DIYFather Authors

Here is a brief overview of DIYFather writers and people who have submitted their stories for DIYFather.com.

Name: Scott Lancaster
Family: Married to Renee for 3 years, one baby girl called "Pyper" born in July 2007
Location: Wellington, NZ.
Parenting interests: Things that place a barrier for fathers, society's take on stay home fathers, why don't fathers get asked to coffee groups? How to develop a baby's brain.
Comments: I am dedicated to DIY Father so that fathers with any specific parenting issues should be free to speak their mind and receive and give support should they need it, without feeling embarrassed, no matter what the topic.

Name: Eric Mooij
Family: Married to Andrea for 3 years
4 Children: Nastassja (girl) 15 years old
Christian (boy) 14 years old
Amber (girl) 13 years old (yes 3 teenagers!)
Ava (girl) born April 2008
Location: Wellington, NZ.
Parenting interests: Parenting teens, children's health
Comments: No matter how hard life can be, be the role model for your children, your strength and love will make the difference for you and your family.

Name: Stefan Korn
Family: Married to Raquel and father to baby Noah Francisco (born May 2007).
Location: Wellington, NZ.
Parenting interests: Natural parenting. I don't buy-in to the commercial hype for babies and kids!
Comments: I think the most valuable and meaningful gift you can give children is your time.

Name: James Hayward
Family: Married to Nicola 4 years, 1 "wickle pickle" called William born in Nov 05.
Location: Mona Vale, Australia
Parenting interests: Learning and developing new parenting skills with interests on ensuring travel with kids is fun and rewarding.
Comments: If the kid is a sponge, then dad must be liquid!

Name: Craig Alan Williamson
Family: Married to Dawn since 2005 and father to Henry since July 2008
Location: Salisbury, England.
Parenting interests: Fatherhood as a fantastic excuse to buy new gadgets and attach suction devices to breasts.
Comments: I'm the author of comedy novel "A Foreign Education" – released in paperback in 2007 and now available as a free download from www.CraigAlanWilliamson.com. The second novel is in my head but time is currently a very precious thing!

Name: Chris Guzzwell
Family: Married to Camille with a two and half year old son, James. And we've another on the way!
Location: Wellington, NZ.
Parenting interests: Demystifying the stay home dad.
Raising happy, confident children.
Comments: Starting a stay home dad coffee group that doesn't just meet at the pub.

Name: Steve Joll
Family: Married to Juliette and father to Theo
Location: Wellington, NZ
Parenting interests:
Comments: I'm lucky that my hours allow me afternoons with my son. I love hanging out with him and being around to see all the firsts that we're going through together.

Name: Dave Smart
Family: Married to Anna, Daddy to Sophie (3) and Joey (1)
Location: Wellington, NZ
Parenting interests: Being everything a father, husband and provider should be. Big job!
Comments: I love my children's ability to send me on an emotional rollercoaster. Tearing my hair out one minute, crying with laughter the next.
Website: davesmart.blogspot.com

Name: Bruce Sallan
Family: Married to Debbie, who is step-mom to my two boys, Arnie (15) and Aaron (12).
Location: Agoura, California, US
Parenting Interests: Learning to accept and support my boys' interests even when they don't match mine. Teaching my boys to be good men vs. just happy or successful. Working on myself, via a men’s group, to both be a better dad and husband. Part of this is learning to have men as my main support vs. woman friends.
Comments: The only good thing about getting older is getting better. Gratitude is the key to happiness and I'm so grateful that my boys are essentially healthy, good, smart, and independent thinkers. I've been a stay-at-home dad for ten years so I’ve learned a lot about the different ways society views dads and moms.
Website: davesmart.blogspot.com

Name: Paul Marshall
Family: One 21 year-old daughter
Location: London, UK.
Parenting interests: Low self esteem in men & how to fix ourselves to be better parents, social stance on gay dads, developing communication frameworks with our children, same sex couples & adoption
Comments: I was also brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness and have strong views surrounding religion and gay men / fathers. I have 20 years of first had experience in parenting as a gay man growing up in frontier times within our society. I have strong positive views on this subject based on learnt behaviour and the many people I have met over the years. I believe in the powers of projectional thinking & working through where one wants to be, and then getting there! I believe in the real power of collectively working together and sharing our ideas for the greater good of both our society and that of our children.

Name: Ross Petherick
Family: Married to Shaz for 5 years, and has a 6 month old son Max. Max was born with a Congenital Heart Condition, so has spent a fair % of his life in and out of hospital.
Location: Wellington, NZ.
Parenting interests: Gadgets and toys to make fatherhood fun, the New Zealand health system for children, collaborative parenting
Comments: Kids bring focus to your life like nothing else. A(nother) reason to leave work on time, get up more times in the night than you ever had before, and to see life

Name: Steve Gore
Family: Full time father of 2 boys, Miller age 10 and Severn, age 6.
Location: Whakatane, NZ.
Parenting interests: I started www.parent.org.nz - a lobby group that advocates that to fix a lot of social problems all we need to do is transform the parenting environment from one focused on failure to one focused on success.
Comments: Mostly I try and stand back and see what my kids can teach me. When they aren't driving me nuts, they are the most marvelous people I have met.

Name: Nigel Lewis
Family: Married to Ofa for 5 yrs , Children, Isaiah 4yrs, Samuel 3yr & and my little princess Jasmine 1yr
Location: Auckland, NZ.
Parenting interests: How to run a Business effectively but also raise a family. How to raise 3 kids under 4 yrs.
Comments: The cornerstone of society is family and the cornerstone of family is the father.

Name: Justin Hygate
Family: Married 18 years to Katherine - Annie born April 1996, Molly born November 1998, Katie born July 2006.
Location: Christchurch, NZ.
Parenting interests: Parenting girls
Comments: A great parenting tip is to buy a MySky recorder... I never miss an episode of the Sopranos and don't need to get stressed if a little visitor's needs are more pressing than the 'family business'...

Name: Hamish McEwen
Family: 2 kids, Eleanor (4) and Alex (2).
Location: Wellington, NZ.
Parenting interests: Positive ways to deal with kids when they are playing up, kids nutrition
Comments: I love my kids and my work... but it can be hard juggling both and I know I am going to screw-up from time to time.

Name: William Mastin
Family: Married in 1996 to my beautiful wife Abby. We have four great kids and we're expecting our fifth child in January, 2008.
Location: Pontiac, Illinois, USA.
Parenting interests: Youth Sports, Kids Art & Music, Home Schooling, Chess & Kids
Comments: It's tough to be a dad! But raising great kids makes for the best job in the world. It also provides me with plenty of ideas for my cartoon strip "I Am Dad."

Name: Sam Ng
Family: 1st time dad to a wonderful 6 month old daughter Kyra.
LocationWellington, NZ.
Parenting interests: Balancing work responsibilities with being a great dad, relating to girls as a dad, how to support my wife who is a stay home mum, instilling values that mean something, smart financial planning for your kids in the long term
Comments:

Name: Brendon Price
Family: Married to Kirstin and we have a 3 week old child.
Location: Wellington, NZ.
Parenting interests: Development of the baby, Sleeping and feeding patterns
Comments:

Name: Brandon Logan
Family: I am happily married to a wonderful, supportive woman and we have a 7-week-old son, our first child.
Location: Auckland, NZ.
Parenting interests: Holistic parenting; alternative baby health; confident fathering; portrayal of men/fathers in media and culture.
Comments:

Name: Mark Stevenson
Family: Live with partner and daughter aged 12
Location: Wellington, NZ.
Parenting interests: Solo fathers, blended families, children's rights
Comments: