But What is Deliverable?

Deliverable - Fragile, handle with care

Deliverable: “A deliverable is a tangible or intangible good or service produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered to a customer. A deliverable could be a report, a document, a software product, a server upgrade or any other building block of an overall project.”

Wikipedia

Deliverable. It’s one of those terms that, as someone who has managed to avoid the corporate world, I have a natural aversion to. However, as I’ve struggled to figure out what the hell I’m trying to achieve with Father Lessons, I finally realised that it comes down to just that – what is deliverable. What can I actually deliver?

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Modern Masculinity

Modern Masculinity podcast

Fatherhood and masculinity are inseparable. Probably the main reason why more and more men are questioning their father-son relationships is that the boundaries, the rules, the expectations around masculinity have shifted or become blurred.

So this podcast series from The Guardian is sure to be of interest to anyone who’s interested in what I’m hoping to achieve here at Father Lessons (although, to be honest, I’m still in the process of figuring out exactly what that is!).

https://www.theguardian.com/society/series/modern-masculinity/2019/aug/14/all

My Story (Part 3)

With my father at The Enterprise pub, 1986

I ended the last “episode” with a reference to my immaturity at the time that I went to college in my late teens, and that sense of not having properly, formally grown up has stayed with me ever since. I’ll sometimes have a vague feeling, something like what is these days called imposter syndrome, as if I’m a child who has somehow managed to wangle a seat at the adult’s table. Over the years, I’ve put it down to the idea of never having experienced the rite of passage from childhood into adulthood, the initiation and transition from boy to man.

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Talking about Grief

Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper

Everyone should watch this beautiful conversation about grief, suffering and gratitude between two men who lost their fathers at around the same young age. Be sure to watch all clips to get the full story!

In this day and age of constant social media chatter and distraction, it’s rare to come across an interview this honest, insightful and…”human.” It’s a great bit of TV but also very moving.
https://twitter.com/i/events/1162517716185440256

The Battle with Digital

Young digital screen addict

Are we fighting a losing battle with screen time?

It seems like every time I talk with other parents, especially parents of teenagers, the topic of conversation at some point turns to “screen time,” or how much time our kids are spending on digital devices. Of the parents I’ve spoken to, it seems like the vast majority are frustrated and having a hard time managing screen time. Like me, they have usually tried different systems or rules but, again like me, they have found it difficult to effectively and consistently police those rules. The addictive nature of gaming and social media mean that their kids will inevitably test boundaries and find loopholes in the rules. The parents who seem to have the situation most under control are the ones who have set the strictest of boundaries from the start and managed to stick to their guns.

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