Daddy-Con is this weekend in Chicago! (March 3-4, 2018)

The very first Daddy-Con, a conference for dads, is premiering this weekend, and the premiere is happening right here in Chicago!  (Well, Rosemont, actually, but close enough!)

Daddy-Con is focused on bringing fatherhood to the forefront of the parenting conversation. With over a dozen speakers, the event convention will take a playful approach to discussing all aspects of fatherhood.

The festivities start on Saturday March 3, and will feature dads talking about a variety of topics, including becoming a stay-at-home parent, baby-wearing, home-birthing, and how dancing with your children can improve your relationship with them.  There will also be an exhibit hall, a CityDads Meetup, and the Dad-Games Competition, sponsored by Huggies, in which dads will compete for prizes in stroller-folding, diapering, and the colossal Pack-n-Play Collapse-a-thon.  The games will be hosted by natural parenting dynamo Mat York (of ThatDadMat)  Other speakers who are friends of mine include Eric Bennion (Diary Dad)and Pat Jacobs (VP of the National At-Home Dads Network) Check out the full schedule below.

Daddy-Con is an offshoot (spouse conference?) of Mommy-Con, which is a national series of conventions for women journeying through parenthood.  Mommy-Con has been going on for 4 years, and produces about 10 events a year.   Their literature says that over 50,000 parents have been through in the last 4 years.  Mommy-Con focuses on natural parenting, takes a gentle and positive approach to educating parents about the emotional and physical benefits of natural birthing, breastfeeding, and babywearing, as well as creating a community of support, acceptance and non-judgement for women (and now men) journeying through parenthood.

Mommy-Con will run concurrently with Daddy-Con  from Friday March 2-Sunday March 4.  (Although if you look at the schedule below, I think it's more accurate to say that Daddy-Con is running concurrently (and is dwarfed by) Mommy-Con.)  Your registration to Daddy-Con includes registration to Mommy-Con (and vice-versa), so you can go to all of the sessions listed (but I think that some are designed for an all-female audience, so respect that vibe if you are there! Don't be a creeper!)

Click image to see Friday's schedule larger.

One of those where dads are probably not welcome is"Vagina Village" where women can talk about what makes their Vagina happy.  I'm not sure I really want to know! (And by the way, how glad are you that there is no Penis Pavilion?  I know I'm thanking my lucky stars!)

But don't worry, there's still plenty of stuff for dads at mom-con, including a session of  sleep consultation time, practical tips on baby-wearing, and a session about managing your startup business while still being a parent.

Click image to see Saturday's Schedule larger

Click image to see Sunday's schedule larger

Looking at the schedule, it does seem like the event(s) are geared towards new and expectant parents, but I'm guessing older parents like myself will also be welcomed, and there will be stuff to do and see (and buy) that will be of interest.

I for one am looking forward to checking it out this weekend!

Get tickets and more info here:  

Daddy-Con  ($25 for each day)

Mommy-Con ($25 each day, with some VIP options as well)

UPDATE: 

Use code “howdy10” for 10% off of tickets.

Holiday Remix- Popup Store and Event!

This year, the annual Holiday craft show at the Broadway Armory is going to be longer than ever. It's not that they are extending their time at the Armory or adding an extra day- what they've done is started a pop-up store on Bryn Mawr to help market and sell the local artists wares.

The 2nd annual Holiday Remix show will take place at the Broadway Armory on Saturday Dec 10 from 11 am to 4 pm.  In addition to wares by over 50 artists, there will be food, drink, and an opportunity to donate to local wunderkind charity Care For Real.

If you miss the event, or you liked what you saw but want to find more, the Pop-Up store is at 1056 Bryn Mawr (in the old Johnny Sprocket's bicycle shop, next to Bridgeview Bank)  The store is staffed entirely by volunteers and is open on Fridays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m and Saturday-Sunday (except December 10, of course) from noon to 6 p.m. through the end of the year.  Also, this year, as a proof of concept, the artists keep 100% of the sales.  The pop-up store costs are being funded by the Edgewater Development Corporation.  If the store idea is successful, another arrangement would have to be worked out.

Sample of some of the old books made into journals.
More info at http://www.bookjournals.com

My son and I walked by and in the store last week, and it's full of interesting work and really fun gifts, including handmade journals, photographs, jewelry, artwork, and even some furniture.  My son bought a handmade wooden yoyo.  I ogled a lot of beautiful handmade journals (including a set of them that takes old library books and uses the cover and then binds some of the pages into the book itself, to give a very arty feeling to the book.)

Many of the artists are local, although the definition of local is loose. For example, the book artist that I liked so much is a former Chicago artist now living in Portland, Oregon.

For more information about Holiday Remix, and the popup store, visit RemixChicago.com

For more information about the Edgewater Development Corporation, visit http://edgewaterdev.org/