Roll over, Mickey Mouse, and tell Donald Duck the news — at-home fathers will be taking over your town this September.
Orlando, Fla., will host The National At-Home Dad Network’s 2018 convention Sept. 13 to 15. HomeDadCon 2018, as the conference for at-home fathers is dubbed, will be the nonprofit organization’s 23rd such annual event.
Registration and details for the conference have not yet been released, but the organization has started taking hotel reservations at the event’s venue.
HomeDadCon brings fathers who are their family’s primary caregiver together for professional development as dads who embrace parenting as their most important job, to network with other active and involved dads, and also for a well deserved chance to relax.
The 2017 at-home dads conference attracted about 200 fathers to Portland, Ore., for three days in September. It featured weighty keynotes and panel discussions on topics such as teaching children about sexual consent or dealing with diversity and racism. Breakout sessions included the serious (homeschooling, mixing technology with parenting, raising special needs children), the essential (marriage/relationships, mental health) and the less-than-serious but possibly essential depending on you and your family (improving one’s laundry skills, creating balloon animals).
The National At-Home Dad Network is dedicated to providing advocacy, community, education and support for families where fathers are the primary caregivers of their children. It’s stated purpose is to empower fathers and champion a culture that recognizes them as capable and competent parents.
Depending on your data source, somewhere between 160,000 and 2 million at-home fathers exist in the United States – a number steadily on the rise in the past few decades as attitudes and gender roles in the workplace and the home have evolved.
DISCLOSURE: City Dads Group has been a longtime sponsor of the HomeDadCon and a frequent partner of the National At-Home Dad Network.
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