I've been at this house husband lark for six months now. Only one trip to A&E so far, so that's not bad. Before this, as I may have mentioned (if I haven't, I will soon) I was in an office job for two decades. Having got though the usual chaos of Christmas and back into the school run and nappy changing routine, it struck me one of the things 'missing' from a life at home with the kids, is the professional structure that comes with a paying type job.
As soon as you say you're an expert on widgets, a whole sub culture springs up offering you advice and training on how to be a better widget expert. And then comes the real excitement. Someone somewhere will say to themselves "what these widget types need is a ... conference!" Mindlessly big companies and individuals hand over hundreds of pounds to sit in comfy, soulless venues looking at power point slides and hearing others explain their widget experience. I've been to my fair share. The travel was amazing, the knowledge harder to quantify. But the endorsement of being in a concrete bunker full of thousands of who speak your professional language is strangely affirming.
 |
| Buggy testing at Dad Con |
Apart from the school disco, I can't see a similar structure offered to stay at home parents. So, I'm going to put that right. Coming soon...DAD CON 2012!!! I favour Reading as a venue - much better food than Nice. We'll have nappy training sessions. Go getting presentations from famous dads - probably Richard Branson. It'll be a chance to mingle and see what the industry is offering to make our lives easier in the year ahead - from leak proof water bottles to re-useable flap jacks. And there'll be an award session. Fastest nappy change maybe? Earliest departure for school run? Best homebrew?
And it'll be very expensive to register, just to warn you in advance. But it wouldn't be professional if it wasn't expensive. Put it in your diary now - see you at stand C4 on level 12.
No comments:
Post a Comment