Tag: parenting

Chester croquet: parenting blog content for Care for the Family

We had come to our local park for a hands-on class in the burgeoning sport of golf croquet, a faster, T20 cricket-style take on the traditional Association Croquet game.

The key difference is that golf croquet has one stroke per turn and, when a hoop is scored, all players move onto the next.

We arrived to find Mark Lloyd of the Chester Croquet Club [logo above] marking the flat, grass court with six cast-iron hoops and a central peg set firmly into the ground.

Mark, a regular club player with over thirty years of experience and a former world ranking of 230, had played some hard-fought matches in his time.

But was he ready for two truculent teenagers and their non-sporting father, the latter perennially the last person to be picked for any school sports team?

Handing out four coloured balls and mallets, Mark appeared to be taking it in his stride.

‘For me,’ he explained as we hit a few warmup shots and tried running a few hoops, ‘croquet is all about strategy.”

I’m always thinking three balls ahead. That’s why it’s a mix of snooker, boules, and chess.’

Read the full story via the Care for the Family Parenting blog, One dad, two teenagers and a new sport.

My Father’s Day Legacy At The Fatherhood Summit

 

I was invited to the Fatherhood Summit recently.

The event, arranged by Who Let the Dads Out (WLTDO), brought together people to discuss the role of fathers and modern masculinity in general.

My book, Inside Fatherhood, had just come out and I was interviewed on stage by WLTDO founder Mark Chester, about my fatherhood legacy as we celebrate 80 years of Father’s Day this June.

There were some great discussions on the day, many based around the debate of a golden age of fatherhood or a time of crisis.

I waded in with some pancake mix — watch the video to find out more.

Sign up now! It’s my book launch in Chester

Book launch news.

The venue is booked and the invites ready to go.

I’m hosting a launch event on May 17 in Chester for my new book, Inside Fatherhood, to mark 80 years of Father’s Day this June.

Here’s some background:

Join us for a launch evening of thought-provoking discussion with some of the men I interviewed for the book, sharing their experiences of fatherhood and advice for the next 80 years.

It’s an upbeat appreciation of the importance of fathers. No dry speeches, nor long readings. Pay-as-you-go drinks.

Sign up for this free event at this Eventbrite link.

Writing a book about fathers showed me why I need my dad

My book just came out.

I should have been celebrating, or better still doing some promotion. But I’ve done nothing since publication on March 23. I’ve barely opened the pages.

Why? I’ve written a guest blog post for the website This Dad Can to explain.

Here’s a sample of the text:

Just as the book was due to be published, my own dad was taken seriously ill. He has spent a long period in hospital and, while now stabilised, has been diagnosed with a major dementia.

I now carry around with me every day the knowledge that he will never get better — only decline cognitively. The irony is not lost on me that, while I was busy talking to men about why dads matter, my own father was slowly fading away.

But I’ve also got a responsibility to the ten men featured in the book to let their stories be heard. They shared their stories with me and wanted a wider audience to learn from their experiences.

So the promotion starts. I’m arranging a book launch in Chester for Thursday, May 17 — sign up here.

And, as we move towards the 80th anniversary of Father’s Day, I’m going to celebrate why we all, myself included, should appreciate the important role our fathers and grandfathers play.

Because dads care too.

Read the full story at This Dad Can.