Triple-time rewards of fatherhood

PHIL DOYLE/Sunday Star-Times

DAD'S DAY: Bevan Taylor with his triplets, from left, Aotea, Tainui and Tokomaru.

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Men, when your kids bring you your Father's Day breakfast in bed today, spare a thought for Raglan solo dad Bevan Taylor.

At 50, the former ferry skipper and kick-boxer has been bringing up triplets Aotea, Tokomaru and Tainui on his own since his wife left for Auckland three years ago to study.

Taylor reckons Father's Day will be full of laughter, adventure and learning but maybe no breakfast in bed.

When wife May left, being housebound was the last thing Taylor wanted so when the children were 15 months old, he put one in a backpack and two on a shetland pony to explore the outdoors.

His daily walks some up to 20km from home have made the triplets, now four, into "brilliant allrounders who know the outdoors and animals really well".

Taylor says his wife realised very quickly being a mother was not for her and he had no choice but to take over as home-maker. "As loving as she was, caring for children was alien to her. I would have lost the kids. They wouldn't have got the care they needed if I hadn't left work."

Taylor believes meditation gives him the patience to cope as a fulltime father.

And he's joined a network of mums, blogging as "dadpreneur"' on the mumsontop.co.nz website. "This seems like a great place to moan or rejoice about the trials, tribulations, challenges and tears of being a struggling solo dad and maybe even get some tips on how to improve my lot," he wrote.

Taylor, of the Tainui iwi, named his children after the waka that brought his ancestors to New Zealand and plans to home-school them while developing a possum-hunting business.

"I've been waiting until the kids were four before getting back into the workforce. My goal is to live with them and get them to be the best they can be. They know they can do anything they want to do."

- © Fairfax NZ News