A Fresh Perspective From a Dad

It was a cold January day when I brought my 7-month-old daughter, Melina, (pictured on left with dad, Howard) to our first NYC Dads Group event, and I was hoping it would be worth the schlep from Chelsea to Battery Park City. The children’s company was called “Music Together in the City” (part of the national chain – Music Together) and it met in a function room in a downtown residential apartment building called The Soundings. The room was clean and spacious, with an entire wall of mirrors, which was fantastic for my daughter who loves checking out her reflection! We were the fourth dad/child pair to arrive and we were warmly greeted by the other dads group members, as well as the Music Together leaders. All of the children were, by my guess, under 18 months old with the youngest at only three months! Children were laying on their mats, crawling, or walking around the room while the dads chatted, all the while with an eye on the little ones. It was a relaxed, but attentive atmosphere that immediately made me feel quite comfortable. A few more dads arrived with their kids and the musical journey began.The Music Together leaders were two women who were super-friendly and enthusiastic. They started with a welcome song, and I was very impressed that they remembered the names of all of the children. All of the songs were accessible to the kids, “children’s songs”, with repetitive melodies and rhythms that we clapped or tapped out on our children’s knees. I loved that the leader, Erin, firmly told the dads that while the children could basically do whatever they wanted (no rules), the dads had to follow her directions and participate fully. It was great to be a part of this group of men who were just singing, dancing, wiggling, and just being silly with their children. During the class, several of the other children crawled or walked over to my daughter Melina to say “hi”. I was impressed with how comfortable and accepting both the children and the parents were with new members. Needless to say, it was worth the schlep and we will definitely be participating in future NYC Dads Group events.