How did I ever get into this, I think? How did I ever let my life slide so far? I could have been a political science lecturer, a Japanese language interpreter, a writer who inspired millions, but here I am sorting out arguments between two teenagers. Where did it all go wrong?

Having been a father for exactly a week now, I am clearly qualified to impart all kinds of paternal wisdom. But the wisdom is not mine - it is the baby's. As Will and Kate will no doubt discover, their little princess' grasp of what's important in life, will be more akin to an old yogi or bearded professor than an infant waiting to 'grow up.'

During a brief stint teaching, my shoes were captured and held to ransom by students. I don't remember the detail of their demands, just that I was h...

When my eldest was first born, I used to spend countless hours reading 'educational' news articles with titles like 'Why Women Mess Kids Up', 'Why Food is Evil for Children' and 'Why Mothers are to Blame for the Demise of Modern Society'. These conflicted 'expert voices' all agreed on just one thing; that 'whatever you do for your kids, it is WRONG.'

Crawling, walking, catching, running, riding a bike and learning to swim - all essential activities to learn for a child. But cooking? It might not sound like a core skill but an increasing amount of evidence points to the fact that learning to cook has numerous benefits for children.

One of the best ways to foster creativity in children is to read to them or, better yet, to make up stories with them, and fathers in particular have an important role to play in this: it's long been recognised that the more a dad reads to his children, the greater their verbal intelligence, academic success and emotional wellbeing.

They need to understand that the legal processes can turn initially reasonable demands into a whole new set of game playing on an expensive scale, and as for who wins and who loses, I recommend a coin is taken into the court room and tossed, as that is about as accurate a way of guessing outcomes as any.

It is written: travelling (alone) with a young child will inevitably lead to trauma. Turns out that's bunkum. It's a far greater strain to have your world shrink suddenly at the point of giving birth than to witness toddler meltdown on the Eurostar. Even when it's rammed.

Who took my phone? What what? What? Who took my last $20 dollars? What what? What? Who bought five bags of candy? Why aren't any of you wearing your ski jackets, where are your goggles! What what what!!!

The nesting season began. There was much to be done. A certain someone was expected in the near future. I began by cleaning or rather thinking about cleaning.

The truth is that only us fathers can change the world of parenting and break down the ovarian Bastille I referred to. I'll go a step further and say that sometimes us men should do more to become active parents and make this happen.

The funniest thing about today? My dad picked me up in an old transit van, full of newspaper, rubbish and dust from his working week and he said to me "You don't mind me picking you up in the van do you son? You must remember us always driving around like this when you were a boy?"

When my son was a baby I didn't know what he wanted all the time, I had to guess, I performed all the basic tasks constantly in the hope that one of them would do it - make him smile, keep him well, stop him crying. This scattergun approach to parenting left me fraught and spent.

I've been a mother five months and I'm strangely confident. Maybe it's not so strange. Perhaps I'm hard wired for it. In my extensive experience thus far I have learned how important confidence really is for a new momma.

Bullying sadly takes many forms. It's heart-breaking for parents to witness the effect bullying has on their child: we love our children, and we hope bullying will never happen to them. Sorry, I have bad news...

Throughout the years of my being bullied, attempted suicide and consequent hospitalisation I hadn't once considered how my parents had felt. The pain now firmly etched on their faces, it was something I would have to tackle head on.

Parenting can be tough because it's not only exhausting at times, it also holds a mirror right in front of you, forcing you to face you beliefs, hopes and fears; but it's also an amazing experience and there is no shame in admitting that sometimes we have questions as parents, and if we reach out, the answers are indeed there.

Spiritual traditions have a lot to offer in any sense, especially to parents: remember all those lovely boozy night out, pre-children?

The teenage years, a little like the 'terrible twos', are a stepping stone in the individual's development: from baby to toddler, and from child to young adult. They each indicate the transition from one important stage to a very different one: but why is it often so challenging to deal with teenagers?

A kid threw a truck at my head the other day. I was in the playroom at the library with my two-year-old, let's call him Thing Two. He was playing qui...

Lately I've been reminded of revelations by one of the nannies for the Brangie Bunch. Apparently Angelina disappears down to basement for hours to work out while the nanny has to look after the kids. Oh fer feck's sake!

I assumed that after having children, I would be filled with a sense of well-being. My mind would be as calm as a chest filled with soft, white baby clothes and monogrammed bedding. This, after all, was what it was all about.

Until the Other dad Who Collects and I got to know each other and formed an unofficial support group for dads Who Work Full Time Yet Also Pick Their Daughters Up From School (And Enjoy Doing So), we hovered awkwardly in isolation on the fringes of the playground.