In 2024, a hurricane of events has forced us to scale back our ordinary observances. It all began in May when we found out that my wife Angie was pregnant with our second child. This miracle news of our new baby turned our plans upside down.

Whatever your Christmas looks like this year, remember that clutter and chaos have always been part of this ancient celebration — and that God is with us in our mess.

Three years and three months after we began trying, Angie is finally pregnant! In the end, Angie and I cannot take credit for this miracle of pregnancy. There are no silver bullets, but there were three things that seem to have made a big difference in our case.

Life gets busy, and despite the instinct to nest and collect all necessities before birth, your due date can creep up on you before you know it. Preparing during your second trimester might be ideal, as you tend to have more energy then.

Mother’s Day is next Sunday. Many women say, “Don’t make a fuss about me!” but men, can I say, please don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. The sacrifice involved in being a mother is absolutely staggering.

Masculine men are the very thing we need — now more than ever in the battle of traditionalism versus progressivism. Though the media has attacked the vital value of gender itself, we know they’re wrong. We know male and female is how we’re made.

I can’t explain the despair I felt after having my beautiful baby girl.  It crept up upon me slowly, dealing with losing babies and the anxiety that was caused throughout this pregnancy, until finally, I couldn’t bear to face the day ahead.

Until the 1970s, men were banned from the birthing suite. But fathers are now moving from breadwinner and disciplinarian to involved parent.

Children with dads who are involved in their upbringing tend to do better socially, emotionally, and academically than kids with uninvolved fathers. Research also shows kids with involved dads tend to be more confident.

Smoke-free spaces will help to ensure a more rapid decline in female smoking rates, with flow-on effects for rates of maternal smoking, promoting the health of mothers and their unborn babies.

“Something’s wrong,” my wife said. “What’s the matter?” I asked nonchalantly. “I think I am having a miscarriage,” my wife replied, with a touch of panic in her voice. Trying to sound like I was in control, I said, “We had better get you to the hospital.” Together we whisked our four children under 9 years of age to our family babysitter. From there the short 8-minute drive to the hospital ...

When you analyse the social science about the importance of dads, it is unequivocal. Dads are vitally important to their children’s success in a myriad of ways. As George Herbert said, “One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.” This is not speculation — it is reality. Joshua A Krisch puts the case well for this in an article titled “The Science of Dad and the ‘Father Effect’“. The subtitle says ...

As parents, friendship and community support are essential for getting through the ups and downs of parenting. My personal Facebook newsfeed has been filled with pictures of mums giving Tough Mudder a go. I look at the pictures of mud and shudder because I know that it’s not something I want to do. But I have learned never to say never, because whenever I say never, I find myself a year ...

My wife went through pregnancy hell. And so did I, though my issues only surfaced years later. To all the dads out there: pregnancy may be tough for you too, and that’s okay. If I made it, so will you. I remember the apprehension and nerves when my first child was born. She was on time, and her arrival – and our time in the hospital – was much faster than ...

Emily Holleman a writer for The Cut, – part of New York Magazine’s ‘One Great Story’ section – recently condemned bearing children in the age of the “apocalypse,” selfish. As a committed father of five, I was intensely interested in what she had to say. Holleman’s reflection on anxiety and personal loss in a time of uncertainty is the better part of what becomes an environmentalist “sermon”. An autobiographical piece, the ...

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 ...

Editor’s Note: It’s been nearly three months since we were here, but when we last updated the story of dad-life for our author, his wife had just been told that she was pregnant with number two. Life had just gotten down to some sort of order, and everything was about to be turned upside-down, all over again! ___ Agony and Ecstasy: One man’s journey through fatherhood. So, here we go again. ...

Fatherhood; it’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times. Sorry Charles Dickens for stealing your thunder, but it’s true. Being a dad is one of the most wonderful things to ever happen to me, as well as one of the most terrifying. I’ve been a father for 11 years now, which is long enough to be able to reflect somewhat on the journey so far, and also long enough ...