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The Loneliness Of The First-time Father

Cliched understatement alert: having kids shakes up your life in a big way. But another thing fatherhood massively disrupts is your social life. Here five men discuss the discombobulating effects of dad-life and the isolation it can bring. “I had no time for anything except for family and work” I

The New Rules On Naming Your Children

What did you do at kinder today?” I asked my three-year-old son on the drive home. “Trains with Roy,” came the reply from the backseat.

Struggling under Covid? Get paid for having stress-relief coaching…

We’re guessing that you’ve probably had better years. Covid has wreaked havoc, damaging livelihoods and relationships in families everywhere. But you don’t have to try and manage alone. Black Dog Institute is reaching out to help those who have been left feeling unable to cope following the pandemi

#GotToddlered Offers The Secret To Surviving The Filth & The Fury Of Early Parenthood

I heard a blood-curdling scream from my wife and ran indoors fearing the worst. By the time, I made it upstairs she was on her knees with her head in her hands. She looked catatonic with fury. My two-year-old is a feisty fellow at the best of times, but he’d really outdone himself here. Somehow he

Grieving Alone: The Reality About Men & Miscarriage

Tristan MacManus still remembers the gut-punch of emotion when his wife, Tahyna Tozzi, lost their first baby. “I was heartbroken,” the new co-host of Studio 10 admits. “It literally broke my heart. I’d waited for my whole life to be a father. When Tahyna told me we were having a baby, it was e

The Heart-warming Brilliance of “Dad Reflexes” & Why They Show Man At His Best

A 30-something man suddenly turns and hurls himself full-length to yank his toddler from the path of a speeding car. A child tumbling off the back of a horse is plucked from mid-air a second before his head strikes the ground. A small girl on a bike avoids a mouthful of broken teeth when her father

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

Why Furious Styles in Boyz In The Hood Is Hollywood's Greatest Dad

Vincent Vega, Luke Skywalker, Sugar Kane Kowalczyk… There are a lot of magnificent names in cinematic folklore, but “Furious Styles” is surely jostling hard for top spot. The good news? This winning moniker isn’t false advertising either. Playing the pivotal role in Boyz N The Hood, Furious (Laurenc

This Is Why I Let My Son Wear A Dress

I still remember the first time my son Colin told me he wanted to wear the Elsa costume. I still remember the discomfort I felt. I’d grown up in country Queensland in a highly traditional masculine way. I was the school rugby captain and wanted to play professionally. As a teenager, anything that

Dream Opportunity: The World Sleep Championships

A bad night’s sleep can ruin the rest of your day. From a relentless newborn to a snoring partner and even the next door neighbour’s bloody dog – there are so many factors working against you when all you want is a solid block of shut-eye. If you’re not getting quality sleep then this i

Grant Denyer On Monster Truck Crashes & Post-natal Depression

What does a life setback actually sound like? If you had to pick a standard-issue noise, you’d surely go for “BOH-BONG”, the iconic sound-effect you get for a wrong answer on Family Feuds. Grant Denyer concedes it’s a sound that would’ve punctuated his life a lot over the years, and not just becaus

Barry Du Bois Has a Bullet-Proof Mindset. Here's How You Can Get One, Too

Barry Du Bois has got cancer. Unfortunately, it’s not the curable type. Barry, one of Australia’s most well-known DIY experts on the back of his TV work on The Living Room and The Renovators, found out in 2017 he had multiple myeloma (cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow). At the time of his di

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

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

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

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

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 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

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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”