We celebrate Father’s Day with your favourite stars…
Here singer Shannon Noll, 32, talks about being a dad to sons Cody, 7, and Blake, 5, and daughter Sienna, 23 months.
Has becoming a father changed you?
It’s changed me 100 per cent… definitely. You’ve got these little human beings to protect and nurture, which is massive, and makes you grow up pretty quickly. When my boys were born I was at the stage of trying to find my own manhood and maturity, and all of a sudden I had these other lives I had to protect. With my dad gone, it’s even harder because I feel like I’m walking blind through the forest. I have to feel my own way and I miss that I can’t ring him up and ask what he’d do in certain situations.
Are you like your own father in the way you raise your children?
Mum was always the authority, but we admired Dad so much — we didn’t want to disappoint him. I try to deal with my kids the same way. I want to protect them and have authority, but I also try to have a soft side so that I have an emotional connection with them. My brothers and I had that with both our mum and dad.
Are either of your boys like you?
I hope they’re better than me. You just hope they’ll learn from your mistakes. I want to explain my mistakes to them and try and stop them from repeating them.
For the full interview with Shannon, plus interviews with Michael Slater, Dr Chris Brown and Brendan Jones, see this week’s issue of Woman’s Day (on sale September 1).
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