When a crisis hits you out of nowhere, what do you do next? When Guy faced nearly losing a child, he learned 13 lessons before the crisis was even over. Sometimes in life you have experiences that profoundly and permanently change you. Experiences either solidify your existing beliefs, assumptions and expectations, or they challenge and change what you thought you knew. Some are so small you don’t even notice them. Some ...

One of my most favourite things of all time is when one or both of our boys have a day out with dad. Partly because it means I get a day out with myself that usually consists chocolate, girly movies and/or pampering, but also because I notice a distinct difference in my boys every time they return. As if they’ve grown up a little bit, and for the next few days, ...

Avoid “good cop, bad cop” parenting as much as possible. In fact, ditch it altogether. A system that elevates mums over dads, or dads over mums, doesn’t work. Good cop, bad cop parenting’s long-term costs negate any short-term benefits. The system is a recipe for favouritism, resentment and parental neglect. Potentially even divorce. Good cop, bad cop is a poor metaphor for parenting. It’s even worse as an instruction manual for ...

So, my eldest started school last week and I was cool with that. Yes, I did get a little misty-eyed at drop-off time (Tyson, as predicted, was totally fine and ran off into the proverbial distance with nary a look over his shoulder). I thought I’d be anxious about leaving my baby, about him making friends, about liking his teacher… but do you know the thing that freaked me out the ...

If there was a crash course in what every father needs to know, that could be crushed into just 30 minutes, what would it look like? Probably pretty close to what former Queensland Father of the Year Darren Lewis shares here. I read on a sticker inside a tour bus, in all places while doing a Hollywood tour in Los Angeles, The most important things in life are not things. – LA ...

Dad-life involves both being and doing. In a word, fatherhood is a vocation. The Latin equivalent is vocare — “to call.” Dad-life is therefore a “calling.” It’s much more than just another job. For sure, fatherhood is full-time work. We’re required to be on the scene until the good Lord retires us. This will mean being waste-deep in the complexity of relationships. Wading through life’s trenches carrying responsibility and commitment, regardless ...

Today, Chris and Guy answer the question: what is really involved in being a father in a child’s world? Episode #31 of Real Talk 4 Real Men. When you became a daddy, did you think that being a father was something just so natural, you didn’t really need to think very much about it? That was Chris’ experience more than four decades ago, but he had to learn the hard way ...

Around half of all toddlers are considered fussy eaters, screwing up their nose at salad and pitching butternut pumpkin from their high chairs. Establishing healthy eating patterns in children is important and can have a big impact on their everyday health, growth and cognitive development. So, how do we avoid the daily food fight? Cancer Council Queensland has five tips to get parents started. One, be a good role model: Children ...

Editor’s Note: This is a profoundly real and self-revelatory article for those fathers who are grappling with the deeper issues of fatherhood. Full congratulations to Rod Lampard for sharing his journey with us. This is a case of strong meat for strong men. ___ “You’re just like your father.” This was the fictional narrative of my formative years. Instead of using my name when things got heated between us, my family ...

Some days, being a mother is just plain hard. Today was one of those days. I promised to take my boys to play mini golf. Secretly, I was looking forward to it more than they were! I’d been wanting to try out this place for months and finally the day had arrived but… My youngest was in a bad mood all morning; he threw a tantrum because there wasn’t enough honey ...

Back by popular demand, Darren Lewis shares the 5 essentials for guiding your sons into authentic manhood. How can a 29-year-old male be married and have 3 kids, and only then discover that he wasn’t really a man? That was the experience of former Queensland Father of the Year and founder of Fathering Adventures, Darren Lewis. Darren realised he had no vision for manhood, fatherhood and husbandhood. What we cannot define, ...

There is a truckload of parenting advice on how to fathers can make more time for their families. This is especially the case for new fathers and fathers-to-be. Dragging ourselves through chapter after chapter of self-help drudgery, only to be told how much we’re not doing, and how much more we need to be doing, can be a soul-sucking experience. What’s offered as help to maximise time — nearly always with ...

Yes, you can learn to father. Hear from 86-year-old Clive on how he went from having no relatable dad in his life to becoming the pivot around which many from inside and outside of his bloodline proudly call him ‘dad’. How do you learn to be a father when you have not had a good example from your father? Can you just trust instinct? Is that enough? And when you decide ...

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 ...

A mother makes a father, and a father makes a mother. Parenthood happens in unison. So, it goes without saying that Mums are incredibly priceless and vital, just as Dads are. So why don’t we value mothers more than we do? Studies and anecdotal evidence show that mothers generally feel very under-appreciated. As men we must change that. Check out Dads4Kids‘ contribution to that change in the new “Love You Mum” ...

Ian Grant, the author of Fathers Who Dare Win, is a world-recognised speaker and founder of New Zealand’s Parents Inc. He is and has been a ground-breaking pioneer in the International Men’s movement To give you further food for thought, I have reprinted below Ian Grant’s hard-hitting article called “Let’s Give Fatherhood a Better Name.” Like coming out of a painful nightmare, suddenly our society has woken up to how important ...

We may have found a cure for most evils; but we have found no remedy for the worst of them all, the apathy of human beings. The above quote is from Helen Keller, which makes it all the more pertinent. Helen Keller was both deaf and blind, but somehow broke through her massive impediments in communication. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts ...

What is a Dad? The poem below says it all: A dad is someone who wants to catch you before you fall but instead picks you up, brushes you off, and lets you try again. A dad is someone who wants to keep you from making mistakes but instead lets you find your own way, even though his heart breaks in silence when you get hurt. A dad is someone who ...

“My Daddy’s a Champion” was the headline at the top of the Daily Telegraph, one of the biggest selling daily newspapers in Australia several years ago. The story inside the paper was even better. I have never met Daniel Geale, but you can tell he is a lot more than a prize fighter. Daniel is also aspiring to be a great Dad.   I will let you make up your own ...

Some time ago, I was busy minding my own business in my office, when I heard my wife talking in the next office to a stranger. I opened my door to shake hands with Bill, who was inspecting our fire services in our office on behalf of the landlord. Bill, realising he was in the offices of Dads4Kids, started to ply me with questions about parenting. He asked, “How should I ...