This week for the These Dads Are Doing It Right series I am showcasing a few dad groups. These fathers are giving direct advice to dads who need support. One is called Direct Advice for Dads. The other group runs a site called The Father Hood. Make sure you check out these organizations and websites. In addition, if there are any other dads that you think we should check out leave their name and info in the comment section below.
Direct Advice for Dads – Ross Edwards and Dan van der Meer
Direct Advice for Dads is an Australian blog run by HBF, an Australian not-for-profit health insurer. There is even an accompanying podcast hosted by dads Ross Edwards and Dan van der Meer. It primarily focuses on the early years of fatherhood: becoming a dad, having a baby, and having a toddler. This site and podcast looks to help share advice on what you can do while your partner is doing the heavy lifting during the pregnancy. After that they have sections on once your bundle of joy arrives. You can check out their site here.
The Fatherhood
Jeremy Macvean
Jeremy Macvean breathed a sigh of relief when the teacher of his male-only antenatal class advised “To be a good dad, turn up and try”. So that’s what Jeremy has been doing ever since. Turning up to the birth of his three girls. In addition, he is turning up to invest time and emotional energy into his three children in every way he can. Turning up to build tribes of healthier, happier men through his work with the Movember Foundation. And through his business, Radiate, turning up to share his two decades of marketing and digital communication experience with the likes of Southern Cross Austereo, Peter Mac, The Women’s Hospital and Telstra Health. Of every role Jeremy has ever played, fatherhood brings him by far the most joy, and is also by far the most challenging.
Andrew McUtchen
Andrew McUtchen was a journalist, writing for GQ for five years as an Associate Editor as well as The Age and QANTAS. Then he was a publisher, founding Story Matters Most, which won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Chin Chin – The Book. Somewhere in the midst of all that, he and his wife Fiona had three daughters in four years. Now, he intends to combine everything – writing, publishing, building a digital tribe and madly scrambling to raise his children with love and attention – in The Father Hood, Australia’s new destination for fathers.
Luke Benedictus
Luke Benedictus has spent 20 years working for magazines, newspapers and websites. He was previously the editor of the Australian edition of Men’s Health while former lives include working as editor of Dazed & Confused (Au) and stints at The Age, The Sunday Age, The Sun Online (UK) and Eurosport (France). Having grown up in England, he moved to Australia in 2002 where he now lives with his wife and two young sons. He was compelled to have children primarily as an outlet for his weak puns and feeble one-liners.