HELPING STRESSED DADS BALANCE WORK AND FATHERHOOD

Inspiration, New Dad, Relationships Ian Dinwiddy Inspiration, New Dad, Relationships Ian Dinwiddy

The 'Gram, The Blog and The Daddy

A trailblazer for same sex adoption, Jamie is the Daddy of Daddy and Dad and he joins us for episode 34 of Lockdown Dads.

The 'Gram, The Blog and The Daddy

A trailblazer for same sex adoption, Jamie is the Daddy of Daddy and Dad. What started as an exploration of the highs and lows of Jamie and Tom’s story of adopting two young brothers from foster care, became an award winning blog, key agency resource and an opportunity to work with major brands.

A timely redundancy lead to a focus on blogging, before dipping their toes into Instagram (not just for vintage cat photos…) and moving into the realms of influencing.

We explore the journey into fatherhood, how navigating trauma from previous lives is part and parcel of the adoption process. Plus relationship dynamics in a same sex couple (hint… the breadwinner / carer tension is the same) and the challenges of being dads in a mum’s world.

Contents

01:00 Half term, home-school and house moving.

03:10 James does care what the weatherman says.

04:00 Pets and waiting on Boris.

05:40 Booking holidays and being on TV.

07:00 James reflects on Ian’s sister in law’s Valentine dance.

08:30 The Path - “of course we're two dads, so options for starting a family are slightly different to other couples.”

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09:40 Adoption is a huge, convoluted, overwhelming process and at the end of it, you become a family overnight

10:20 I thought maybe I'd write a book or maybe we'd do some kind of video blog or but blogging was my expertise.

11:30 “I was really trying to lay out exactly how I was feeling and how lost we felt sometimes, which people really identified with.”

12:30

Adoption agencies picked it up as a resource for potential adopters to read and it grew really quickly.

“I was made redundant, and it was cliched and everyone said it would be, but it was the best thing for me career wise because I just applied all that extra time on the blog and, and it grew and grew and started to win awards and and really became quite a big part of our lives as well.”

13:45 The mad world of parenthood - there's certain themes that I think everybody can recognise

15:00 Blogging inspiration from soft play and trampoline parks.

17:30 Instagram - not just pictures of cats

20:40 Relationship dynamics - breadwinner and carer

24:30 Support for adoptive parents

26:10 Dads in a mum’s world

27:20 Covid and a pub manager getting it all wrong.

28:00 Changing facilities for dads with babies

30:00 Gay men in a straight world - Valentine's Day and Mother’s Day

Tips 31:10

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Connect with Jamie

https://www.daddyanddad.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/daddyanddad/

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Relationships, Balance Ian Dinwiddy Relationships, Balance Ian Dinwiddy

How to build meaningful relationships with your partner and your children

Are You Concerned That You And Your Partner Aren’t On The Same Page?

Do You Wonder If Your Family Think It Is “All” Worth It?

How to build meaningful relationships with your partner and your children.

Are you concerned that you and your partner aren’t on the same page?

Do you wonder if your family think it is “all” worth it?

Written for the Dadvengers Community

Written for the Dadvengers Community

It’s easy to get complacent, to think your family life is running smoothly. Then you turn around and discover too late that the solid foundations you thought you were building, aren’t as solid as you had hoped or expected.

Which is why it’s so important to build meaningful relationships that support your family life.

The good news is, it’s never too late to reflect on what your version of “Christmas Future” looks like and make changes. This is especially true if the answer to either of those questions is Yes.

Getting it right matters as friend of mine, let’s call him Toby, illustrates evocatively about his relationship breakdown:

“If there’s one thing I wish we’d done better, it would have been to have those really honest discussions – rather than the more off-hand comments and observations – about the work life balance for both of us, including as a couple and as parents.  

But hey – we live and learn, eh?!”

Head over to the Dadvengers website to read the rest of the piece, including these topics:

  • Meaningful relationships require open and honest conversations.  

  • Meaningful relationships need shared purpose.

  • Meaningful relationships require equality at home.

  • How to build meaningful relationships with your children

Plus you can watch Nigel and I on the Dadvengers’ “Dad Chats Live” over on Instagram. We talked about the content, shared stories and answered Q&A with the viewers.

Our conversation starts at 9min and you can catch up and watch here:

Photo Credit @nate_dumlao via Unsplash

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Ian Dinwiddy, Founder

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