10 Things I wish my parents had taught me ... better

Enough time has passed in my life where I can look back and (mostly) understand the things my parents taught me, or at least tried to teach me, or maybe forgot to teach me as I was growing up. I wish now that I had paid attention and listened to the importance of knowing these things and how they will ultimately shape the person that I have become, or have yet to become. I plan and hope that I will be able to teach these things to my son, so he truly understands the importance of each lesson as he begins his life. Here's my list:

Meet Fathers Online

Here is a site for the single father's out there, as well as the women that would be friends or love a man already with children.

Curious? Join up and have a look around it's free to join Meet Fathers Online

- Eric

Brent's Homebirths

This week is Home-Birth week, and I have been given permission from homebirth org and the fathers to post their amazing stories.

Enjoy

- Eric

Brent's home birth story

On 20 September last year Emily gave birth to our beautiful daughter Tui Suzanne. She is just the calmest, sweetest baby I have ever known.

Tui was born at our home in a birthing pool in the same room as her beautiful sister, Maia, who died inside Emily’s womb (at 10 days overdue) in late July 2006. We heartbreakingly buried our baby Maia at Taita Cemetery, close to a rangy gum tree where tui keep watch over her grave.

To start with it was hard not to call Tui, Maia, even though she already had her own name. Tui is so heavenly though that I’m sure Maia’s hands have woven some magical threads into what she hears, sees, understands and will become. Tui’s eyes and face shine with some deep understanding of what has come before.

So much has happened in the last year and a half, which has just rushed by... the arrival and departure of our baby Maia, already more than her lifetime ago, the joy of the safe arrival of Tui and an endless longing for Maia, our beautiful, feisty Maia, who had other plans. I want Maia to be with us too.

Calling for Love Stories

DO YOU HAVE A STORY ABOUT A SPECIAL MOMENT OF INTIMACY, LOVE OR TENDERNESS SHARED WITH YOUR BABY?

Would you like to be part of an inspirational new book for parents and caregivers and help neglected and abused children at the same time?

Research has shown that less stress and more fun is best for baby's brain development and that parents and caregivers who spend time engaging in lots of loving touch and relaxed interactions with their baby are actually helping their child’s brain to develop. Following the success of her first book, ‘Move Baby Move’ www.movebabymove.info which links early exercise with brain development and learning, author Sophie Foster has started work on her next book, ‘Love Baby Love,’ which links parents’ experiences of intimacy, love and tenderness with their baby, with brain development.

And Then You Do

When your child falls, as Annalee did last night, there is a tendency to question your parenting skills. Because parents enjoy more power over their children than over anyone else in their lives, it's easy to go overboard with this questioning, as though it is God questioning God during some hideous phase of the Inquisition. "What were you thinking when you invented gravity? Didn't you foresee this child's terrible fall?" "What were you thinking when you invented concrete? Not a very good idea, in the end, was it?"

Father's Day Video from "Evolution of Dad" -- Part 7 of 7

In celebration of Father's Day, the filmmakers behind the "Evolution of Dad" documentary project filmed close to 150 people around New York City, talking about their dads. The interviews are touching, funny and sometimes heartbreaking. We hope you enjoy the videos and share them with those you care about this Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day to all the father's celebrating their special day this coming Sunday.

Don't forget to call your father

Warm Regards

- Eric

Father's Day Video from "Evolution of Dad" -- Part 6 of 7

In celebration of Father's Day, the filmmakers behind the "Evolution of Dad" documentary project filmed close to 150 people around New York City, talking about their dads. The interviews are touching, funny and sometimes heartbreaking. We hope you enjoy the videos and share them with those you care about this Father's Day.

It may not be Father's Day today, but as a father it is great to hear the appreciation and love for fathers.

Call your father

Warm Regards

- Eric

Father's Day Video from "Evolution of Dad" -- Part 5 of 7

In celebration of Father's Day, the filmmakers behind the "Evolution of Dad" documentary project filmed close to 150 people around New York City, talking about their dads. The interviews are touching, funny and sometimes heartbreaking. We hope you enjoy the videos and share them with those you care about this Father's Day.

It may not be Father's Day today, but as a father it is great to hear the appreciation and love for fathers.

Call your father

Warm Regards

- Eric

Father's Day Video from "Evolution of Dad" -- Part 4 of 7

In celebration of Father's Day, the filmmakers behind the "Evolution of Dad" documentary project filmed close to 150 people around New York City, talking about their dads. The interviews are touching, funny and sometimes heartbreaking. We hope you enjoy the videos and share them with those you care about this Father's Day.

It may not be Father's Day today, but as a father it is great to hear the appreciation and love for fathers.

Call your father

Warm Regards

- Eric

What's YOUR Next Career Move?

STEPHEN M. POLLAN presents something of a paradox. On one hand, the well-known lawyer and career advisor clearly loves what he does for a living—which is to help his clients overcome all manner of work- and money-related problems. No wonder he’s still going strong at an age when most men are well into retirement, maintaining a busy New York City practice and cranking out self-help bestsellers. (His latest is Lifelines for Money Misfortunes: How to Overcome Life’s Greatest Challenges, published by Wiley.)

On the other hand, Pollan warns that men who expect to find work fulfilling are only setting themselves up for disappointment. To him, a job is good for one thing only: generating a revenue stream. It’s this stream of cash, he says, that makes it possible to the things that really are fulfilling, whether it's spending time with family, traveling, reading, pursuing hobbies, or whatever.