Welcome to a new segment on Dadhouse: Dad Stories. These are the dads that show up every day and do the job. Their voices, their stories, their lives. On the first episode of Dad Stories, Mick and Shannon welcome Daniel Wilkinson, a rural at-home dad showing us how it’s done. 

But before we get to it, please take a minute to follow, like, and subscribe. It helps get stories like Daniel’s out into the world, and it gives fathers the much-needed advice and community that they deserve. 

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Daniel Wilkinson is the father of two boys under the age of five, and he’s been an at-home dad since the beginning. Living in the geographical center of Texas, his life is more about being outdoors than in downtowns. Previously, he was a geologist that held different positions with both state government and in the oil fields. His wife is the only female OB/GYN within 90 miles. Daniel and his family chose to have him stay home simply because it made sense. 

Dad stories start (5:07) with the tradition of black-eyed peas on New Year’s Eve. If you’re from the South, you probably know the story behind that tradition. (6:00) Daniel gives a little bit of his family history so that we can all walk a mile in his shoes. This is one of the reasons we started doing Dad Stories; to get those other experiences that we can all learn from. 

One of the biggest obstacles Daniel faces is a lack of support (8:32) For many of our rural dads, it can often feel that you are an island. Daniel says that it can be pretty cutthroat in the rural areas and how others view masculinity. From men and women, some always have an opinion. 

Next, Daniel gets into how he builds the memories that are his paychecks (11:01). He doesn’t have to worry about traffic, strangers, and many of the other things that parents living in cities do. Instead, his concerns focus on wildlife and farm equipment. He spends time teaching his boys how to respect both (16:53) and how to always have an exit strategy when dealing with animals. 

During Covid, his life didn’t change much (18:51). The biggest difference is that they just didn’t go to town. One of his best pieces of advice is how you frame things for your kids. They are not hikes or walks, they are adventures. It’s not so much a hike as it is dinosaur bone hunting. There’s a lot to do out in the rural areas. And if you’re interested (22:26), we determine if you can eat an ostrich egg. 

There is a lot of driving for Daniel and his family, and he’s got the experience to help other dads (24:38). He limits drive time to six hours and doesn’t use screens very much. Instead, he takes the time to talk to his boys. In his words “Hopefully we are establishing those lines of communication” that will benefit him and his family in the future. This all goes into practice when he took his kids to Colorado for a week and a half by himself. 

One huge challenge that he faces is connections (27:04). Being rural, there aren’t that many at-home dads around him. He finds his people at churches, feed stores, and in his hobbies such as rodeos and aviation. 

Whenever we have a guest like this, we always ask them for their best piece of advice (31:22). Daniel delivers and helps those that live in an area where the closest neighbor may be 40 miles away. 

Finally, we end this episode with a discussion on cutting horses and how that works (38:31). We are all more than dads. We have lives and joys outside of parenting, and it’s always fun to dive into them.