On the 27th January 2020, I was stuck in traffic on the way to work when the name hit me.
For those of you that have followed for a while, you’ll know that the run-up towards Christmas 2019 was one of the hardest few months of my life.
I’d sunk deep into depression and struggled with being a ‘co-parent’.
The thought of the first Christmas not waking up to see my little girl’s face hit me in September and got worse…and worse.
Unexpectedly, Christmas came and surprisingly, it was one of the best Christmases I’d had in years.
I was no longer in a relationship that wasn’t working, which meant I was in total control of the time I had with Evie.
Sure, it was less time than I wanted, but it was OUR time.
I realised focusing on what WASN’T was never going to help me.
OK, It may not have been the ‘happily ever after’ family life I’d hoped for, but for the first time, I realised the power was squarely in my hands to own every second I had my with daughter.
No more moping. I’d been slipping down a self-destructive path for a while; now was the time to face into it.
I decided 2020 would be different.
“The Breaking Dad”
Breaking, but never broken.
I thought it summed the journey to that point perfectly (And it conveniently rhymed with the name of one of my favourite TV shows).
This Instagram page is a journal. It holds me accountable to my daughter and my mission of raising a strong daughter. It forces me to be creative and focus on enriching her life.
12 months and just short of 12k followers later, I’ve been blown away by the sheer volume of fantastic people who use this platform – Kind and supportive people who embrace their roles as loving parents and inspire me to be the best that I can be.
What started out as a journey a single dad’s journey with his daughter evolved organically into finding love again with the most wonderful human, @always_rosie_ and her beautiful children.
2020 will forever be known in history as the year that COVID-19 struck. But to me, despite the hardshps we’ve ALL faced in the last 12 months, I’ll always remember it as the year I found myself as a father.
Thanks for following our journey.
Dan & Evie
