By CATHERINE MASTERS
Craig Davis and Hannah are as much a family as anyone else.
Mr Davis, aged 37, might be a single dad and Hannah his 10-year-old daughter but the Birkdale man is adamant that it is love, support and caring that make the family, not necessarily a cosy setup of mum, dad and the kids.
His relationship ended around the time Hannah was born and Mr Davis won custody some years later.
It is not easy being a bloke and bringing up a little girl - he has had to learn about dolls and is now on a steep fashion learning curve.
The day-to-day realities of single child-rearing have sunk in over the years.
"I've learned to live with no money, no privacy. It's interesting for me. I went from working at a hospital and literally being in contact with hundreds of people every day to sitting at home with a small person, so I had to rebuild my whole social life."
To try to fit in, he joined a Plunket young mums' group, but it did not work out because young dads have different issues to young mums.
So he started his own group, Shore Fathers.
"Initially we got together because there were a couple of house fathers and a couple of solo dads and it was like, 'I'm not the only one out there who is doing this alone'."
He says the aim is just to get dads to be better at being fathers.
Members of Mr davis' extended family also live at his property, so when Hannah needs advice from a woman, her Aunty Sue steps in.
Mr Davis says life would be miserable without the love and help of an extended family.
And he would not be without his daughter. "I get out of it the fact I have this beautiful young lady. She's cool and forgives me every time I screw up.
"I can apologise and say, 'I'm sorry' and she unreservedly says, 'I know Dad and I love you,' and that makes everything go away - not straight away, but it makes the world such a better place."
* Shore Fathers can be contacted on 483-2477.
Solo fathers unite to be better dads
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.