Aaron Dale: Single Fatherhood Without a Blueprint
Host of the Raisingboys2men podcast on being a single dad to two children by two different mothers, and choosing not to repeat his own father's pattern
Aaron Dale grew up on an estate in Kent, raised by his mother while his father lived nearby with another family, visiting him in secret like he was something to be hidden. When Aaron was nine, his dad turned up, took him for KFC, and promised things would be different. He didn't see him again until he was sixteen.
Aaron is now a single father to two children, Amari and Tyler, from two separate relationships that both ended. Rather than repeat what he grew up watching, he built his life around the opposite of it. He now hosts the Raisingboys2men podcast, sharing co-parenting and relationship advice with the community he's built on Instagram.
On The Dad Project, Aaron talks about therapy, staying open instead of shutting down, and why he believes the real problem isn't a lack of male role models. As he puts it, "I think there's an increase in negative ones."
Follow him @raisingboys_2men.
Quotes
"I don't think there's a lack of male role models. I think there's an increase in negative ones."
"When I split up with my ex, I cried for days, and I sat there and no one could console me. I'm not going to show you all these things, but guess what, that's not a weakness, that's a strength."
This Episode Is About
Aaron Dale talks to The Dad Project about growing up with a father who existed on the same estate but stayed out of reach, and what it did to him to watch that man promise change and not deliver it.
The conversation moves through single fatherhood, co-parenting two children with two different mothers, and the therapy that helped him stop carrying what he calls "bricks" from his past.
It turns on the show he built almost by accident, the Raisingboys2men podcast, and why the most honest thing he ever posted became the thing that connected with people the most.
Who This Episode Is For
Single fathers raising children across two households
Men co-parenting with more than one former partner
Men who grew up without a present father and are figuring out what kind of dad to be instead
Men who think going to therapy means something is wrong with them
Men who've been told being open is the same as being weak
What You'll Takeaway
Vulnerability with your kids is not weakness
Peace between parents beats being right
Unaddressed pain only gets heavier
Trust does more than control ever will
Honesty connects more than image does
