OMAHA, Neb. - I attended the At-Home Dad’s Convention (see group photo below) earlier this month. I left feeling like my batteries had been recharged. It’s a good thing too. The gray winter weather has set in even earlier this year. It’s going to take all the energy I’ve got to make it to spring.

Besides feeling reinvigorated towards my job, I also left with a notebook full of tidbits I thought were useful enough to write down. Here’s a glimpse inside my convention notes:

• Aaron Rochlen, a stay-at-home dad and researcher at the University of Texas, shared some of his latest findings as well as some of his personal experiences as an at-home dad. Among his first-hand stories, he noticed soon after the birth of his child that he seemed more adept at parenting than his wife. “I was the more skilled one. I was more patient with the newborn,” he said.
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• In speaking about the stigma’s some dads face on the playground and elsewhere from stay-at-home moms, Rochlen said, “Most sexual predators are men, unfortunately. But most men are NOT sexual predators.”
• Speaking of stigmas faced by stay-at-home dads, Rochlen reminded the group that our working wives also face stigmas for going to work rather than tending to their children. He encouraged the group to recognize this stigma and address it accordingly.
• In the breakout session for dads with kids between 18-months-old and 3-years-old, one dad said that to deal with tantrums, he created a “safe room.” This allows the child to have his tantrum, but not within the designated room (in this case it was the kitchen). The child can throw a fit anywhere in the house, outside of the “safe room.” When tantrums erupt, the dad leaves and goes to the “safe room.” The child is free to join him, but only after he/she has calmed down.
• “I’ve done a timeout in the grocery store, right by the Wesson Oil,” one dad said when asked about disciplining children in public.
• In the breakout session for dads with kids between 4-years-old and 7-years-old, one member of the discussion passed along some advice he found helpful. “Every time you have an opportunity to be critical of your child, find 10 things then to praise them on.”
• In the session dedicated to dads with kids in school, the presenter told attendees not to apologize for their decision to stay-at-home, rather than pursue a dual-income household. “If everyone wants to drive 100 m.p.h., that’s fine. We are going to choose 50 m.p.h.,” he said.
• One dad in that same session spoke about volunteering in school. He said he became a distraction in the classroom, as so many kids would clamor around him when he’d show up. He eventually had to volunteer in the office, away from the children.
• At the end of the convention, attendees were given an opportunity to share a funny story. One dad stood up and spoke about when his son - an avid “Dora the Explorer” fan - who was in gym class with several Hispanic students. One of the students returned a ball to the teacher. “Gracias,” the teacher replied. “That means ‘Thank You’ in Spanish,” his son explained to the Hispanic student.
• Another dad relayed a story about the tile surrounding his bathtub and shower beginning to crumble. He began stripping the tile, allowing the contents to gather in the tub below. About halfway into his tear-down, he heard his son beginning to stir from a nap. He continued to work for about 20 minutes. By this time, the boy was clearly awake and upset. He walked into his room to find the boy had dug into his diaper and smeared the smelly contents all over the walls, the bed and himself. “He was a poopy mess,” explained the father. “And I had no tub to wash him in.”