The successful entrepreneur has averaged four business failures in his lifetime. According to leadership expert John Maxwell, "Failure is the price you pay for success." The key is to fail well... meaning you learn from your mistakes.

It’s no different in fatherhood. Are you a successful failure? Or does your pride in not admitting your shortcomings build a wall between you and your children? The best thing you can do for your kids is say you’re sorry when you need to, and give them some freedom to fail as well. The idea is not to have a perfect family, but a learning family. And that can only start by admitting mistakes.






Warmly,

Mark Brandenburg

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC
mark@eqnow.org
www.markbrandenburg.com
www.eqnow.org

A rapper's guide to fatherhood? Has anyone actually seen the series?

Quite different from what other celebrities are doing I guess.

-Stef

"One of the most important things about Dad is that he is not Mum..."

As fathers we are more than bringing home the bacon

Dr Kyle Pruett works at Yale Childrens Study Center, and wrote the book 'Father Need'

It's 3am in the morning, you’ve been trying to get your baby to sleep for the last 2.5h, you haven’t had any sleep yet and this is the 3rd night in a row that it’s like that. Wouldn’t it be tempting to have a "make it all go away" button to press now? Or perhaps a FFWD option like in "Click"? Well no – because this is what it’s all about and before you know it is probably going to be over anyway.

I guess the temptation to "skip" over the unpleasant moments of anything seems like a tempting option at first. In some cases (generally not with babies) it may even be possible to do that as you can simply remove yourself from the situation or get someone else to do something you don’t want to do. Perhaps it even works out and you’re better off. With babies though it would be like cheating life for the very experience of living through those moments.

Here's the annual serving of dad friendly parenting ads from the US National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (who seem to be changing their name every year ... if only they came up with something that's more meaningful). Their first campaign last year was a good start but had a few dubious spots in there. This year's offering is better (quite subtle but real) despite the slightly corny voice over.

Here's my favourite spot:

By Wintergreen

Since the 1970s, fathers have been permitted to be with their wife or partner during labour and delivery (in most western countries anyway). Actually women wanted their husbands to ‘be there’ to help. Prior to the 1970s most women were left alone to labour and really wanted someone to help them cope with labour pain. It took a while longer for
fathers to be permitted into a cesarean delivery.

Most expectant fathers now-a-days have no idea how many and which positive changes have been put into place for expectant mums since the 1970s. So, expectant dads started ‘being there’ at the same time expectant mums had more choices. But what exactly is your role? What are you expected to do?

In the 1930's, when The Times of London asked Britain's leading intellectuals what they thought was the biggest problem in the world, author G.K. Chesterton sent back a quick postcard response saying, "I am." He was on to something.

Too often we don't take personal responsibility to say that we are the biggest problems in our marriage, with the way our kids behave, and with how poorly our job is going. Instead, we look to point fingers. But real men take responsibility for their actions and, when things aren't going well, look in the mirror first. That kind of humility is what saves marriages, bonds kids to their fathers, and promotes career advancement.

If you are your own biggest problem, you can work to make the right kinds of change.

Posted with permission from www.allprodad.com

I've just come across a report published by the Fatherhood Institute (the UK's fatherhood think-tank) called "The difference a Dad makes". This is hands down one of the best reports by any parenting organisation on recent trends in child upbringing. Although it seems the main objective of the Fatherhood Institute is as a lobbying organisation the report is an easy read for everyone. It is a summary of underlying trends and desires of fathers that are becoming ever more apparent.

Some key quotes from the research presented in this report: