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Black Hawk Down! Study Reveals How To Make Parenting Less Stressful

Parenting small kids has always been a nerve-shredding business. Then along came the global pandemic. Suddenly the demands become even more relentless – particularly if you’re working from home or struggling through another bastard lockdown. Given these trying conditions, a new study offers s

Unemployment Can Hurt Your Mental Health - Here's How To Handle It

THE QUESTION: I was the main breadwinner in our family, but three months ago I lost my job due to COVID. Since then, I've applied for a bunch of positions and haven't got a single interview. I’ve always worked and it's been very demoralising - I’m in my mid 40s and it’s hard not to feel kind washed up. But I'm also getting really worried about our family's financial situation. The idea of not being able to support my family makes me sick. I know I need to try and stay strong for my wife and kids, but right now I’m struggling to put on that brave face. I've been getting really down. Please can you wave a magic wand for me or, failing that, offer some positive suggestions.

Special Forces Commander Bram Connolly: "Fatherhood Is The Ultimate Leadership Test"

“I found commanding high-performing soldiers, Special Forces operators in Afghanistan, a lot easier than raising a three and five-year old,” admits Bram Connolly with a smile. Luckily, he’s not the sort of man to duck a challenge. Bram spent 15 years in the Australian Special Forc

Why “Exercise Snacking” Is The Workout Solution For Time-poor Dads

Lurking beneath James Newbury’s blond dreadlocks is a mighty athlete. A national CrossFit champion who’s been named “Australia’s fittest man” four times, Newbury finished fifth in last year’s world CrossFit Games. Years of testing himself against psychotically tough competit

9 Ways To Be A Better Mate To Someone Getting Divorced

Break-ups are never easy. But the consequences can prove especially bleak for men. Research from the Journal of Men’s Health found that divorced men have higher rates of death, substance abuse, depression and lack of social support. The study also found that divorced or separated men have a s

Hamish McLachlan: What I Know About Fatherhood

The Channel 7 sports presenter and father of three on the challenges of IVF, his sheep-farmer dad and why he always tries to get home every single night. My dad, Angus, was a tough but very well-meaning old taskmaster. My brothers and I used to call him “singlet” because he was always on our backs.

Movember Conversations Can Help You Support A Mate Who's Struggling

“Mateship” is a concept that’s as fundamentally Australian as drinking cold beer or sniggering at England’s middle order. Long associated with the WW1 diggers, it’s an idea that suggests men providing support for each other during the toughest of times. And thinking up really dumb nicknames.

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Celebrating The Modern Father

How I Finally Learned To Stop Swearing

Just before dinner, I tiptoe into my youngest son’s bedroom to check if he’s finally asleep. Peeking into his cot, I find him lying awake but happily burbling away so I lean over to make out what he’s saying. “Shit. Oh shit. Shit.” he repeats. “Shit. Shit. Oh shit…” Articulating each syllable

How To Make Working From Home With Kids (A Bit) Less Stressful

THE QUESTION: We live in an apartment with two kids aged 5 and 8. My wife and I are both working from home due to COVID. The combination of homeschooling and trying to get our work done at the same time is a nightmare. There’s no let up all day long from the moment I open my eyes between the k

Expert Tactics To Beat The Lockdown Gloom

THE QUESTION: “One of my strategies for getting through life is always to have something to look forward to – even if it’s just catching up with a mate for a beer. But COVID is ruining everything. So far we’ve had to cancel a big family holiday, we’re celebrating birthd

How Will You Screw Up Your Kids? 5 Dads Share Their Worst Fears

“They f*ck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do.” Those opening lines of Philip Larkin’s famous poem, This Be The Verse are a bleak warning to every parent. The message: despite your good intentions you’ll inevitably pass on character flaws, habits and insecurities that

Train Your Brain To Be More Optimistic (You Need To For The Sake Of Your Kids)

COVID-19. Climate change. Your moribund sex life. The shrinking size of Cadbury’s family-size chocolate blocks… There are plenty of reasons to feel downbeat about the state of the planet. But such negativity is often inflamed when you’re the sleep-deprived father of a toddler who’s currently screami

How do I deal with lockdown anxiety and living in a state of limbo?

THE QUESTION: “The first lockdown was bearable. It felt like a temporary inconvenience with a specific end point in mind. But now we’re back in lockdown again I’m struggling. The goalposts keep moving, the future is so uncertain and there’s no real end point in sight. I like to be a man with a

How To Avoid Becoming The Grumpy Dad

Your Spotify account is now hijacked by The Wiggles. You’ve become involuntarily celibate. Your three-year old has just got another pea stuck up his nose… Yes, fatherhood is wondrous and life-affirming and so on and so forth. But it can also prove a daily challenge. The bad news is that most men wil

Sam Wood: How To Stay Fit At Home During Self-Isolation

Don’t be fooled by the photogenic lifestyle – the stunning wife, the magazine shoots, the social media empire. In person, Sam Wood talks with the sort of hard-baked realism only a dad with two kids under three and a teenage stepdaughter can. “I’m turning 40 in eight weeks,” the Melbourne train

James Bond No Longer Fits The Archetype Of A Modern Hero. That’s Why They’re Making Him A Dad

How should we feel about the fact that James Bond is set to be a dad? Rumours are rife that in No Time To Die, the world’s most famous secret agent will become a doting father of a five-year-old daughter, presumably swapping his Aston Martin for some humdrum SUV with the boot capacity to squeeze in

What To Do If Your Child Supports The Wrong Team

“There must be many fathers around the country who have experienced the cruellest, most crushing rejection of all. Their children have ended up supporting the wrong team.” I shuddered when I re-read that line from Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch. For me, it wasn’t just close to the bone, it p

How To Fix A Sexless Marriage: "My Wife & I Have Turned Into Housemates..."

THE QUESTION: I love my wife, but somehow we’ve turned from lovers into housemates. Ever since our second kid arrived – we’ve got a four year old and a two year old – we’ve lost any sort of sexual spark. I was optimistic that being together all the time in lockdown migh

Parent of Triplets Shares Expert Tips For Drinking (A Bit) Less

Looking after small kids is a howling shit-storm at the best of times. Right now though we’re living through some of the worst with COVID forcing us to contend with a host of extra financial, social and domestic problems. So it’s hardly a surprise that a new study shows that more than one in four (2

We’ve All Become “BBC Dad” And That Might Not Be A Bad Thing

You’ll have seen the old clip already. Professor Robert Kelly is being interviewed live on BBC News about South Korean politics. Mid-sentence, just as he’s delivering hard-headed analysis on foreign policy, his daughter bustles in with the lunatic swagger of a typical four-year old. Manfully, the pr

“Family Is My Motivation”: UFC Champ Alex Volkanovski

Inside the Wollongong gym, Alex Volkanovski circles his trainer, throwing elbows and knees with beserk force. The 31-year-old is only just back from surgery on his right hand, after fracturing a metacarpal in his December victory over Max Holloway that saw the Australian crowned UFC World Featherwei

Navy SEAL Jocko Willink: “Your Kids Need To Experience Failure To Contend With The Vicious World That Awaits”

Jocko Willink is an intimidating customer. Weighing in at a 104 kilos of lean muscle, he’s a fearsome man-mountain with a freshly shaven head. He’s also a legend in the Special Operations world. The former Navy SEAL commanding officer led the most decorated special ops unit in the Iraq war (American

Novelist Tim Winton on Fatherhood - "Take It Seriously But Don’t Turn It Into A Fetish"

My old man was a motorcycle cop but didn’t really conform to the stereotype. When I brought friends home from school they  were mortified to see him watching TV in his singlet and uniform trousers while ironing tomorrow’s school tunics and blouses. I think the handcuffs and truncheon hanging off the

YouWhat the Horse Whisperer Taught Me About Raising Boys

WorkThis Is The Cure For Dad Guilt – Interview With Dr Vijay Roach

KidsIt's Winter. Your Kids Will Get Sick (A Lot). This Is The Thermometer You Need

You“I Drink More Mid Strengths Now” - Young Henrys’ Oscar McMahon

You"My Anxiety Really Started At The Time Of My First Son’s Birth" - One Dad Shares His Story Of Post-natal Depression

LifeThese TED Talks Will Change The Way You Dad

RelationshipsPhotographer Harold David On Life As a Gay Dad: "I've Not Had One Person Say Anything Negative To Me. Not one."

YouState of Independence: Three Ways to Bring Up Resilient Kids

YouThe Indefensible Position: Why Alcohol-Free Beer (Sometimes) Makes Sense

You“Lately I’m making an effort to just put my phone away” – Chris Hemsworth on the modern challenges of fatherhood

YouThe No.1 Tactic For Long-distance Dads

YouCommando Steve: “When there’s a breakdown in a relationship and then there’s a blended family, yeah, it’s challenging”