Fathers are fun – and serious too! And you learn more from them than you do at school. Think of all the good times you’ve had. How would it be without your dad? Everything would be harder with no mentor for growth. Reflect on the man who loves you the most. Soon will come the day for you to fill his shoes. Do you think your dad would accept an excuse? ...

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 ...

Six-packs of business socks were on special a few days ago at Aldi. If they weren’t one short of a week’s worth, I might have racked them up at the till. In my momentary contemplation of snappy-coloured toe and heel, a fellow shopper spontaneously announced a thought to me – “Perfect for Father’s Day!” She tossed the socks into her bag and trollied off, seemingly content that her Father’s Day obligation ...

Blessed is the father who spends time with his child, for he shall reap a garden of remembrances. Blessed is the father who gives consolation to his child’s minor misfortunes, for he will be called on for great things in life. Blessed is the father who is proud of his child, for he shall have a child who is proud of his father. Blessed is the father who imparts love, for ...

Today, we are excited to give you the first glimpse of our new Dads4Kids Father’s Day Community Service Announcement/TV adverts. Richard Attieh and his team at the Australian Television & Media Group have done a great job. See it below. We expect Channel 7 Metro and the regional stations which broadcast 7, 9 & 10 to get behind it. Hopefully, Channel 9 will do the same. Sadly, Channel 10 Metro is ...

In recent weeks, I’ve shared a few anecdotes about our newly adopted baby. She’s known as ‘Squish’ here at the Daily Dad until her adoption is finalised. I am now writing a weekly column as my wife Angie and I learn the ins and outs of parenting a newborn, and as we navigate the joys and challenges of adoption. Here is this week’s edition of ‘The Adventures of Squish’. We Don’t See Miracles Every ...

The collective noun for clowns is a pratfall, and it makes no sense that you can have a rout of snails. Snails could as much create a rout as my kids would volunteer that they have homework. And, you might think that the rush of students on the three o’clock bell might be a whoop, given the ecstatic noise. However, chimpanzees had first dibs on whoop, and so I am swarmed ...

For the uninitiated, Swiftie Dads are a phenomenon. They’re fathers whose daughters are massive Taylor Swift fans. According to GQ, these dads don’t just chaperone their kids to concerts; they’re dad-sized “groupies” who don the merchandise, sing the songs, and play along. Gone are ‘bored dads at a One Direction concert.’ These dads are ‘ecstatic about Taylor Swift concerts too’, added GQ. Although I am completely sceptical about the darker whole ...

Last week, I told the origins story of our newly adopted baby. She’s known as ‘Squish’ here at the Daily Dad until her adoption is finalised. I plan to write a weekly column as my wife Angie and I learn the ins and outs of parenting a newborn, and as we navigate the joys and challenges of adoption. Here is this week’s edition of ‘The Adventures of Squish’. Nothing Prepared Me ...

Dear Friends, On Friday, the team at Dads4Kids spoke at a Senate Committee Inquiry for the Labor Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 at Parliament House, Canberra.  Our delegation leader was a female Family Law lawyer, Sheneli Meneripitiyage Dona, and deputy leader indigenous elder Ps James Dargin, with Nathaniel and myself as their assistants. In the current anti-male woke culture, one young female lawyer is worth 50 men, and likewise for our ...

As of two weeks ago, I’m a dad. It feels weird writing that, like it’s not quite true yet. But it is! My wife Angie and I have a brand new little human in our lives, a beautiful daughter whom we have affectionately nicknamed ‘Squish’. (Due to confidentialities around the adoption, I will refer to her as Squish henceforth. You’ll find out her real name eventually). Here’s how our story began. ...

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 ...

I know. “Mary Poppins.” I haven’t blown a gasket. Just hear me out. Without drilling too much into childhood nostalgia, or the feminist overtones, the original film has a great deal of good in it for dads. With the help of actor David Tomilson (1917-2000), the P.L. Travers/Disney film was more about fatherhood, than a ‘magical nanny.’ George Banks (Tomilson) ‘was the Poppins’ protagonist,’ explained Nathan Morley in his Tomilson biography, ...

“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 ...

Like a Marine, a dad is the first vanguard in their child’s life. Dads are a child’s first superhero. This is why the world needs men who refuse — come hell or high water —  to go out on the devil’s terms. Put simply, the world needs resilient dads. Dads who bounce back from life’s roundhouse kicks, saying with the best of them: “Semper Fi.” Fathers who choose to remain always ...

Gordon Dalbey is a well-known writer and leader in the men’s movement. Dalbey is not travelling as much as he used to, but his legacy of wisdom lives on. His first book, Healing the Masculine Soul, released in 1988, became a classic in the worldwide men’s movement, much like the poet Robert Bly’s ground-breaking book Iron John, which was released two years later in 1990. Some time ago, a good friend encouraged me ...

Outta Puff Daddys (OPD) is a mixed bag of over-40s men from Brighton in the United Kingdom dancing to bridge the gap between masculinity and good mental health. It’s cringe for a good cause. Together as a group since 2012, they started life as a one-off way to encourage their kids. The “Boy Band” now uses dance routines, while capitalising on the comedy of dads on a dancefloor, to stem the ...

2018 was a breakthrough year for me. The preceding few years had been particularly difficult, thanks to some bad decisions on my part, both in business and in my relationships. Looking back, I had fallen into passivity and failed to see the warning signs around me. Even when I was paying attention, I was slow to take action, and came close to losing my marriage and everything I had worked for. ...

“A real man is one who: rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously and accepts the greater reward.” These are the wise words of Robert Lewis, author of Raising a Modern-Day Knight. These were the words I quoted when I spoke at a Men’s Breakfast at Living Grace in Liverpool, Sydney and also in Berry, on the past two Saturday mornings. I asked the men to share the deepest part of their ...

by Rachael Ward New dad Matt Carter knew something wasn’t quite right when he suddenly became overwhelmed with sadness as soon as his two babies started crying. From there it just snowballed. He experienced several breakdowns before finally telling a maternal and child health nurse he was struggling. The now father of three was eventually diagnosed with postnatal depression, a condition he didn’t even know could impact men, as it is ...