Blogging For Fathers- The M3 Conference

I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle. Been running around since January screaming that 2010 is the Year of the Daddy Blogger and yet I missed the first daddy blogger conference. Missed out on the chance to hang with Cal Ripken Jr. and the chance to meet a few of the boys in person. But though I am disappointed that I couldn’t make it I am ok with it. Not that I really had a choice- and I don’t mean that sarcastically.

Part of being a parent means that you have an obligation to be a role model for your children. The choices you make in how you live your life affect them. Sometimes you have make very hard decisions that are awkward and uncomfortable. But that is part of the job description.

I stayed home because it is Rosh Hashanah, The Jewish New Year, I am in the middle of a work project I couldn’t get out of and because I am coaching my daughter’s soccer team. Our first game is this weekend and I couldn’t miss the game. It is her first season playing and she is far too excited about this.

Even though the decision was easy to make it was still disappointing, but it is also a good teaching moment. Not just for the children but for me. I wanted to go. I wanted to meet some of my friends in person and I wanted to learn more about blogging. I said the very same thing to my son.

He told me that he understood why I would want to see my friends in person but told me that he didn’t understand why I wanted to learn more about blogging. So I looked at him and asked him what he thought was the reason.

In return he fed me one of my lines about how you never stop learning and that even when you are an expert at something there is still more to learn. As you can imagine his story made me smile. Even when you know that your children are listening it is always good to have them provide you with proof that they do listen.

And it was nice to be able to tell him a little bit about some of my goals for myself. One of the big ones is doing something with the blog. After 6.5 years I feel like it is time to change things up a bit around here. It is time to shake it up and force myself to stretch. I can do better and doing better will only help me- but we’ll save that conversation for a different day.

For now let’s say that I am very curious to hear about the M3 and whether people enjoyed it. The daddy bloggers have been around just as long as the moms, if not longer. It is about time that we do something to help ourselves.