This week we delve into a topic we are really passionate about - diversity and inclusion. Here at Dadvengers we are advocates of raising awareness of this important topic - so this week we jumped back in!
The 22nd April is Stephen Lawrence day, and this year we wanted to mark the 29th anniversary of Stephen's tragic murder by talking about the importance of diversity and inclusion. We jumped into the topic with some of our community. Chatting to @adrianm_30 , @_ashtalwar_ and @markgs21 who shared their experiences and thoughts was great. Thanks for joining us and sharing guys!
From how we talk to our children about this topic, to suggesting resources for helping our children learn about diversity and inclusion, we cover it all - check out the video here...
If you want to hear more about this topic, we have loads of great resources across the site. From blog posts to more Dad Chats, there is loads for you to find. Use the search feature to find more. And don't forget we have the Podcast where you can hear about other parent's experiences on this topic. You can head straight to the episode of your choice using the links below...
Last night we had a discussion surrounding disciplining our children... and what a great chat it was!
Let's face it, disciplining our children is a topic that can split parents completely and could lead to heated debates! But this chat was full of support and sharing of tips and information. No matter how old our children are, there are times when we need to guide them with a little discipline. But sometimes as parents it can feel like we aren't sure of the right way to go about it. As with so many aspects of parenting discipline in something that is a really personal choice and is tailored to your own child's needs, Our community know this and delved into this topic with support and kindness. As a result this live was brilliant for getting some useful tips for all parents - it really is a must watch!
Thanks to everyone who joined this live chat 🙏🏼
If you're looking for more parenting topics you're in the right place! We have had great chats about Tantrums and the dreaded Parent Guilt. As well as topics to help our kids like Communicating With Children About Their Feelings, and Why Its Important To Play With Your Children. If those aren't what you're looking for just use the search feature to find whatever you're after!
As you know, we welcome all parents to Dad Chats, and this week we decided to focus on single parents. Although... that led to a discussion - are you a single parent, or a co-parent? What's the difference, and where do you fit in!?
We know not all of our amazing dad's are with their kids full time, so this week we delved into single parents and co-parenting. We chatted all about the up's and down's of the single parent life. From coping mechanisms, to helping the kids adjust to separated households. we delved into it all.
It was great to hear from the single / co-parents in our community, and we are so thankful to them all for their honesty in this great chat. Another unmissable Dad Chats Live!
1. Becoming a single parent can be understandably daunting. If you’re a single parent, what were/are some of your worries or concerns?
2. As a single parent, you are also likely to be navigating dating and being in new relationships. How would you go about introducing your new relationship to your children and including them in your childrens lives?
3. For our lighthearted topic, we want to know what would be one piece of advice you would give to someone who had newly become a single parent?
This week, we had an open mic night to talk about International Men's Day 2021.
Did you know it was International Men's Day this week? Did you even know there is an International Men's Day? We won't lie... we weren't aware of it until this week! And we didn't see much about it in the media, or across socials - did you?
You know we are all about supporting men at Dadvengers, and that means celebrating the good as well as talking about the difficulties we face. So, this week we held an open mic to talk about the great things men do - the difficulties we face, and how we deal with them on a daily basis. Some of our brilliant community members popped up to share their thoughts on the subject - and this has led to another great chat!
We feel International Men's Day 2021 didn't get as much focus as it should have - so we talked about why that might be, and how we can change that... watch this space team... we know about it now and 2022 will be a different story!
Talking about celebrating great men... have you heard our podcast?! On it we talk to 20 great men, who share their life and parenting stories with us. You can find all episodes of the Dadvengers Podcast Here or by clicking on slider below! If you'd prefer videos - all of season 2 have accompanying videos over on you-tube... check them out!
Did you enjoy this chat? Got any topics you think we should cover...? We'd love to hear your topic suggestions. Click Here to Contact Us!
This week's chat marks the end of Black History Month 2021, so we revisited this important topic. We chatted to our community about what they'd learnt this month,
We talked about the importance of sharing resources with other parents, and how some of our community shared resources with their children's nurseries to help them educate other young minds. The chat covered what we had learned ourselves this month, how we strive to learn more, and how we can educate people in the right way.
Then, we had a good conversation about the language we use, and how even when we think we are being helpful, it can be unintentionally harmful. These conversations are so important to make sure we are supporting all Black and Ethnic minority communities in the right ways.
As always we thank every member of our community that got involved in the chat - it was great to hear from you all!
As you know, we don't just talk about race, racism and diversity during Black History Month. This is something we are passionate about discussing all year round. So we have some great chats and resources across the site. If you're looking for more we recommend watching our dad chats on: Talking about Race, Racism and Diversity, The George Floyd Murder One Year On, and Educating Our Kids About Diversity - and Why It's So Important.
Nigel's great and informative blog post entitled "How To Talk To Children About #BlackLivesMatter".
And of course, the brilliant podcast episodes that discuss this issue, these episodes include: John Lashley (Brooklyn Brownie Company), Elliott Rae, Amos Hurst and Nihal Arthanayake. Click on the picture below to head straight to the episode you want to listen to first.
1. Since our chat at the start of Black History Month, have you tried to talk to your children about diversity, race and racism more?
2. Have you begun to educate yourself more, or tried to educate those around you?
3. We asked at the beginning of the month for your favourite resources for kids and/or parents. So we want to ask again for any new resources you’ve found!
To make the start of Black History Month we are delving into the topic of race and racism. This is something we talk about all year round at Dad Chats, but with this being Black History Month it is another great opportunity to talk about it.
We chatted all about educating our kids, and ourselves on diversity, race and racism. Including how we talk to our children about the topic, and got some suggestions for great resources for our kids. We heard about how education in schools and nurseries is still lacking on black history, and what we can do to help change that.
There are so many great resources across our site that talk about race and diversity.
Talking to our children about race issues can be difficult, but Last year, Nigel wrote a great blog called How To Talk To Children About #BlackLivesMatter. This is a great resource with helpful advice for talking to our kids about this important topic. We highly recommend you take a look.If you haven’t heard, we also have a fantastic Podcast which is hosted by Nigel, and every week he talks to a different guest about their parenting journey. We have some great guests who talk about racism in their stories. These are from John Lashley (Brooklyn Brownie Company), Elliott Rae, Amos Hurst and Nihal Arthanayake – check them out!
Topics:
1. Do you think you talk to your kids enough about diversity, race and racism? Or is it something you think you need to talk about more?
2. Do you feel that you are educated enough? Or do you think you need to learn more?
3. We want you to share any of your favourite resources for kids, or for parents!
Dad Chats Live: Talking about male cancer - do you look after yourself?
This week is Orchid Male Cancer Awareness week, so tackled this topic head-on. We know some men find it difficult to talk about male cancer. But this is another topic that is so important for us to talk about. Did you know that prostate cancer (98%) and testicular cancer (97%) have some of the highest survival rates after early diagnosis - so it's important we know the signs, check for them, and take action early.
In order to be the best parents we can be, we need to be looking after ourselves. Not just with the little things, but we need to know how to check ourselves for the early signs of cancer and how to get help with that. We discussed all of this with some really great members of our community who shared their own experiences.
We also have a great podcast episode from Amos Hurts and Sophia May that talks about male cancer. Amos was diagnosed with two forms of cancer, fought the caner and won. Now he is a healthy, 85 year old dad of 7! Head over to Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to listen to his story.
1. Checking yourself for the signs and symptoms of Male cancer (and all other cancers) is important - are you aware of how to check yourself, and do you make an effort to check?
2. Is cancer something that worries you? Or is it something you don’t think or worry about?
3. For our lighthearted question, we all know how important it is to look after ourselves. We want to know your favourite way to keep healthy. (Do you get your 5 a day, drink 2 litres of water or go for a run every day? We want to know!)
Dad Chats Live: Talking about World Suicide Prevention day.
Mental health is something we are passionate about here at Dadvengers. So it was only right that we talk about World Suicide Prevention day. This is a topic that really hits home for a lot of our community, and we were so grateful to them for joining us for this important chat.
We delved into this emotional topic, and talked about the importance of raising awareness around suicide to break down stigmas. We also talked about how to reach out for help, and the impact losing a loved one to suicide can have on those left behind. The most valuable thing about this chat is the fact that we were joined by people who have had first hand experience of suicidal thoughts, and losing someone to suicide.
Both hours of these chats need to be seen, please also share them with family and friends - it is so important that we keep breaking down the barriers to getting people the support they need - hopefully these chats will help do that.
1. Do you think there is enough awareness and understanding surrounding suicide?
2. Have you had any experience dealing with someone who has had suicidal thoughts? How would you begin to support someone you love that may be suicidal?
3. Laughter can heal many things. So we want to know what’s the funniest parenting moment you’ve had in the last few months?
One of our Dadvengers community has written a blog post on the subject. It's entitled A Letter To a Dad Contemplating Suicide – You Are Loved More Than You Know. and the post delves into the emotional aftermath of losing a dad to suicide and it is written by someone who has experienced it themselves. Please read, let us know what you think, and share the post with the people in your lives.
Dad Chats Live - Equal Parental Leave. Today we were joined by Rob Simpson who works for @avivauk. Aviva have scrapped paternity leave, two weeks just aren't enough - Aviva recognised this and have an excellent new policy.
At Aviva all staff are entitled to equal parental leave when they have a child. This means that fathers can take up to 6 months paid leave and up to 12 months including unpaid leave. This is a game changer when becoming a parent and listening to Robs experience it’s easy to see why. Rob tells us why this policy was so important for him, his wife, and his new born baby - especially getting through those first few weeks of sleepless nights! He also tells us how supportive Aviva were when he used the policy, not only do they actively encourage their staff to make use of the policy. They also keep in touch with their staff while they're off. Rob's manager kept him up to date with things at work so he didn't have to worry about it!
This policy is an absolute game changer, and something we think is so important for dads to be offered. We would love to see more companies making a change to support equal parental leave.
Aviva have also written us a great blog post telling us all about their policy. It's entitled How Aviva Are Changing Paternity Leave For The Better. Anthony Fitzpatrick Head of colleague Experience and Employment Policy at Aviva tells us about the change to the entitlement, and Rob shared more of his experiences of using it.
