The Person-to-Person Business
Studies show we’re getting lonelier. We know a way men can pay more attention to building friendships, and it starts in ten weeks.
At a time when many of us are about to gather with people we (hopefully) love, we’re starting to pay more attention to those who don’t get nearly enough. Adult loneliness has become such an epidemic that if you web-search “loneliness epidemic,” you’ll find a slew of resources — such as this post in The Atlantic from our friend Jess Lahey and her husband Tim, which links loneliness to depression, dementia, infections, heart disease, and cancer.
There’s also this Wall Street Journal article, which predictably takes a more fiscal approach, asserting that social detachment costs Medicare 6.7 Billion-With-A-B dollars a year.
At this point, you’re probably thinking, Why you gotta bring me down, bro? These are elderly people, and I’m young. (OK, young-ish.)
Yes, but we won’t be young-ish forever. Social media has been derided lately, but it still connects us in a truly awesome way (and Dad 2.019 Presenting Sponsor Google wants to make it awesomer). The fact is, the groundwork of companionship we lay now may serve us all greatly later on. And social interaction doesn’t survive without the IRL meetings that really unite us.
That is why we believe so strongly in the power of the conference, any conference (but especially ours) to put people in a room and encourage them to connect with one another. Relying on mere text, sent through some third-party (and decidedly for-profit) platform robs us humans of 93% of our power to communicate.
Young or old, we all need to brace ourselves against that possible future of loneliness by befriending as many incredible people as we can and cherishing them forever. We know a place you can do that and take a lot of group selfies (“ussies”?), and it starts in 10 weeks.
SUMMIT PEEKS
That’s right! Ten weeks from now, we’ll all be navigating our favorite Fatherhood on Friday of the year: the 14 programming hours on Feb. 22, 2019. And if you’d like to spend that weekend in a Suite at the Westin Riverwalk, be sure to get your ticket and book your room by midnight tonight! We’ll draw our first Suite Upgrade winner randomly over the weekend and announce on Monday!
Today is also the deadline to send us your Dad Blogger Spotlight submissions. Use the form to submit as many as three examples of your work, and you might read one of them from the main stage!
IN THE NEWS
Social media can be a great tool to connect with your children in their own space.
Are kids on their electronics causing issues in your family? Have you considered a device contract?
When your kids see you upending parental stereotypes, they’ll see greater possibility in their own lives.
“If you look hard, you’ll find more books with positive portrayals of dads. In the meantime, make up some stories of your own.”
“When the time comes that you will have to choose between attending your sons’ and daughters’ school activities over a client’s needs, if you have to choose between your wife’s or husband’s needs over mine as your boss — please choose them.”
“Every time you involve your kids when you work on something you value, you are teaching them how to do things well.”
Co-parenting comes in all shapes and sizes. Find your fit.
Where do you and your child’s school stand on homework?
If you’re still in a quandary about gifts for your kids this holiday season, have you ruled out body art?
PORCHLIGHT POSTS
- “If you’re a caregiver for someone living with autism — particularly a child — one of the biggest stressors around the holidays can be figuring out what kind of gift to get them.” — Jim Walter, How One Dad Finds the Perfect Gift for His Child with Autism
- “We visited her religiously. Even when test results were negative after each month, we remained patient and hopeful.” — Ivan Jose, Our Journey to Parenthood
- “Two-year-olds won’t listen to reason. They have to find out for themselves that normal-sized snowmen are boring after you’ve just been within touching distance of a house-sized one.” — Andrew Knott, The Art of Taking Pictures in Front of Other People’s Decorations
- “We’re not able to help anybody if we aren’t able to help ourselves.” — Joe Shaw, Toys Will Be Toys
- “People’s heart and generosity just always amaze me . . . there is humanity still.” — Darren Carter, Fatherhood Through Fostering to Adoption Part #1
‘GRAM OF THE WEEK
Makes you wonder how many of those sweaters these guys bought in advance.
Do you receive the Dad 2.0 Summit Newsletter? You should! In it we share all kinds of information and news about the Dad 2.0 Summit. Add it to your inbox! It’s the perfect way to start planning your trip to San Antonio.
Share your traditions of fatherhood news or stories that you would like to share you can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Snapchat using the #FOF hashtag!
Originally published at www.dad2summit.com on December 14, 2018.
