44 years of marriage, I rated as ‘passionate, but less intense’. My wife tells me she scored ‘wildly, even recklessly in love’. I am working hard ...

Some time ago, Steve De Keijzer told me a humbling but wonderful experience he had with his 16-year-old daughter. Steve’s daughter had an assignment from school to write a story on a person who had a profound impact on her life. She chose to write about her dad. Steve’s story is printed in full below: “My 16 year-old daughter came home recently and told me of an assignment that she had ...

A man once said to me, “I told my wife I loved her once, why do I have to tell her again?” Maybe that foolhardy statement is one of the reasons many men get irked by Valentine’s Day. I was one of them. Men are headliners, while women are fine print people.  Men say, “Just give me the facts.” Once we have those facts, we don’t like going over old ground. ...

Some time ago, a young man approached me to see if I would mentor him and his wife on how to raise a great family. I have known this man and his wife for about ten years. He is a very successful businessman who is also active in his local church. In my estimation, he is a great father and a devoted husband. As a matter of fact, I would give ...

Some time ago, I attended a seminar where I was handed a little cellophane bag tied with a blue ribbon, full of unusual goodies with a tag titled ‘Leadership Survival Kit”. I had never received a Leadership Survival Kit before, so I picked it up to have a good look. I like to think of myself as a leader, but more importantly, I want to survive. As a father with five ...

Sometimes you get a treasured text from your child that signifies a milestone in your relationship, or just a job well done. I remember in 2004, when we ran our first Dads and Kids Bush Camp at Wollondilly River, my daughter was 11 years old at the time. She graciously agreed to come away camping with a group of dads and kids for a ‘fun’ weekend away. She brought along a ...

My friend Tony Miller used to say to me: “We are not human doings — we are human beings.” Timely words for us in the Christmas/New Year season. We all need time off just to learn ‘how to be again’. It is amazing how quickly we can forget the need to have some Holy-days. Days for rest, days to have fun and days just to do nothing. Dr Mike’s Seven Benefits ...

Several years ago, Australia spent more on Christmas per capita than any other nation. The Americans are beating us this year, but we are still right up there. The average household in Australia will spend $969 each this Christmas, based on all expenses including gifts, food and decorations. That is a grand total of 18.8 billion dollars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTn-mkLhLAM   And what about the fact that ‘Carols by Candlelight’ celebrations are held ...

I have always felt that our society is at a tipping point when it comes to the restoration of fatherhood in our society. Part of that is my innate tendency to optimism. For me the glass is always half full. I can remember sharing as the conference organiser in the Main Committee Room of Parliament House at the very first National Strategic Conference on Fatherhood in 2003, saying very much in ...

I am fascinated by what people say and think before they leave the planet. Wisdom is sometimes very costly and as you consider the past, you can understand the future better. Dr Bruce Robinson, probably Australia’s bestselling fatherhood author, wrote his book, Fathering from the Fast Lane, because of the words that men told him on their deathbeds. Bruce is a doctor who treats those who have lung and respiratory illnesses. ...

On Father’s Day Sunday 1 September 2002, we launched the very first Dads4Kids weekly newsletter for men. Sign Up Here. We have not missed a Sunday since. It is up to eight hundred and ninety-nine issues later, and no, I am not counting. Let me share the reflection from the very first newsletter. I believe the greatest thing a father can do for his children is to love his wife. Love ...

Some time ago, my friend Steve Blizard sent me a really good article by Bob Hostetler about the Four Phases of Parenthood. Bob writes the following: It came as a shock. In the course of telling a story to my friend Jon, I mentioned that I had gone into my son’s room to wake him up. Jon interrupted me. “How old is Aaron?” We both knew very well how old he ...

The single hardest thing for any Dad is trying to get the balance right between love and discipline for his children. I often use the expression ‘grace and truth’. Grace is really another name for love. The challenge becomes more difficult the more children you have, and I think especially the more boys you have. Boys seem to find your limit and then take you past it. Boys, for wont of ...

My wife got me a book for Father’s Day called “Dear Dad”. It is a collection of letters to fathers, edited by Samuel Johnson OAM. The description on the back cover says, “A heartfelt, honest and very human book of letters that will make you smile and make you cry. It is the perfect gift for the Dad in your life. A reminder to say how you feel before it’s too ...

Happy Father’s Day. I hope and pray you have a good one. Recently I received a call at the Dads4Kids office. It was most unusual. Junior Stowers was his name, and he was was calling from inside a detention centre. Having performed concerts in 20 gaols across Australia (where nobody has a mobile phone), this really did my head in. However, I found that Immigration Detention Centres have a different set ...