Rainy Day Dad

This past week I had the amazing opportunity to join Dads and dad-centric organizations from across the country for Dad 2.0 Summit in New Orleans.  In their words " The Dad 2.0 Summit is an open conversation about the commercial power of dads online, and an opportunity to learn the tools and tactics used by influential bloggers to create high-quality content, build personal brands, and develop business ideas." I was going due to my association with City Dads Group and to help build my skills as a co- organizer  for the Portland group.  This would be my first year attending the summit so I wasn't completely sure what to expect. I watched the Facebook group and checked my e-mails as they announced various speakers, breakout sessions and Sponsors. With each announcement my excitement grew but so did my anxiety. "I don't belong here" was the message that kept running through my head. I swim in a heavy sea of self doubt and I border on paranoid about letting

One of the things I often hear from stay at home parents, both moms and dads, is that they feel a sense of isolation. We spend all day with a kid who may or may not be able to converse with us. Even if they can talk its not the same as interacting with another adult.  Most of my friends had older kids already and I didn't have any gay friends with kids so I had to go find some new friends. Most of us know that as an adult it can be a little difficult to make new friends unless you join an organization of common interests. Moms groups and other mom-centric activities have been around for quite some time which has helped moms with that sense of community. Dad groups on the other hand are pretty new and many places don't have one. Even though I live in Portland Oregon, a pretty liberal and accepting town, I was unsure if there was a dad community or not.  I hopped online and looked up dad groups. I was surprised to find that there were actually several. These have become my savin

Part 2 of our saga begins with a devastated couple. The next few months were incredibly difficult. Now, you may be thinking, "They only had them for 9 months, how bad could it be". The thing to remember is we were a couple trying to have kids. To have your perfect dream abruptly end is devastating.  I was now unemployed and no longer staying home as a Foster Parent, but I lacked the motivation to successfully find a new job. I looked for work but my heart wasn't in it. My Husband took some personal time too, as we both tried to cope with the loss. I slowly started to clean out the kids rooms. I sorted through the items, deciding what we wanted to keep and what we wanted to donate to the local Foster Closet. Each box I packed up hurt. Memories flooded in with each item I put away. My Husband was the first one to start getting back into the real world. He was starting career number two as a Realtor , so he suggested I get my license and join him.  I was somewhat relucta

Let me begin by saying that I'm no writer. I have horrible grammar and I'm the king of run on sentences. I never graduated college and I never really had a solid career. In both cases, its mainly because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I'd never found that perfect fit. I always felt like I would one day come across the right path and it finally did, as a Dad. I can honestly say from a fairly young age I knew I wanted to be a dad. I dreamed of the big house with a white picket fence and a couple kids. I never thought it would actually happen though. See, when I was 12 I started to realize I was a bit different than the other boys. While they all had posters of Cindy Crawford and Pamela Anderson on their walls I had a crush on Uncle Jesse from Full House. Being gay certainly makes having kids more difficult. Finding another gay man who also wants to have kids borders on impossible, but I did. My Husband and I met in 2006 and we are celebrating our 10 year ma