Most weekday mornings Alison and I get up at about 5.40AM, push each other out of bed, and go for our early morning ‘Gym & Fitness Walk Session’, at least that’s what I call it. We walk down to the gym about 2-3 minutes and hold hands as we walk. We work out together and then we take a longer route back to our home all the while holding hands with ...

I can always remember Dr Bruce Robson, Australia’s best-selling fatherhood author, telling the guys at the ‘Good to Great’ Fatherhood Course about Janis Joplin’s father. For those who don’t know her musical history, Janis Joplin was one of the great female vocalists of the late sixties. The movie ‘The Rose’ released in 1979 was based on her life story. Rolling Stone magazine has placed her in the top 30 female vocalists ...

Let me give you ten irrefutable reasons why you as a father need to make sure that you get your family to turn off the TV, computer, mobile phone and eat together as a family. Of course, there will be some occasions when this is just not possible. For instance, when Australia gets into the grand final of the World Cup Soccer competition. Now, that’s a good reason to have a ...

‘Family Still Our Pride’ was the two page headline in Australia’s biggest selling newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph. This headline appeared several years ago but there is no reason to believe anything has really changed in the Australian psyche. Family is still number one for the vast majority of Australians, and I do mean vast. The article went on like this, “Scrabble anyone? It seems family time is back – our favourite ...

‘What Children Want Most is a Ban on Divorce, Says Poll’ was a headline in a major UK paper several years ago. The poll question was: “What rules would you make if you ruled the world as King or Queen?” #BanDivorce was the number one request. Nationwide research of children under 10 years of age was carried out by Luton First, sponsors and organisers of National Kids’ Day. Patricia Murchie of ...

Let me share with you the story of one of the best decisions I ever made for my family. Travelling around Australia was the dream of a lifetime. When you live out of your heart, you will never regret it.

We live in an age of astonishing scientific and technological development that has given human beings an amazing number of ways to communicate. However, it could be argued that real communication is taking place less and less. Concurrently, we are facing an unprecedented explosion of knowledge, but it could be argued that we now know less than we ever have, because we are drowning in a sea of information. Information overload, ...

In 2003 Counting Crows had a hit with Joni Mitchell’s song Big Yellow Taxi. The chorus goes like this: “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone.” This thought is captured in a brilliant article by Amy Remeikis called, ‘Facing a father’s death with laughter and tears’. Amy Remeikis battles with the emotions of watching her father die, using laughter and conversation to ...

Life has its challenges, and being a father compounds those challenges.  Someone has got to be the leader in the family.  The buck has got to stop with someone. Herein lies the challenge. I believe that fathers are called to be leaders in love.  Being a leader requires making decisions on behalf of those you lead that are open to question.  It also requires that you are prepared to take the ...

We recently moved house. The house we had been renting for 13 years was sold, and there was no other option. According to the USA Employee Relations Council, moving house is the third most stressful event in life, following death and divorce. Other lists put it lower, but whatever the case, it usually makes the top ten of life’s worst events. Moving house is stressful because you have to make decisions ...

I have just returned from Sydney, where we have opened several DIDs groups over the past couple of weeks. It never ceases to amaze me, the guys I meet along the way. Absolutely awesome dads who, although they struggle on a daily basis to see their kids and hold down a job, they volunteer some personal time to help other guys who may be struggling as well. It’s awesome to see, ...

(A goodbye letter written by a mate.) Dear Jane, Even though it will probably take you only five minutes to read this, if you read it at all, it took me a long time to write it. It also took a lot of courage to speak my mind and my heart. I hope you don’t see this as an attack on you, it’s not. Forgive me for my anger, it’s necessary. ...

I was 27 years old when, on my first day of teaching, I was presented with a class full of ten-year-old children. I remember thinking that I hadn’t seen or spoken to a ten-year-old since I was ten. I felt equally inadequate a few years later when I was handed my firstborn child. My knowledge of what was required of me was limited to an understanding that this creature was a ...

Transcript of Alanna Siozos’ Eulogy, April 2003 This is the hardest thing I have ever done, most likely the hardest thing I will ever do. There are so many things I can tell you about my father, but at times like these I find it hard to say anything at all. Try to imagine a love so great, a love that makes you want to dance, a love that makes you ...

A young boy sat in a science class, his eyes fixed on a beaker sitting on the teacher’s desk. The teacher’s words were muffled to the boy’s hearing as he thought of his dad and how great it would be when he was no longer busy at the firm and they could go fishing one weekend. But deep down, he feels this may never happen. An executive sat in his leather ...