Tamati's baby dream: WE HAVE MORE LOVE TO GIVE

THE DEVOTED DADS CAN'T WAIT TO ADD TO THEIR HAPPY FAMILY

- Donna Fleming

Visitors to Tamati Coffey’s Rotorua home know the drill. Put your cell phone away or he’s likely to confiscate it. “It’s a rule I’ve introduced,” explains the Labour MP and dad to 20-month-old Tutanekai Coffey-Smith. “So many times you see a group of people all on their phones, and I look at my son and wonder what he must be thinking as he sees everyone staring at their devices. That makes me think that we need to do better than this – we need to talk to each other more.”

The phone ban is one of the ways Tamati reckons he’s changed since becoming a dad. He tries to see the world through his toddler’s eyes and make things better where he can. Being an MP means he can try to do that on a national level, but even small changes at home can make a difference.

Tamati’s quick to add that he’s not completely against screen time for his youngster, who will be two in July. “Last night, we watched The Lion King together and that was really special. Sometimes we’ll sit down to watch Postman Pat – we’ve really been getting into that. But it’s about balance.”

Parenting is a steep learning curve, tells Tamati, 41, and he and husband Tim Smith are learning something new every day. “Tutanekai’s at a really cool age where he’s growing, changing, walking and talking, and grasping new concepts – it’s just so amazing. We’re teaching him all the time about the world and how to live in it, but the more I’m around him, the more I learn as well. It’s not a one-sided thing.”

He’s come to realise that it takes a village to raise a child.