Boys just like to have fun

Forget pinstriped shirts, chinos and clean shaven faces, the new breed of cool dads rock beards, have tats, are super chilled and generally roam in Salt Rock.

Darren-Wesley “Dubs” Heydenrych (32) is one of those dads, who seems to handle fatherhood with ease.

“Part of being a cool dad is having an amazing wife,” said Dubs, who married Bridgette in 2008, after having a long distance relationship for two years.

When Bridgette told Dubs they were going to be parents in 2010, he was thrilled.

“I was super stoked. Holding your child for the first time is hands down the best experience ever.”

After Channing (6) came Jordan (4) and recently little Roman (14 months).

“Having three boys is wild! I wanted four, but we are at capacity with three kids. They are so rad. Every morning, all three of them end up in our bed, which is great.”

His favourite time of day is coming home to the little guys.

“Bridgette has somehow taught them to all come running to me, with the little dude eagerly crawling at the back, when I get home. It just instantly puts me in a great mood. Although after some long days I go around the block twice.”

Keeping three boys in check is not always easy and Dubs said his dad motto is to not take parenting too seriously.

“You never have it together. Half the time you are only 50% sure if you are doing the right thing. We all want model kids with perfect manners, but no one is perfect. I just trust my wife’s feel.”

While Dubs thinks of himself as a lenient dad, he does have to play the bad cop every now and then.

“It is difficult to know how to discipline a six year old versus a 14 month old. They are so different. The one oke is super emotional and quiet, while the other one is loud and crazy. I draw the line when they are disrespectful. I try, and it is hard because they are so rad, to discipline them when necessary. Sometimes, I tell them to go to the bathroom and think about it. Channing knows when he has done something wrong. He looks at me and says he will go think about it.”

Being the man in charge of venue, vibe and volunteers at Linc Church, Dubs knows how to have fun, which he said is one of his biggest values.

“We go to the beach and ride our bikes. Saturday mornings we usually make crumpets and chill together. Whatever we do, we need to have fun, which I try to breed into the kids.”

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