Dads & Kids Enjoy Riverside Park

Last week, our NYC Stay at Home Dads Group migrated west to Riverside Park along the Hudson River. I was away with my family on a mini vacation, but Rich, an active NYC Dads Group member, who planned and organized this meet up outing will share his recap…

I am happy to be a part of this meet up group of dads. There is something unique to getting together with a group of other dads. On Wednesday, June 17th, eight dads got together in Riverside Park. We started at the Café on the water near Pier 1 at 70th street. We sat and chatted about daddying while some ate lunch or fed their kids.

The topic of the Today Show that aired that morning came up every few minutes while we were at the Café. No one seemed particularly pleased with the show. The reporter seemed to have already formulated a conclusion before he started performing any interviews. Then, at the end, the reporter joked that if he were to lose his job, he would join us on the lawn in Central Park. One can only hope! Needless to say, the SAHDs that I have met are all sane, competent and confident men who could obtain a job and continue back on a career path…but instead, we choose a job that involves staying at home with our family.

Other topics of conversation: One dad talked about the wacky clothing sizes. Another dad explained to us about the rusty old train structures in the water by the pier (he sounded like an expert). Another dad discussed how amazing it is to have a large amount of family members around to help out with parenting.

Soon enough, the walkers in the group were tired of all the dad chatter & were ready for some playtime. So we headed towards the “choo choo” area, but the person in front wasn’t using their GPS (and guys do not always like to ask for directions), so we ended up in a slightly different spot that worked out well.

We set down our blankets, and quickly noticed that one particular dad (Scott) had the best one because it was waterproof & most of the others allowed water to seep through. His blanket is made by JJ Cole and can be purchased at most baby supply stores. Then, another “smart” dad showed up with the exact same JJ Cole waterproof blanket. So they are tied for first for the world’s best lawn blankets! The younger children were crawling around and stayed mostly on the blankets…as if there were some invisible baby fence that surrounded the perimeter of the blankets. The walking kids were playing in the grass & enjoyed getting dirty!

After a while, parents said their good byes, and I managed to go back to the Pier for a frosty beverage with one of the other dads. I know that everyone enjoyed the day. The weather was perfect. Good conversations. No poop explosions. No projectile vomit.

Now a few words from my son Dylan…
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