So last minute, as per usual, I confirm that I'll attend the launch of 'This Dad Can', more out of curiosity than anything else. I'd heard a little about it, and I guess I now wanted to hear more so that I could get my head around it a bit more. I went, I sat, I drank tea, I ate biscuits, I listened and I watched. All very interesting stuff, and I went away thinking about what I'd heard.

That is until I got off the train, walked to the car and went to pick up my daughter. You see, another last minute commitment I'd made the night before was to take my daughter around a local High School for an open evening. I'd not thought too much about what I was doing, until we walked, hand-in-hand, towards the entrance of this big massive building! At which point my head was filled with questions like, how is this possible? How can my eldest daughter be approaching High School age? We walked in and she pulled me from room to room in her excitement, with my dis-belief of what was happening quite unbeknown to her!

The truth is, to my surprise, I actually quite enjoyed it and was proud to see the enthusiasm of my 10 year old as she confidently spoke to members of staff and pupils. But that said, it made me realise once again, Rob every day - take in every day, because before you know it, you'll be dropping her off at work, or driving her to look at universities!

It's an old lesson, but one that I constantly have to battle against - be present in the moment - don't miss these days when your child looks to you for the answers, the re-assurance, the security they need. Because the day will come when they'll look elsewhere, and on that day, I want to be confident that I played my part up until that point and didn't miss out who and what was growing before me!

Like what you've read, leave your comments below. You may also like to read New Beginnings and New Challenges. From forum's too short courses, if you're keen to learn the secrets of successful dads, register at thisdadcan.co.uk today.

I'm Dad to Evalyn (10), Tigs (8) and Nancy (Big 5!). Husband to Katy (**!) and I'm Rob (3*!) I work full time as Youth Pastor for Long Lane Church, I love sport, enjoy good food and watch lots of films!

Like Rob, have you read our blog, now want to be a contributor at thisdadcan.co.uk? Join our community of guest bloggers.

thisdadcan.co.uk/blog is a blogger’s community. Being a community blog, we always encourage upcoming bloggers to contribute an original article related to the topic of our blog, in order to showcase themselves in front of a wide audience.

The purpose here is to help you to reach out to a new audience base, share your experience, and perhaps most importantly, give something back.