Thursday, August 23, 2012

5 Reasons NOT To Attent The National At-Home Dad Convention

I decided to put out my "Friday" post a little early.  I have been telling you, recently, about all of the great reasons to attend the National At-Home Dad Convention in Washington, D.C. this year.  I feel like I have done an adequate job promoting the event and calling attention to the many benefits it provides.  I wanted to take a few minutes to talk to you about five good reasons to NOT attend the convention, just so I have covered all angles before the registration price goes up after Friday's deadline.


1. You're a mom, you don't have any kids, or you work from home part or full time.

You would think that a requirement to attend a convention for at-home dads would be that you are, in fact, a non-working male who takes care of his children.  It may surprise you to know that those things are not required at all!  In years past, there have been a few guests who decided to take part in the convention who were neither male, nor had children!  Lisa Duggan (a mom) from The Parent DuJour was a proud attendee, and she wrote about her experience with a room full of involved dads.  I think there was a guy at the convention last year whose wife was pregnant but hadn't delivered yet.  He was there because he knew he would be an at-home dad when mommy's maternity leave was over.  Technically, he didn't have kids yet, but he still came to party with us.  And most at-home dads do some sort of part time work (myself included), and many work from home full time.  We get it.  Believe me.  Just register already.

2. You really don't like "hanging out with the guys."

One minute I'm sitting in a Tex-Mex restaurant eating fish tacos with about a dozen guys I don't know, and the next minute, I'm finding out that there is a Steelers fan, a Browns fan, a Ravens fan, and a Broncos fan at the same table.  The trash talking promptly began, and it has never really stopped, even to this day.  This large group split up and half went to a crowded Irish pub and the rest of us went to a bluegrass bar (yes, this exists, and it is awesome!).  So, if your idea of the worst time of your life includes gorging your face with delicious fish tacos while arguing about sports over a few Shiner Bocks followed by either a shot of rye Irish whiskey in your coffee or a little Kentucky bourbon and bluegrass, then the events leading up to and after the convention may not be for you.  Those moments of "just hanging out with the guys" are a great part of the convention experience, but you could always just show up on Saturday morning for the sessions or just sit in your hotel room alone while everyone else is out having fun.  There's no judging at the convention.  Make it what you want.  Go ahead and register today while there's a $15 discount, unless, of course, you also hate discounts.  Then just wait until tomorrow.

3. You're the perfect parent.

You think you have it all figured out.  You've been an at-home dad for a while, and things seem like they're on cruise control.  You came out of your mother's womb practically draped in nurturing skills (by the way, that wasn't nurturing skills, it was amniotic fluid).  You think you know it all, but what if you're wrong?   What if your child is about to go through a phase that you're not yet prepared for - terrible two's, thunderous three's, freakin' awful four's, tween-age, teenage, or college age?  You could probably benefit from the advice of some wiser folks who have gone through these battles and lived to tell their war stories.  Register today to take advantage of the $15 discount.  

4. You can't stand good food. 

This convention is taking place in one of the most diverse cities in the United States.  There is access to  any kind of food you can imagine within a short distance of the hotel.  Not only that, there is great food for lunch as well.  The post-convention dinner options at Joe Theisman's restaurant (for an extra $30) are pretty amazing for the price.  But if you really hate all of that, it's okay.  You can eat hotel food for breakfast, have nothing but chips and soda for lunch, and get a crappy fast-food dinner on the way home.  Like I said before, there's no judging at the convention.  Don't let your hatred of good food stop you from attending.  Take advantage of the $15 discount TODAY!

5. You don't like to learn new things. 

You hated high school.  You hated college.  You hated that technical training your boss made you attend.  Heck, you even hated driver's ed.  You hate watching This Old House on PBS because you might actually learn how to fix that whatchamacallit that your wife has been bugging you about fixing for a month.  You hate cooking shows because you might actually learn how to make food and would, therefore, be responsible for cooking.  Believe it or not, there's a place for you too at the at-home dad convention.  You don't have to come to learn, but you can come to hang out with some pretty cool guys.  There are a lot of opportunities to not-learn in good company.  But you may also realize that we have all had to learn a thing or two while undertaking this at-home dad gig.  You'll probably hear stories about how we actually had to go learn some things in order to fix the problems we were having in our homes.  Granted, you don't have to actually learn anything at the convention.  But chances are you will hear some stories that will inspire you to want to consider learning something new - even if you think you hate it - and that's a baby step in the right direction.  Register today while the discounted price is still being offered.

6 comments:

  1. Bummer! I have to attend now since I don't meet any of these 5 reasons not to attend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So there I was last night talking to another dad at a Cub Scout Campfire about the morning challenges and attitudes of a new school year bring on and we were in complete agreement on the issues.
    I am at Home by trade and so is he during the Tuesday-Friday work week. we see each other often at the playground and our kids are scouts together. Come Friday night he becomes a Sheriff in downtown Denver working nights through Monday night and their mom works the traditional work week. I would consider him a co-worker who is a bad ass at his weekend job!-MHDhttp://dadsgroup.mile-highdads.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great post Matt! i would love to attend but being in the middle of the country makes it a little rough on me...sigh...maybe next time.

    Aaron

    ReplyDelete
  4. Among other reasons. You know, like being the Prez and all.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Maybe not "Rocky Mountain cold"... until next year.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks! We're in Denver for 2013-14, and then we're probably due to be somewhere in the middle of the country. There's a big group in KC that has hosted before. We'll see.

    ReplyDelete

ShareThis

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...