Time with kids is essential for good fathering.

Some dads spend less than two minutes per day focusing on their kids.

Many men say their kids are a priority but their actions show otherwise.

Being an absent father puts your kids at increased risk of emotional, educational, criminal and health problems.

Quantity of time cannot stand alone – hours spent at home can be wasted.

Quality time cannot stand alone – you can’t engineer special times with kids; mostly they just happen and you have to be around for them.

You need both quantity and quality times for good fathering.

Children need to know that you enjoy being with them.

Children simply expect their fair share of your available time.

Working from home increases your time with the children, but not always in a way that allows you to focus on them.

Draw a clear line between work life and home life.

Working from home can be very rewarding if the problems can be resolved.

Not everyone can work from home well; be prepared for that.

Idea for action: Work out how many hours in the week you need to sleep, eat and work. How many hours are left for your children? Could you use that time better than you do now?

When I am home I try to take Rachel to school and often pick her up aswell. I’m told that I’m one of the dads most commonly seen at the school because of course a lot of the other dads never take their kids to the school at any time. -Kim Beazley

When the kids were young we lived on a farm and the kids were not sent to boarding school. That meant they were always around and helped on the farm. They helped with animals, ploughing, lots of things really. In fact our time on the farm really formed the pattern of our family life – they were just always part of our working lives. -Ray Arthur

PREVIOUS CHAPTER / INTRO / NEXT CHAPTER