Super Dad Column

Super Dad Column written by Mark Leishman

Dear Parent,

I feel very honoured, and somewhat humbled, to be included on the Kiwi Families website, especially in the company of the celebrated Dame Susan Devoy and Diane Levy.

As far as I’m concerned, I’m a pretty ordinary Dad, who has had a fortunate life when it comes to family.

I grew up in a very close, loving and supportive family with my parents, two brothers and a sister. Upon leaving school the children ventured far from our home town of Timaru and upon retirement our parents followed. Amazingly the whole family, including Mum and Dad, are now living within 5 kilometres of each other in Auckland.

My wife Jo had the same experience with a wonderful family and upbringing, so I now have the best in-laws you could hope to have and three lovely children. How much luck can one person have.

Before I start to sound glib and self-satisfied, I often do find it really hard work being a parent. It’s the most difficult, most draining yet at the same time, most satisfying, influential and important job you can have.

I’ve tried to make the job of being a loving, giving father an absolute top priority in life and, most of the time, I feel it is such a privilege being responsible for the happiness of our children.

There is no doubt parenting is a job for life. I know my 86 year old mother still worries about all of us and now feels obliged to worry about her 11 grandchildren as well.

When it comes to having a family, there’s arguments both for having children in quick succession, or spreading out the age gap. We endeavoured to be somewhere in between but nature didn’t quite oblige and after a period of wondering whether we would be blessed with any children at all, we succeeded in having Paddy our eldest boy who is now 13.

Molly came along nearly five years later. Then just as we were settling into a perfect routine and tidy life with the boy and girl and the Labrador, another five years down the track dear little Rosie arrived.

So now life can be very interesting, and challenging, as we deal with the joys of an emerging teenager and toddlerhood at the same time. We often feel so grateful that we have our loving, and very patient, Molly in the middle.

I hope by sharing in our journey you will be able to empathise and enjoy me writing about parents and kid’s stuff from a middle aged Dad’s point of view.

Kind regards