My name is Edmund Farrow and I'm a dad with three teenage children - two boys and a girl. (Henceforth they shall be known as Sprog1, Sprog2 and Sproglette for ease of reference. Let's face it, it's difficult enough remembering your own children's names, let alone anyone else's). I looked after the kids full-time for fifteen years from when they were born up until relatively recently. I did the cooking and cleaning as well. I now work part-time but my wife still has a full-time job, so I still do the cooking. (2019 update: Working full-time... still doing the cooking.) I have managed to train the kids to do some of the cleaning, however...
This site has evolved and changed over the years but back in 2007 I wrote this:
My aims in creating DadsDinner.com are as follows:Wow! Now, as I revamp and heavily prune the site, that seems like long ago. We live in the future, complete with iPads and Twitter and everything. There are apparently far more housedads these days than there used to be as well. (Somewhere...)
Goodness, that sounds like hard work. I may have to go and lie down. Still, I'm going to try. Let me know what works and what doesn't, what was useful, what's wrong, what was encouraging and what made you choke on your coffee. Bear with me. I have three children and I never know when they're going to bring home a new and exciting disease. I'll reply when I can.
- To pass on some of the knowledge I've learnt the hard way before I forget it all. I'm not an expert. I don't have all the answers to the problems of being a housedad and of dealing with small children but hopefully I can give you a few ideas. Every child is different. Use what works; ignore what doesn't; apply some common sense.
- To share a few laughs. Children are inherently funny but, as with so many things, it's easy to get too caught up in the exasperation, stress and frustration to notice. Although I want to help you with the challenges of being a housedad, I want to raise a smile too. That will help in its own way.
- To give myself a sense of achievement. Yes, I know that looking after three children all day and everyone living to tell the tale afterwards is an achievement. Yes, I know that I frequently reassure you elsewhere in this website that merely surviving until your bedtime beer is a worthy goal. Yes, I know I should probably just go and have a lie down. But if you're allowed to ignore my advice, why can't I? Hopefully it'll help keep both of us sane in the long run.
- To combat isolation. It may not always seem like it, but there are plenty of us out there. We're normal. Let's get together and discuss football, women, politics, religion, poo and PlayStations. (Maybe not all at once, but you're welcome to make the attempt...)
I think there's still room for a little light-hearted observation and advice, though. It doesn't matter whether you're a mum or a dad or a grandparent, whether you stay at home or go out to work, if you've ever spent five minutes in charge of small children you'll find something here that strikes a chord. The Handbook is a good place to start.
Enjoy the site.
Edmund.
DadsDinner@DadsDinner.com
