Fathers Encouraged to Keep Showing Up and Growing

Salt 106.5’s Jordie chatted with family therapist and parenting advocate Sam Leal, who is passionate about encouraging dads to embrace their role in families and communities.

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A proud father of two boys, Sam shared practical advice and honest encouragement for fathers navigating the busy demands of life.

The most powerful thing dads can give their children is their time, Sam believes.

“It’s important for parents to understand that kids just need a little bit of time with them. Their love language is more focused on quality time than gifts or acts of services,” he explained.

Even short moments can make a big difference.

“It could be five minutes, it could be 20 minutes,” he said.

Play, including rough-and-tumble games, also teaches children boundaries and resilience.

“That’s not just playful time. They’re learning very deep and strong concepts that they’re going to bring to life with their friends in the future.”

“Kids just need a little bit of time with [their dad]. Their love language is more focused on quality time than gifts or acts of services.”

Building memories with dad dates

Sam encouraged dads to plan simple one-on-one times with their children.

“That’s basically the ultimate goal… to build something meaningful for the child, build memories, find a hobby that your child wanted to do as well.”

But he also acknowledged that many fathers struggle with work and study commitments.

His advice was to focus on what can be done and embrace the “1% rule”: “Okay, you improve 1% every day. You are on the right track to improve and to achieve your goals.”

Sam encouraged dads to plan simple one-on-one times with their children.

The power of repair

Fatherhood doesn’t mean being perfect. In fact, Sam reminded dads that mistakes can be powerful teaching opportunities.

“A part of the process of teaching our kids how to be good is actually failure,” he said.

He encouraged dads to model humility by apologising.

“The child learns to apologise but also recognise your mistakes. Rupture and repair… it’s essential for connection, essential for good development and emotional regulation of a child.”

Fatherhood doesn’t mean being perfect.

Keep going

Quoting Winston Churchill, Sam offered encouragement for fathers who feel overwhelmed: “If you are going through hell, keep going.”

“The journey of fatherhood is actually a lot of struggles, a lot of learning process, but keep going, because you get there.”

Listen to the full conversation in the player above.

Hope for dads without role models

Sam also spoke to fathers who didn’t have strong role models themselves.

“Sometimes we don’t have a role model that could show us what to do, but we can build our ideal parent,” he said.

“Make an effort, open up, be positive, be kind to yourself, be kind to your mistakes as well and believe that you can achieve.”

Listen to the full conversation in the player above.

Feature image: CanvaPro