In honor of Father’s Day, I wanted to share with you all something so special, it made me cry a little. This is a podcast called The Secret Life of Dads, and for a few months now, the podcast hosts have been holding something they call Pints & Ponytails. It’s a gathering of single dads with daughters who get together in local U.K. pubs. Not so unusual, right? Wrong. They go there to learn about parenting girls, and even learn to style their daughters’ hair using mannequin heads. The event was co-sponsored by Fluxxbox, a company that makes first period kits for young women. Someone from Fluxxbox even offered the attendees a presentation on period basics, passing around pads and tampons so the dads could get a closer look.

“Periods shouldn’t be a mum topic; they’re a parenting topic. A daughter who knows her dad won’t flinch or hand the conversation over to mum is a daughter who hopefully grows up with a positive outlook on men.”

As sweet as the event was, the podcast is just as wonderful. They are doing what they can to move away from the toxic masculinity model an to encourage their readers to embrace the kinder side of parenting. The goal of the podcast is to “discuss the challenges of raising children and support each other without judgment.” They acknowledge that fathers are the first example children have of what a real man can be. What a marvelous, generous, honest way of looking at parenting.

You can listen to the ongoing Secret Life of Dads series on their Apple Podcast page, and you can follow them on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.