Inside the Life of a Dad in Business: Sports Days, Lunch Days and Runaways

Balancing parenthood and company ownership has been quite the challenge recently. There’s been so much to enjoy—but also so much to learn from. I’m always trying to see any mistakes I make as learning opportunities, rather than just festering in regret.

Our delightful partnership with BROOD has been an absolute standout from these busy times. Rob, Lolo and their entire community have been brilliant. How they’ve managed to curate a group of humans that are good, kind, ambitious and driven to success is astonishing. A genuine ethos of raising each other up, celebrating other people’s wins… and just moving through this world with the very best of intentions. Love it. But we’ll come back to that.

When the Clock Gets Away from You

On one of the last Fridays before the end of term, I was at home working on social content and time was getting away from me. I was trying to manage client expectations with huge brands like Man City, Hiscox and Lloyd’s for one of my companies, LiteSwitch—whilst also being playful and engaging with Parent Push.

Sarah messaged me. I noticed that our 13-year-old boy was not yet back from school, which he finished at 3pm.

It was 4pm and the school is only a five-minute walk away. Nothing too crazy, I suppose, but our home and dynamic are far from usual. And he is operating many years younger than his 13 years would presume. He’s extremely troubled, traumatised, and struggles with just being. His situation goes well past neurodiversity and pushes into trauma and chronic abuse stress disorder.

5pm, nothing. 5.10pm and we are calling anyone who’ll listen. We’ve walked local parks, alleys… ditches. I called the police, made a statement and listed him as missing. By 7pm, the school was actively searching in groups: TAs, teachers… checking McDonald’s, car parks, asking neighbours, while the school cleaners searched the building too. They know how incredibly vulnerable he is. An entire community searching.

Finally, at 9pm, a teacher found him in a random friend’s house on an estate. He’d run away and was trying to stay there overnight.

This was a truly disturbing moment in our lives. It’s impossible to avoid letting your mind imagine the police calling with the worst news. If any parent out there has ever had a child go missing—you know. Even if you haven’t… I’m guessing you still know.

And again I come back to managing time. I had my head down with work for ages before I realised something was off. And even then it was Sarah who noticed… not me.

The Dads’ Race: The Widowmaker

On a brighter note, our summer really started with the fabled end-of-term sports day. My daughter is in year 4 and despite being only 9 years old—she has the maturity of a child much older. The sun was out, and parents sat in cliques with their prosecco hidden in water bottles. Everything was set.

Owning a film production company means I have the luxury of access to some nice camera kit, so I took along a lens and camera to steal some shots of my baby girl. She looked amazing in the late morning sun. Joyful, excited, celebrating and celebrated. Everything a parent could wish to see on such a day.

Then came the call for the dads’ race. The widowmaker.

My daughter had previously told me that if I did not run in the dads’ race—she would never speak to me again. This was about classroom pride for her.

Truth be told, I had been in and out of the gym for three months prior, training for this very moment. Not that I’d ever tell anyone that! I mean… I didn’t even warm up in front of the other dads. I wanted to look as casual and nonplussed as possible. I just stood up from the tiny child-sized bench I’d sat on for the last two hours and sauntered over to the start line. Looking back, even that walk felt a little… tight.

So we men of men stood on the start line. Waiting for the whistle of parental destiny to propel us towards the finish line. All our children looking on in anticipation and moderate awe. My only mission: do NOT embarrass your daughter.

The headteacher blew the whistle loud—Peeewwww!

My left foot pressed into the rock-solid earth and my entire body pushed away with incredible force. Left hamstring popped. My right foot landed, compensating for the left side’s “look at me” dramas. Awkward, forceful, weird. Right hamstring—popped! The sharpest agony and acute pain shot through me as I barely hobbled to the finish line. When I finally made it, most people had already left the sports day, and teachers were putting chairs away. It was ugly. Mission failed.

It’s interesting, but I think my not warming up had a lot to do with the fact I was responding to emails just prior. My daughter’s races had all finished by then, and I needed to confirm some details for Parent Push and LiteSwitch. Not excuses, of course, just recognising the complexity of time management, parenthood and running multiple companies.

Saving Time, Creating Headspace: The Parent Push Mission

On a huge plus note, our school is now rolling out Parent Push to all parents next term. The headteacher even gave a talk to new reception parents about the incredible benefits of using the platform to save time and headspace.

We’re also going to give away a limited number of free spaces to our Insta family and the BROOD community too. Free as in—today, tomorrow, and always. So you could theoretically use Parent Push with your child in reception… all the way through to their Year 11 graduation. For free.

Simply follow us on Instagram (@parentpush) and comment “Parent” on any post.

The collaboration with BROOD on this giveaway was really cemented at a delightful lunch we had in Piccadilly. Lolo is always such a forward thinker and truly understands how to connect people in the most organic way. The lady needs to run a course! So we’ll both be highlighting the free Parent Push spaces to help as many families across the UK as possible—saving time and creating headspace.

I’ll keep you posted on our parenting and Parent Push journey… but do let us hear your stories too!