Two northern suburbs fathers have combined their love of footy and parenting to become daddy bloggers.
Under the banner of tacklenappy.com, Travis Bull and David Goldstein, both 37, discuss the joys and sorrows of fatherhood.
The idea was born over a few beers at the footy, when they realised that while there were many blogs written by mums for mums, there wasn’t much for dads.
It took 18 months to get the site up and running, and they launched the blog on Brownlow Medal night in 2011.
“We found there weren’t enough resources out there for guys about being a dad,” says Bull, a project manager at the City of Whittlesea.
“We just talk about the daily frustrations and joys of being a dad.” Bull and his wife Amber are parents to Charlotte, 3, and nine-month-old Lukas.
While many posts are lighthearted, Bull shared the couple’s loss of their stillborn son, Aidan, in 2008.
“It was a horrific time and I’ve blogged about this a couple of times and get very supportive responses,” he says.
“It was a good outlet to encourage people to talk about it and for dads to know they are not alone.
It is still painful but writing about it is cathartic.” The lighthearted posts include one about Bull being a “retro dad”, dreaming of wearing a smoking jacket while his wife does the chores and the children are seen but not heard.
He is brought back to reality when one child yells out that someone has “done a poo”.
“The best thing about being a dad is seeing your kids grow and develop and become their own little identities,” Bull says.
“The hardest thing is getting a worklife balance; finding time to be at home.” The blog’s sporting themes include a logo with an AFL-style jersey background and a silhouette of a crawling baby, plus footy terminology such as “keep an eye on the ball”.
Votes for the blog’s “dad of the year” follow the Brownlow formula.
Bull writes under the nickname Chubba, coined by a nephew who couldn’t say his name.
Goldstein is Bucky, after a comedian’s joke about a Jewish cowboy called Bucky.
Goldstein is a stay-at-home Bundoora father of three girls – Maia , 8, Keira, 4, and Matilda, 10 months, while his wife Alanna works.
“I face all the challenges that Alanna faced at home; now she is working the tables have completely turned,” he says.
“The biggest challenge is trying to find time to do the things you want to do.
The meals have to be cooked, the dishes washed, the laundry done – the family comes first – before I can sit down to write.
By 9.30pm, I am tired; I need another 10 hours in the day.” Goldstein usually starts writing about 10.30pm and can finish as late as 2am.
The men have an internet radio program on Sundays at 9pm on Funky Kids Radio.
They have a wide following, and have featured on Channel’s Ten’s The Project.
