Tag Archives: fatherhood

Life, Parenting

Dad’s Guide To Supporting Everyone In The Family

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Every good Dad wants to provide for his family, but it isn’t always easy. However, things become infinitely harder if you fail to focus on the most crucial factors. Over-complicating things is never the answer.

Quite frankly, simplicity is the key. Follow the simple four-step plan below, and you’ll be sure to regain control over the situation. Those “World’s Best Dad” mugs will be on their way to you in no time.

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Step 1: Look After Yourself

No parent is ever going to put themselves first. Nonetheless, it’s imperative that you learn to take care of yourself. Otherwise, it’ll be almost impossible to provide loved ones with the support that they deserve.

Without necessarily getting in the shape of your life, taking care of your body with nutrition and exercise is vital. Meanwhile, regular sleep patterns and maintaining a social life will bring an array of benefits. Physically and mentally.

A happier dad is a better dad for all the family. Not least because you’ll be able to offer greater support.

Step 2: Help The Kids Grow

As a loving Dad, bringing up your children in the right way is the greatest job you have. While many of those elements come naturally, building a winning plan of action is still crucial.

Promoting a healthy lifestyle at an early age is vital. Meanwhile, encouraging the kids to grow into brilliant adults is a responsibility that you cannot ignore. Life skills and social skills are just as crucial as the academic ones. Do not forget about it.

Financial support and similar items do matter. But nothing matches the importance of letting them become better people. That’s the greatest success of any parent.

Step 3: Work With Mom

Parenting is tough work, especially when you are juggling other life commitments. Nonetheless, you can make things a lot easier on yourself simply by working together as a team.

As a man, doing the house chores might not come naturally. However, helping out with a few jobs around the home can make life a lot easier. Give your partner some time to relax and recharge the batteries. When she’s happier, the whole family are happier.

Besides, you can use an array of technology to cheat your way to a tidier home. This will give both of you a better opportunity to spend time together as a family.

Step 4: Don’t Forget Nan & Granddad

Just like you’re trying to do your best for the kids now, your parents spent years doing the best for you. Now is the time to repay them by doing all that you can to make life a little more comfortable during their retirement years.

An array of aging in place services will allow them to maintain a sense of independence while getting older. When coupled with regular time with yourself and the kids, retirement will truly be the golden years.

Grandparents are crucial members of the family and should be cherished at all times. Do this, and you won’t go far wrong.

Going Healthy, Life, Parenting

Hey Dad, Look After Yourself. You Owe It To Your Kids!

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We all remember our former selves. That disorganized, feckless and self indulgent boy in a man costume. We remember how selfish he could be sometimes. The needless risks he courted. The way he could be so inconsiderate and ignorant. But his heart was in the right place. He never set out to hurt anyone and he only ever had good intentions. Yet, he never realized just how incomplete he was until he held his child in his arms for the first time. Fatherhood has a way of reawakening something in us. A primal hunter gatherer instinct and an unyielding need to protect the tiny fragile life in your arms. Parenthood actually changes your brain’s composition. And although this change will inevitably lead you to make life choices that favor your kids’ well being over your own, it’s still important to look after yourself.

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Warm up and cool down at the gym… It’s really important!

Despite the myriad time and logistical constraints of fatherhood you may well want to spend more time at the gym. You want to look good for your baby mama but you also want your child to grow up with a strong and capable father. And, if you’re honest with yourself, you want to be able to win any “my Dad could beat up your Dad” debates.

By all means pump that iron but exercise smart. Far too many people, especially men, don’t properly warm up and cool down before engaging in exercises like deadlifts and squats is just asking for a back injury. This in turn can lead to a spinal cord disability that could leave you with temporary or even permanent mobility issues. Warm up, cool down and remember the importance of proper technique over heavy weight.

It’s not okay to still be a veggiephobe well into your thirties

When you were younger and you did your food shopping you likely tried to incorporate all of your major food groups; alcohol,  sugar, fat and meat. But if you’re to remain a good Dad for decades to come, you need to start taking better care of your diet. This means loading each and every plate of food you eat with plenty of veggies. These contain the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients for good health and a robust immune system, now and for decades to come.

Steer clear of beer for most of the year

Being a dad is hard. Emotionally, logistically and physically it takes its toll. As such we need to take opportunities to relax and unwind wherever we can find them. But of the only way you can do this is with a beer in your hand, you could find yourself facing health problems later in life. Try and find ways to relax that don’t involve drinking. Not only can a lifetime of drinking lead to fatal cirrhosis of the liver, it can slow your metabolism leaving you with a beer gut that’s virtually impossible to shift.

When all’s said and done, your health is the best gift you can give your kids. It will allow you to look after them and give them the love and support they need when they’re way older than you are now. Look after yourself, Dad. You owe it to your kids!

Life, Parenting

Dads, Here’s How To Grow Successful Adults

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As dads, one of the things we’re most worried about is our kids getting into trouble. It’s falling into the wrong crowd, not doing so great at school and not being happy. That’s right up their with the big dad-worries. But another major worry – and one we tend to admit less – is our kids not doing awesome things when they become adults.

Every dad wants his son or daughter to become a successful adult. It’s what drives us when we nurture them. The problem is: there is no blueprint, guidebook or recipe for raising successful children. It sucks but it’s the truth. The sucky-truth.

That said, there are certain things we can do as parents to help our kids grow into successful humans, and these are some of them:

  1. Make Them Do Chores

The reason behind this is simple: if your kid isn’t doing their chores, it means someone else is doing it for them, and that doesn’t benefit anyone in the equation. That doesn’t just mean your child is absolved on doing their chores, it also means they miss out on the valuable lesson of why the work has to be done, how to best do the work and how contribution helps everyone.

  1. Social Skills Are Everything

It is beyond us to think the education system is still geared toward a bygone time where people left school, got jobs in factories and were made to work like robots. That’s not how life works anymore. As the experts at ej4.com will attest, success in the workplace depends on outstanding teamwork. Life is about collaboration, it’s about helping others, it’s about communicating your way to success, understanding other people’s feelings and resolving issues as a team. All of this comes from good social skills.

  1. Math Is A Must-Have

There is an argument to say algebra is nonsense and there is a little voice in the back of our mind that mocks the teachers that used to say, “you can’t use a calculator because in real-life you won’t always have one on you” (thank you Apple), but there is no denying that math is still an essential skill to develop. As a researcher by the name of Greg Duncan states, “The paramount importance of early math skills — of beginning school with a knowledge of numbers, number order, and other rudimentary math concepts — is one of the puzzles coming out of the study”. Another thing worse mentioning is that early math development is highly linked to reading abilities too.

  1. Praise Effort, Don’t Fear Failure

There is an undeniable danger in being scared of failure, something that professional people call a fixed-mindset. Luckily, the growth-mindset challenges this by thriving on the challenge and seeing failure as part of the journey to success, as opposed to evidence of un-intelligence. This is what you need to be reinforcing in your children and the best way to do that is by praising their effort, something that will encourage them to keep growing and learning.