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These TED Talks Will Change The Way You Dad

Feed, change, bathe, rock, clean, repeat – endurance is part of the paternal deal. That old “it’s a marathon not a sprint” adage doesn’t really cut it for parenting. It’s more like an extreme triathalon performed on your knees. Fatherhood requires you to reconcile yourself with a particular kind o

Kids' Parties Are Hell On Earth. But They Did Teach Me An Unexpected Lesson

“I drive-drunk, just being honest,” he said with an unmistakable tinge of pride. Like we should be proud of the guy, you know, because he’s being honest. The fact this guy had chosen a kids' party of all places to make this declaration was almost offensive. Given it came the day after the heartbreaking loss of four children in western Sydney at the hands of an alleged drunk driver made it too much to take.

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How Do You Balance Creativity and Fatherhood? The Dadwell Podcast Shows The Way

It’s hard to write a novel with a fractious toddler on your lap. Or design a new brand logo while your baby emits a series of blood-curdling screams. In short, small children have a tendency to disrupt the creative process. As the literary critic Cyril Connolly famously put it: “There is no more so

You

Mat Rogers: What I Know About Fatherhood

Mat Rogers, 44, is a former dual-code international who represented Australia in both rugby league and union. Currently appearing on Australian Survivor: All Stars, he’s the father of four kids: Jack (23), Skyla (20), Max (13), and Phoenix (12). My nickname was Rat, so you can imagine as a youngster

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The War On Sandwiches: Become A Legend In Your Kid's Lunchbox

For men of certain age, the idea of packed lunches is, let’s face it, faintly depressing. Back at school, limp sandwiches were inescapable – namely cheese, Vegemite or peanut butter and jam. Irrespective of the filling the sandwich always emerged look crumpled and sweaty, unable to shake off that li

Life

The Me-Time Masterclass: When The Rare Opportunity Strikes, Here’s How To Make It Count

One of the best pieces of advice anyone ever gave me about parenting was that when you have a rare chunk of free time, to plan your day meticulously. It seems counter-intuitive at first, but if you don’t, the advice goes that you’ll just waste precious time – as soon as your partner and child

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Incoming! The Father Hood Book Is Out Now...

Back in the day, a father’s role was limited to being the breadwinner and disciplinarian. Luckily, times have changed. Our new book celebrates the growing tribe of hands-on dads who are discovering that fatherhood has been the making of them as men.

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Celebrating The Modern Father

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What Will You Tell Your Children About Taking Drugs?

Everyone has a past. And if you’re a dad who grew up in the late ‘90s then yours is likely to have involved a certain amount of pills and thrills. Party drugs were the turbines that drove the nightlife of our generation. Personally, I no longer party like it’s 1999. Extreme hedonism is simply inco

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The Secret Life Of Dads: Fearing The Apocalypse & Losing Battles About Ice-cream

There are a lot of things that ante-natal classes can’t prepare you for. Fatherhood is a complex business where you’re always getting socked in the nuts by a domestic curveball. Here, four dads reveal what’s really on their minds, from not wanting another child to navigating the fiendishly tricky r

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In Praise of Downtime (Or Why It’s OK For Dads To Sometimes Just Stick On The Telly)

At some point, most likely more than once, every parent will ask themselves the eternal question: what’s the earliest I can reasonably start drinking today? It’s easy to feel guilty a lot when you have a child, because you hear all these people saying about how great it is, and how they wouldn’t ch

Dads

Vincent Fantauzzo: “I Really Wanted To Become A Dad But I Was Also Scared"

Vincent Fantauzzo’s life has a storybook trajectory. Today the 42-year-old is one of Australia’s most famous artists, an Archibald Prize winner who’s married to the beautiful actor Asher Keddie. But his future didn’t always look so promising. Vincent grew up dirt-poor in Melbourne’s Broadmeadows,

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Ross Noble: “To Feel Overwhelmed As A Dad Is Just Normal. Literally, Nobody Knows What They're Doing”

Ross Noble never sticks to a script. The comedian’s stand-up shows are renowned for their freewheeling flights of fancy, happily lurching from horny owls to snooker-playing pirates. This wild imagination, one suspects, is acutely suited to hanging out with young kids. Ross, it turns out, has two da

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

Becoming a father can prove a confronting experience and many new dads struggle to adapt. It is now recognised that around one in 20 men experience depression during pregnancy and up to one in 10 new dads struggle with depression following the birth of their baby. Here, Dave Edwards shares his exper

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Hugh Jackman: "Parenting Is Very Different Now"

Hugh Jackman reflects on how his dad quietly empowered him to become an independent thinker and how – as a dad to Oscar (18) and Ava (13) – modern fatherhood continues to evolve. “Before we had kids, Deb and I made a pretty simple but powerful choice to look each other in the eye

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“The First Six Months Of Our Daughter’s Life I Didn’t Go A Single Day Without A Drink”

Chris Picking is the founder of Pickings & Parry (pickingsandparry.com), a menswear store / barbershop in Fitzroy. He’s also not had a drink for six months and, what’s more, he’s determined to stick it out for a full calendar year. Here, Chris explains how he’s made his stint of abstinence work

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The Secret Life of Dads: Porn, Isolation and Peeing in The Sink

Fatherhood turns your life upside down in some unexpected ways. Here, four dads reveal some of the repercussions on everything from their sex lives to bathroom habits. This is the secret life of dads. “I started peeing in the sink” “My daughter was a terrible sleeper. Until she was about a yea

Relationships

5 Things Every Dad Must Know Before Their Partner Gives Birth

Whether you’re becoming a first-time dad or your growing brood is set to hit double figures, every man will feel that lurch of trepidation as they head for the delivery room. Human biology decrees that your partner must endure all the heavy-lifting when it comes to giving birth. That can often leave

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Mark Wahlberg on Dad Life: “Actions obviously speak louder than words”

Yes, Mark Wahlberg is a Hollywood icon and producer with business interests in everything from bottled water to burgers. But he’s also the father to Ella (15), Michael (13), Brendan (10) and Grace (9). Here, the 48-year-old reflects on his family values and how to transfer his ferocious work

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Body Hack's Todd Sampson: “Bravery Is A Learned Skill - I Want My Girls To Take Huge Risks"

As a boy, Todd Sampson vividly recalls his father sitting down before him and stretching out his hands. Years of grinding away as a labourer had left Hilary Sampson’s hands broken and callused. “He showed me his hands and he said to me: ‘Todd, you don’t need to have hands like this. You can

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

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

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