Fathering

Five Resolutions for Dads.

It’s barely a week into the new year and already so many of the heartfelt resolutions that sounded so good on 1st January are starting to feel a little onerous. And if we’re really honest with ourselves we know many of them won’t last. Why does this happen every year? We promise ourselves “a new year, a new me!” But it seldom happens. Life happens instead and we carry the same habits and struggles into another year.

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Raising The Future_Part2

Raising the Future – Part Two

Our future lies in the hands of our children and in our hands lies the future of our children. It sounds like a riddle but it’s really quite simple; how well we raise the world’s children will determine the quality of our future on earth. The most important contribution any man or woman can make to world peace and prosperity is to parent the next generation well. Read More

Raising The Future

Raising the Future – Part One

Nothing is more important for the future of our planet than how well men and women raise their children.

Parents are given the unbelievable privilege of holding the vulnerable, malleable and utterly impressionable life of their child in their hands. In a parent’s hands lies literally the power of life and death for their children, for both body and soul. And in the hands of our children lies the future. Read More

5 commitments of a great father: Dad holding his little girl's hand, walking

5 commitments of a great father

A father is his son’s first hero and his daughter’s first romance – the most important man in their lives. Yet being a great father doesn’t just happen. It’s a conscious choice. In all the work I have done around fatherhood I have noticed a pattern – here are the five things all great fathers commit to.

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How to build your child's self esteem: little girl gives thumbs up

How to build your child’s self esteem

Burning at the core of every child’s heart are some questions that beg to be answered. And the man who needs to answer is their father.

Who am I dad? What am I made of? Am I enough dad? Am I strong enough, smart enough, attractive enough? These questions are asked of every dad a thousand times in a thousand different ways. The boy who runs out to greet his dad with a boisterous tackle when he comes home from work is crying out, “look how strong I am dad! Am I strong enough?” The girl who dresses up in mom’s oversize dress and parades in front of dad is crying out, “look how beautiful I am dad! Am I beautiful enough?” Miss enough of these moments and you miss your child’s heart forever. Catch these moments and answer the question well and you will gift your child of an unshakeable self esteem. Read More

True masculinity: Real men choose love over power

True masculinity: a powerful force for good

A father is the most important man in his children’s lives. He is his daughter’s first romance and his son’s first hero. Every boy longs to be mentored by his dad and every girl longs to be adored by him. At the heart of fatherhood is masculinity. Yet we live in a world in which the definition and perception of masculinity is mired in confusion and negativity. The media image of masculinity has degenerated to the point where it is more often reviled than revered. Men are portrayed as everything from emotionally incompetent layabouts to posers and philanderers.
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What is a real man: Father playing with his son

What is a real man?

Where is the image of a real man to be found? Is it in the round-house kick of Chuck Norris or in the decaf latte of the tame metrosexual?

Is masculinity epitomised by the pot-bellied, middle aged, suburban man in front of the sports channel sipping beer and yelling advice to a team of men he has never met, or by the suave wall-street broker in a pin-striped suit? Does the tough inner city gang member embody masculinity or the outdoor man hiking through the wilderness? The image of true masculinity is as varied as the number of people you ask.
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12 steps to authentic fathering: Nebraska v Iowa - father hugs son

12 steps to authentic fathering

As fathers we will impact our children’s lives deeply and forever, that is a given, the only choice is whether it will be for good or for bad.

 
The great privilege of  fathering is that you have the power to lay the foundation for an emotionally whole and successful life in your child. Read More