Most dads have a couple of essential one-liners in their toolbox. This week, choose one or two of these 15 one-liners your kids need to hear you say.

Decades of messy conversations have taught us that timing matters. Editing ourselves – and choosing the right moment – almost always leads to better listening, deeper understanding, and a stronger connection. 

Whether you’ve got five minutes to spare or want to build lasting habits – today we’re opening the textbook on six scientifically-backed ways to boost your happiness levels!

After two decades of caring for other people’s children, Emma believes she can sum up the problem with modern parents with one simple test: Pour your child’s milk into a pink sippy cup. If they declare, ‘But I wanted the blue one!’, what do you do?

Not all heroes wear capes. Mostly, they’re just everyday people. As we approach International Men’s Day on November 19, take some time to think about the heroes and positive male role models in your life.

The big question is: “How do you create a happy home?” I think a lot of people wished they had come from one. Working with young people and families with both older and younger children, I’ve noticed that a happy home can come from any race, occupation, economic status, political persuasion and any other variation you wish to throw into the mix. When you have a strong culture in a home, ...

If I wasn’t there when she said it, I wouldn’t have believed it. When my boss asked his 7-year-old daughter what she’d like for her birthday, she said she didn’t want any gifts. Could everyone make a donation to the Leukaemia Foundation instead? Excuse me? After a lengthy conversation, she convinced her parents to have a ‘gift-free’ birthday party and instead, set up an online donation form with the Leukaemia Foundation. ...

When you are juggling family and work responsibilities at full capacity, is there still room for giving back to your community? Once a month, on a Sunday afternoon, we head out to our ‘connect group’ as part of our church. Connect Group is a group of families that meet together to hang out, talk about life, pray for each other and be a support to each other during a busy season ...

If you are able to, find an opportunity to spread a random act of kindness this Christmas season. You could touch someone deeply and change their life for the better, creating a ripple effect of paying it forward. This time last year, a kindly gentleman rescued me at a busy check-out. His Random Act of Christmas still echoes in my heart to this day. So this year, I wanted to commit ...

Healthy habits are important when life is busy and stressful. These five simple strategies are almost guaranteed to improve your life and make you a happier person. Are you able to ‘shake it off’ when faced with the stress of looming deadlines, relationship conflicts, family pressures, long work hours and burgeoning household chores? If not, you’re perfectly normal. For many of us, the strains of daily life can quickly take their ...

Most people love stories. I am a sucker for a good story. “Have you got your marbles?” is an old but good story with a powerful punchline. Let me know what you think! Check it out and post a comment below at the Daily Dad. I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily appraising ...

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Eric Barker, it would seem, has been inspired by Gandhi’s wisdom in his science-based article called, “How to Raise Happy Kids: 10 Steps Backed by Science.”  Eric Barker is the creator of the blog Barking Up the Wrong Tree, and the book of the same name, which presents science-based answers and expert ...

School holidays have well and truly ended, during which many fathers have had the opportunity to spend some time with their children. For some fathers, the sense that their children are merely ‘visiting’ them, often underscores the idea in both father and children that the children ‘belong’ somewhere else. This idea is often difficult to challenge, particularly when it has originated with court ‘orders’. The youngest of my children often refers ...