Lee Carseldine Talks About The Importance Of Being A Dad

Lee Carseldine, Nick Farr-Jones, Michael Crossland, Cam Merchant, and John Mangos are among the fathers sharing their stories around the important role father’s play in a child’s life with their best ever family recipe in the lead-up to Australia’s Fathering Awards

Here, we caught up with former Australian cricketer and Survivor contestant Lee Carseldine and asked him a few questions around fathering, raising his two boys and his love of cooking including his new best dinner recipe.

“Being a parent and fathering you need to keep adding new tools to your toolkit as they grow and hit the teenage years. I love to cook healthy meals for the kids, and we often gather around the dinner table and chat. I am not the best dad-chef, but I like to make a healthy spaghetti bolognaise however the boys like to get into the kitchen and make an extremely taste bolognaise complete with brown sugar – they have said, Dad, leave the bolognaise to us!

“But I do have a new dish which is a special, lamb racks with baked rosemary potatoes, sweet potato and carrots. I have not perfected it yet but give me a few more weeks!”

matt preston bolognese — Matt Preston’s yummy spaghetti bolognese

Organised by The Fathering Project in partnership with the Australian Father’s Day Council, the Australian Fathering Awards aim to showcase Australian Dads and men who are outstanding role models and promote good parenting skills and the importance of fatherhood at every stage of a child’s life. The research is indisputable that fathers have an enormous influence on the health and wellbeing of a child. Children without an engaged and effective father figure experience significantly poorer social, mental, emotional, physical and academic outcomes, and these impacts last well into adult life and across communities for generations.

According to The Fathering Project CEO Kati Gapaillard, being a good father is the most important and impactful job most men will ever have.

“As rapid socio-economic change is challenging traditional family stereotypes and gender roles, many fathers and father-figures are struggling to fulfil the joys, challenges and responsibilities of being an effective parent,” says Kati.

“Supporting fathers to be more effective caregivers can alleviate the negative impacts of disadvantage and break generational cycles, resulting in happier, healthier and more resilient communities.”

“It is a critical time for us to show fathers and prospective fathers that creating better family relationships and moments now, means a better tomorrow for communities everywhere.”