DadsDinner.com
Sometimes housedads need to know that they're not alone. DadsDinner is here to provide advice, humour and sanity.
My name is Edmund Farrow, I'm in my late thirties and I'm a housedad with three children - boys, aged eleven and nine, and a daughter, aged six. (Henceforth they shall be known as Sprog1, Sprog2 and Sproglette for ease of reference. Let's face it, it's difficult enough remembering your own childrens' names, let alone anyone else's). My wife works full-time as a coder. Long ago, in another life, so did I.
My aims in creating this site are as follows:
- To pass on some of the knowledge I've learnt the hard way before I forget it all. I'm not an expert. I don't have all the answers to the problems of being a housedad and of dealing with small children but hopefully I can give you a few ideas. Every child is different. Use what works; ignore what doesn't; apply some common sense.
- To share a few laughs. Children are inherently funny but, as with so many things, it's easy to get too caught up in the exasperation, stress and frustration to notice. Although I want to help you with the challenges of being a housedad, I want to raise a smile too. That will help in its own way.
- To give myself a sense of achievement. Yes, I know that looking after three children all day and everyone living to tell the tale afterwards is an achievement. Yes, I know that I frequently reassure you elsewhere in this website that merely surviving until your bedtime beer is a worthy goal. Yes, I know I should probably just go and have a lie down. But if you're allowed to ignore my advice, why can't I? Hopefully it'll help keep both of us sane in the long run.
- To combat isolation. It may not always seem like it, but there are plenty of us out there. We're normal. Let's get together and discuss football, women, politics, religion, poo and PlayStations. (Maybe not all at once, but you're welcome to make the attempt...)
Goodness, that sounds like hard work. I may have to go and lie down. Still, I'm going to try. Let me know what works and what doesn't, what was useful, what's wrong, what was encouraging and what made you choke on your coffee. Bear with me. I have three children and I never know when they're going to bring home a new and exciting disease. I'll reply when I can.
Update - Three-and-a-half years later: Mission Accomplished. I'm not currently adding to the site on a regular basis but there are over 600 pages of tips, reviews and stories here already. Take your time and look around. The Handbook is a good place to start.
Update - Another year after that: Twitter! That's right, the same encouragement, wry humour, reviews and child-related madness but in bite-sized chunks of 140 characters or less. Sign up here:
If you're not on Twitter and can't be bothered to join, don't worry - there's a handy round-up on the DadsDinner Homepage. If you check back once a week, you won't miss much. Then again, who knows what the future will bring?
Enjoy the site,
Edmund.
DadsDinner@DadsDinner.com
