02/09/2026
With Father’s Day this weekend, I’ve been thinking less about what makes a “good dad” and more about what I’ve learned from simply being one.
When my children were younger, I thought a lot about providing, protecting, guiding and doing the right thing. I worked hard. Sometimes too hard. And, like many fathers, I probably told myself there would always be more time later.
Looking back, the moments that matter most weren’t the big ones.
They were the car rides. The conversations. The times I kept my word. The moments I was fully there.
I’ve also learned that our children don’t need us to have them all figured out. They need the freedom to become who they are, not who we imagined they might be.
And when we get it wrong, because we will, there’s strength in saying so. In apologising. In listening. In choosing to show up differently.
One thing I feel more strongly now is that none of us do this alone. It really does take a village to raise a child, and it takes an ecosystem of good people around us to help us become better parents too. The people we choose to spend time with shape our energy, our thinking and, in turn, how we show up at home.
Fatherhood has taught me that love isn’t something we leave sitting quietly in the background. It needs to be expressed, lived and felt.
Now, with my son and daughter grown and the privilege of being a grandfather too, I’m reminded that being a dad is never really something you finish. It keeps changing you.
This Father’s Day, I’m grateful for all of it. The lessons, the people around us and most of all, the privilege of being Dad.
