I’m looking for message boards for fathers. I know there are plenty of them out there for mothers, but for men I just haven’t been able to find any. Seems to me that the men get the short end of the stick when it comes to learning about parenting. My wife has a lot of books, but a lot of it deals with women and the chapters for men are usually short. I’ve tried to pick up a few books for men but they all seem to suggest we’re idiots.
You can start at National Fatherhood Initiative which is almost a clearinghouse for dads.
There’s also Fathers.com.
I refer people to Minnesota Fathers Network daily, but it’s pretty state specific.
None are really message boards, but with a little digging around I know there links to some.
We are idiots. Good thing is, being an idiot doesn’t preclude you from being a good dad. In fact, once they get old enough they think Dad being an idiot is funny. Until they become teenagers, when you become an insufferable idiot.
Seriously, just read the womens books and forget anything that is gender specific. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
My Mom got me this book when we had our first kid. I love it (and so does my wife). It’s pretty tongue in cheek, but it has some good information in it too.
I have read the books and such. I’d just like a place to talk with other fathers about those things inside us, you know, guts and stuff.
I’m not even sure what I’m looking for really. But it would be nice to see what other ‘normal’ guys have to say about being a dad. Sure books can give you tips and all, but not much else.
MissTake, I did see a couple of those places before. One of them, I think fathers.com, had an article about sex that said you should tell your children it’s best to wait until marriage to have sex. There were a couple of other articles as well that made me go hummm.
As with anything, you have to take some of it with a grain of salt.
Most of what I deal with is single father families / non-custodial father situations and the multitude of issues that goes with them. Were you in Minnesota I could easily give you mortar places for fathers also, but, since you’re not…
Here’s some more linkies:
Resources/blogs for dads
Fathers’ Forum
Father’s World