This Christmas, pause to remember the shepherds who heard the news of the Christ Child's birth. Recall that God sent His Saviour into the world for everyday people. Yes, even the most ordinary among us have been welcomed into the greatest story ever told.

When I look at my toddler and her little sidekick, I’m acutely aware how fast the years will slip by before they’re off to school. My wife and I have been practising a few simple strategies to make the most of this fleeting season and really enjoy our kids at their cutest.

Being a dad is about showing up—physically and emotionally—and engaging with your children in ways that build lasting trust and make memories. I want to give you a simple framework using the letters of HEART that captures some vital expressions of fatherhood.

They believe that being a father is the greatest privilege given to any man, and so take their fatherhood seriously.

Single dads often carry tremendous weight. Some of the toughest times in my entire parenting journey happened when I was a single father. But I have also experienced joy in my life that, apart from being a parent, I never would have known existed.

In 2013, Michael Ray became the sole parent of his two-year-old daughter Charlie. Michael has since published his first book, "Who Knew", which speaks to his experiences as a single dad, exposing some of the stigmas men come up against in the parenting world.

How can today’s young men ensure that they don’t raise children with daddy issues? I have a few ideas that any man can implement to become a good dad.

One of the key ways fathers shape their children is through play. Studies show that dads spend a larger percentage of their parenting time engaged in play, often favouring more physically active, rough-and-tumble interactions, like me with Squish at the beach.

One of parents’ constant struggles is trying to be there for our children while also meeting our own needs. What if the solution isn’t found in separation? Instead of asking when we can take a break from our children, we can instead ask a very simple question: How can we do this together?

When your backyard feels boring, you’ve walked your neighbourhood one too many times, or another trip to the shops just won’t cut it for your toddler, here are 10 ideas for local family outings that won’t bust the budget.

"My Brother, My Brother, My Brother" is a play for our sons that celebrates the forgotten beauty of masculinity, starring Odysseus, Joshua Bruce and Tom Dray.

Moments of laughter are delightfully frequent in our household. I’m not sure if that’s normal but I believe it should be, because family and fatherhood are among the funnest things in the world.

Turn the screens off and get outside with your kids! It could be as simple as kicking a ball in the backyard or a visit to your local park. Resist the temptation to make it elaborate or expensive – the simpler, the better!

We spent three happy hours exploring the animal farm, and even had time to visit a strawberry farm nearby afterward!

Family-friendly attractions often have good deals for toddlers before they turn three, or five. Aussie World at the Sunshine Coast admits children for free up to two years old, so we whisked our infants off to the theme park for Tiny Tots Thursday.

When I was little, my father introduced me to the joy of kite-flying. He told me stories of his boyhood, when he grew up in a dilapidated, bombed-out mansion with a high tower, from which he flew his homemade kite.

Fond memories of childhood and beyond, encapsulated in a little red wagon.

My toddler son loves diggers, or excavators. He can spend hours watching a digger at work, piling earth into a dump truck. So when I saw there was a discount for Dig IT at Mount Tamborine, a mini excavator park for children in the Gold Coast Hinterlands, I pounced on it.

Now that I have two toddlers, we spend many happy hours in playgrounds. Here in Brisbane, we are spoilt for choice. There are various new features which surpass the playgrounds of yore.

Even if nurturing wasn’t a strength for your dad, you can learn from others, and pass it on to your kids. Men do feel, and we do nurture. Let’s just do it… now! With our arms, words, eyes and ears, we can give our kids the physical and verbal affirmation that lasts a lifetime.