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Successful business women back DADpreneurs

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Not On The High Street, an online business founded and run by women, is giving voice to a new generation of dads known as DADpreneuers. Here’s what they have to say……

—This is article #34 in our series of #100Voices4Men and boys 

The Olympian James Cracknell has declared himself to be a champion for fathers spending more time with his children. He’s joined forces with the psychotherapist and broadcaster Philip Hodson—who is one of our #100Voices4Men—and he’s backing Not In The High Street’s DADpreneurcampaign.

Cracknell, who is a father of three, said; “Making time for children is the big thing. It is so easy for dads to work longer every night to pay the mortgage. That’s the trap they are falling into. My job requires me to be away a lot and so getting to know my children and how they change on a daily basis is a real challenge.”

Another dad backing Not In The High Street’s DADpreneur project is the award-winning film maker David Bond, who created Project Wild Thing project to reconnect children with the outdoor play.

http://youtu.be/ViUAKJ8q8-U

In his interview for Not In The High Street’s DADpreneur campaign Bond said:

“I’d really encourage the dads out there to think about ways they can re-jig their working lives and find things you can do that allow you to stay really connected with your family, there’s no shame in it.

“What children love is time with adults that they love, ideally outdoors, that’s what makes children happy and it always will and it always has. I try to spend a bit of time outside with my children everyday.

“I really think were going to be the first generation that says dads have got to be more engaged, or least a lot more dads will be more engaged in our generation and that will be for the massive benefit of the children they are bringing up.”

So what is a DADpreneur?

For some it is a dads who create a business around parenting or children like the dads at Lostmy.name who won a record £100,000 investment on Dragon’s Den.

http://youtu.be/SbucAnKJifs

For others, it’s a dad in any field of business who is actively shaping his life to try and find the perfect balance of work and fatherhood. One such DADpreneur is Jay Cooper who told us about his experience in this article: What does it mean to be a “DADpreneur”?

—Find out more about DADpreneurs at the Not On The High Street website.

You can find all of the #100Voices4Men articles that will be published in the run up to International Men’s Day 2014 by clicking on this link—#100Voices4Men—and follow the discussion on twitter by searching for #100Voices4Men.

The views expressed in these articles are not the views of insideMAN editorial team. Whether you agree with the views expressed in this article or not we invite you to take take part in this important discussion, our only request is that you express yourself in a way that ensures everyone’s voice can be heard.

You can join the #100Voices4Men discussion by commenting below; by following us on Twitter @insideMANmag and Facebook or by emailing insideMANeditor@gmail.com. 

What does it mean to be a Dad in 2014?

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The psychotherapist Philip Hodson, first came to our attention last month when the Olympic oarsman, James Cracknell, announced that the pair were working together to tackle the “fatherhood crisis“.

–This is article #5 in our series of #100Voices4Men and boys

I hope it’s more than the definition I got some years back from a weed-smoking hippy who said: “Well, I was present at the conception, weren’t I?”

I was recently asked by my professional organisation, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, to answer 20 questions about myself. The final one was: “What has been the greatest achievement in your life, or the achievement you value most?”

I wrote: “Parenting my children.”

I can’t think of anything that changes an adult’s life more than having a child. Or rather, I can’t think of anything that should change your life more than having a child.

I have never quite understood the hoo-hah about weddings, even those involving royalty. In my book, marriage is a question not an answer. After all, one-third of new marriages end in divorce within five years.

But you can never, never, never divorce your kids. Getting pregnant therefore outranks marriage or cohabitation by the same amount that a general outshines a corporal.

In my view, the ‘big day’ is not a wedding but your first child’s natal day. From that moment, you undertake a responsibility for as long as you live. (You’ll certainly still be handing over money in their 20s, unless you’re far cleverer than me.)

A dad in my book is not someone who, after his third divorce, decides to father his next child in his late 60s. He is a man who understands that it’s not a great idea to junk one family to start another just because you want better sex with younger women. It’s equally weird to give life to offspring whom you know you will probably abandon by dying before they’re 15.

Of course, if your marriage has ended despite your best intentions, and access to your children is difficult because your ex is a jealous nightmare, and you’ve fallen for a lovely women who yearns for a family of her own – then I do understand. But remember, you still only have limited time and energy. You cannot be in two places at once, despite what you think, and your existing kids still need you to make continuous efforts on their behalf.

So, while DNA will always tell you whether you were present at the conception, fathering actually starts when you accept that you’ll be the guy fetching the morning-sickness bowl.

—Picture credit: Flickr/Kelly Sikkema

©  2014 Phillip Hodson (www.philliphodson.co.uk)

You can find all of the #100Voices4Men articles that will be published in the run up to International Men’s Day 2014 by clicking on this link—#100Voices4Men—and follow the discussion on twitter by searching for #100Voices4Men.

The views expressed in these articles are not the views of insideMAN editorial team. Whether you agree with the views expressed in this article or not we invite you to take take part in this important discussion, our only request is that you express yourself in a way that ensures everyone’s voice can be heard.

You can join the #100Voices4Men discussion by commenting below; by following us on Twitter @insideMANmag and Facebook or by emailing insideMANeditor@gmail.com.