Daddy dearest

A duo of doting dads light up tomorrow's Child magazine - out free with The Times - with their funny, well-observed looks at a slice of their lives as fathers.

Comic actor Alan Montanaro's piece on the birth of his daughter is a hoot but he is deadly serious when it comes to his reflections on her present teenage years.

And there's a touch of dark humour in the account by Sandro Spiteri, the head of the National Family Commission, of the fate of the family pets... they generally die young.

Being the Christmas edition, a third father, the equally well-known Natalino Fenech, looks at how this can be an ideal time to inculcate a sense of charity in your children - and not just with alms giving. Two more seasonal features delve into getting the kids to enjoy Yultide traditions and allowing their creativity to emerge in the making of a beautiful Christmas present (we won't give away what it is today...).

Two articles look at how some parents are helping children other than their own, through fostering and volunteering to assist families in difficulty. Features on safety in the home, emotional intelligence, computer gaming and the art of parental compromise provide some valuable advice on topics that are intimately connected with the everyday lives of your children... and there's more. Child is published by Allied Newspapers Ltd, produced by Mediamaker and printed by Progress Press.