I have been a Dad for almost 14 year's now and if we compare that to time spent in employment you would probably be an expert in your field by now, but when it comes to parenting well, thing's are a lot different. see in employment you could have the same job for 14 year's and nothing much at all has changed and if they do it's only small but with parenting thing's change almost every day and we as parents have to alter and adapt to keep up with the never-ending tide that is our children. As our children ascend from babies to infants, from pre-school to young children and bang along comes the teen's we as parents don't feel like we have changed at all. BUT STOP! take a long look in the mirror and reality will hit you bang smack in the face, You have changed more than your kids. Now ask yourself have you done enough in that small time to give your children the tool's they need to become a better version of you?

Maybe you feel that you could not be any better a father to your children, well if that's the case then well done you have managed to do what a great percentage of the parent's of this world challenge their mind's with every day and the rest of this post is just a waste of your time reading. but if like me you ask yourself questions like...can I do a better job?, Is there anything I could do better? or am I doing enough? then I hope you keep reading and find, what I am about to say useful.

Dad's don't have as big a movement towards being a better father to their child as much as mothering does. I mean there is no loose men programme to watch or no Netdads we can log to and we don't get together down the local pub and read parenting 101 to each other either. So how do we, as fathers, learn how to become better and what really constitutes as good parenting. We can only learn from what we have experienced. whether that be from our own father's or from other people's father's or from the best teacher's of all, our children. Those who follow me will maybe know that I didn't have such a thing as the male role model in my childhood so I grew up completely oblivious to what a father should or shouldn't be like. But I am constantly told that I am a great father by my partner, my children, and my family. I disagree! Yes, I am a good dad but being a great Dad is something that I am working towards, It definitely not what I am now and that will take me all of my living day's to achieve.

How you can Achieve This

• Be in the picture

It is so easy to go day to day doing what you want to do and going where you want to go but what about what your children want? or even what they need. Let me ask you a question "What are your children's teachers names?"
You will be surprised how many people do not know this even though your children spend 6hrs a day, 5 days a week, in that teacher's care. Take time to get to know who and what are the main things that are influencing your child's life and put yourself amongst them. Only then can you have true control over your children's needs. Get to know your children's friends and don't be too quick to judge. To often children are badly influenced by their peer's but if you show trust in their judgment then your child will quickly adapt to a better way of thinking and will know for them selfs who they can trust. Show interest and invest in their hobbies, as you never know what hidden talents maybe waiting to shine out.
My daughter has been drawing pictures for a long time now and the only interest I was showing was how much she was using my printer paper but then I took a look at what she was drawing and she blew me away.

Now I buy extra paper and have ensured we keep her passion for art burning.

• Listen to your children

Too often I see children shout mam or dad 5 time's before the parent actually turns, only to reply in an aggressive manner with WHAT! and this breaks my heart to see. ok, 50% of the time your child may just want to say something silly but a lot of the time they want your love and we are just pushing that away. Sit down for at least 10 mins every day after school and ask how your child's day has been and if they do not wish to discuss then talk about your day with them. Now you're reading this as if I have just been sat here typing none stop but actually since this sentence and the last, my daughter has just read me a story she had written herself and showed me some fan mail she would like to send to a Youtuber. So it is now my mission to ensure that I get that fan mail to that Youtuber and fulfill my daughter's dreams. If I didn't take a break to listen to her I could well have missed the chance to be the hero dad.

• Invest in their future

Whether it is as small as a piggy bank or as big as a college fund, it is very important that we prepare for what could be. because having the options in place at the right time could be vital to your child's future. My son has recently been through a very emotional time and after putting some extra focus on making things right we all decided that he needed some sort of after-school activity and something he could focus his mind on. So we took his love for performing arts and signed him up for theatre school. Yes, the cost was a lot more than we expected but having put money away into savings accounts, meant we had the means to be able to provide this for him and my daughter has a great talent for art and writing so we feel that she would benefit from owning a laptop and therefore be able to progress her love for creativity through digital media. watch this space, people!

• The Golden Rule

Tell them every day how much you love them

I hope you can at least take one thing from this and make a change today to effect your childrens tomorrow.