Posted on 04. Nov, 2004 by Brian Reid in General
Some convention updates and other assorted items about the at-home dad community at large: for starters, the plane tickets have been purchased. I’ll be getting into O’Hare a bit after 5 p.m. on Friday. I plan to hit the Kyle Pruett speech at Oakton before heading downtown for the festivities. And I’ll be staying through Sunday morning before rushing back home. If you’re headed in and need a ride, let me know. I’ve got a rental.
Not surprisingly, I’ll be decked out in Rebel Dad gear, so I’ll be easy to spot. If you’re looking for some gear of your own, keep in mind that shipping takes about a week.
Finally, a longtime poster on the “dads-at-home” group on Yahoo!Groups asked “where are the new AHD’s?” last month. It’s a good question. It seems that the number of at-home dads on the net is growing, based simply on meetup.com and dad blogs. Are those forums replacing the e-mail listservs? The Yahoo! dads-at-home group is one of the largest and tightest-knit online dad groups I’ve found, but it is dominated by a core of posters who know one another (mostly from the convention), and I wonder if that has kept people away. So I’m interested in hearing from some readers here to know which — if any — online dads groups they frequent, and why. (I know Russ has a list on his site, but I’m curious who is drawn to which groups.)
Wade Jones
05. Nov, 2004
I used to subscribe to both “Dadslist” and “At-homedads” on Yahoogroups. Dadslist was by far the spammier of the two, and it’s topics were far and away more far ranging than I needed. It appeared, from that list in particular, that the majority of the fathers involved were far more conservative in mindset than I’d imagined, and I didn’t really feel like I fit in. Thus I left it. It’s not that they didn’t make me feel welcome - it’s just that I can get debate in real life if I want it. I went there looking for support.
The At-HomeDads list I remember very little of. Looking through my archives, I realize it’s cause the DadsList spam drowned it out by an amazing ratio. In the end, I just didn’t feel that I actually gained anything by staying. I got more information and help from the various web blogs/sites that I visit.
I think the irony of it all is that for me, I get more out of the Playgroup I go to - which is all Moms except me. Not what I expected.
Russ
07. Nov, 2004
I belong to all 5 of the Yahoo Groups (listed on my site as you mentioned). I think each of them seems to have it’s own unique personality, and some of them actually talk about parenting issues… occassionally.
DadsList is a great list, but more restrictive on topics allowed than the other lists, IMHO. That spawned the new DadsOT (off-topic) list, which can get a bit rowdy (lots of posts on religion and politics).
Dads-At-Home is the most prolific, with a wide range of topics covered.
The others are good as well. Honestly, I get a lot out of them all even though I’m primarily a lurker.
Russ
07. Nov, 2004
The SAHD MeetUp numbers are growing, but I think it needs to be publicized more. I was asked by MeetUp to talk with a writer for Parenting magazine about dads on the net in general, and MeetUp specifically, but the interview fell through and I don’t know if they ever did the article.
SAHD blogs certainly seem to be on the rise. I find so many of them fascinating that I really have to limit the amount of time I spend online so I don’t totally neglect my kids!