Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli on being a hands-on dad

HE admits to dressing up his 4-month-old as Kanye West, but Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli isn’t just joking around — he’s relishing his role as a hands-on dad.

‘Don’t know why men wouldn’t want to be involved’

HE admits to dressing up his 4-month-old as Kanye West, but Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli isn’t just joking around — he’s relishing his role as a hands-on dad.

Working in breakfast radio means odd hours, but Wippa says he does what he can to make it work, and his boy Ted is on board.

“He’s my new best mate, he’s committed to that role — he’s up at 4am when I am too, not many other friends are able to put in that sort of effort.”

He’s only kidding a little, admitting he was extremely nervous in the lead up to his son’s birth — knowing he wanted to spend a lot of time with him, but wondering how it was all going to work.

“I’m very lucky I’m not a 9-5 worker. If you’re doing long hours and commuting, you’re missing out on seeing them before they go to bed. I’m lucky I’m home at 2ish … that way I can take Ted for a walk and give Lisa (his wife) a break. That’s the beauty of it.”

While Wippa says missing out on moments in his son’s life is difficult, he is glad he is living in an era where it’s expected that men will be hands on dads.

“The love that fathers give — the amount they’re involved is amazing. I don’t know why (some men) wouldn’t want to be involved — I’m glad that’s changed over the years, and we can be a part of nappies and bath times”

Despite his hands-on role, Wippa admits his wife takes on the bulk of the work, and the lack of sleep can take its toll.

“She’s OK. She does get run down. It becomes a case, of who’s not as damaged, and that person has to step up. On the weekend I do a lot more.

“I’m fairly conscience of what it can do to a new mum. I want her to make sure it feels like her life is continuing … she sacrificed her job, body — she’s given up a lot.

Lisa & Wippa at the Centennial Parklands Wild Play Cocktail Party

He believes investing time in each other as a couple can help keep up the sense of who they were before Ted came along.

“We try and get out as much as we can. We even take Ted out on a Friday night Japanese. We try and keep a bit of normality of what we do. I try to give her a break.”

That element of teamwork is critical when times get tough.

Like all new parents, there have been difficult moments. Wippa says he and Lisa tried to prepare for that by having a keyword, Geronimo.

“When we mention that word it reminds us that we were expecting tough times, and we would get through. We’ve only used it once, when Lisa’s milk was low and Ted was screaming and we didn’t have any formula.”

While Wippa was lucky that he was around at that particular crisis moment, the nature of his work means he has to travel.

Last week he was in LA, the first time he had been separated from his baby.

He admitted the separation was difficult, but said he was using private photo share program TinyBeans that allowed his wife to share a slide show of images without bombarding her Facebook feed so everyone else could be spared.

“It was my first time away — I really needed that hit of pics at the end of the day.”

He said that while he is normally conscious of not “living behind his phone screen” (either taking photos, texting, or surfing online), he appreciates the need for parents to take pictures.

But he says while he does post a limited number of photos on sites like Instagram, he worries about the oversharing of images on mainstream social media, which can become “boring” for those not close to the bub.

Twitter: @katecalacouras