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DadsDinner.com

Dear other Daves and non-Daves,

DadsDinner.com has been up and running for over nine months now. You've had the chance to go all the way from the Making Babies section of The Housedad's Handbook to out the other side of the Maternity entry. (Tired yet?) In the meantime, the site's gone from twenty visitors a day to two hundred plus and I'd like to say thanks to all of you who drop by regularly.

I'm pretty happy with the way things are going but I was wondering what you guys want. Would a forum be good, for instance? Somewhere to discuss computer games without the fanboys, to swap gamertags and to reminisce about Spectrums?

I've had a suggestion for a dating service to link career women with housedad wannabes. I can't really see that happening but what features would you like to see on DadsDinner? What's great? What's annoying? What creaks?

I'm not promising to get round to changing things quickly. Let's face it, with three small children, nothing ever gets done quickly, but please leave comments below. (Don't feel you have to be a housedad to take part - everyone's welcome).

Speaking of comments, I don't normally get very many. One of my aims in setting up DadsDinner was to create some community but, so far, it's mainly just been me spouting about whatever springs to mind. I know from emails and conversations that some of you have a lot to say. Some feedback and on-topic comments would be great.

Posting comments is easy. Just click on the text at the bottom of any Stuff or Dear Dave entry. You'll need to choose an identity. If you've got a Google account you can use that. 'Other' lets you invent a name to appear next to your comment. You could leave an anonymous comment but why would you want to do that when you could call yourself KosmicKommentKing73? Also, if you make a habit of saying sensible/humorous things on a regular basis and always use the same name, everyone will know to pay attention.

One last thing, I've been contacted by a fellow housedad who's researching a PhD exploring 'the motivations and experiences of men who take on the role of carer for their children'. He's very keen to talk with other housedads (before February 2008!) to discuss their lives and views on parenthood. You can contact him at chris_waite@btinternet.com.

Yours in a woman's world,

Ed(mund).

PS I was going to put this notice in Dear Dave but then I couldn't decide if I was fictional or not.

PPS Special thanks to the handful of people who've clicked through and bought items from Amazon and the other sponsors in the last couple of weeks. It's rekindled my hope that I'll recoup my costs some day.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a new dad, I've gotten a lot of great parenting tips from http://www.dadlabs.com/ . It's a fantastic resource, I highly recommend it.

Jeff

Anonymous said...

Hey Ed!

Been an avid reader for a few months now. I think when I first checked by you needed to do some sort of registration somewhere to leave a comment?? That put me off (sorry - gonna change that now).

I'm a Dad of a 4 month old who leaves work in 3 weeks...!!

I look at a couple of good U.S. dad blogs, but this is the only one I read from home.
Whatever you decide to do with the site, keep it up; it truly is awesome!
Lee

Anonymous said...

(I leave work in 3 weeks, not my 4 month old!)
Lee

Anonymous said...

I read your reviews even when I have no interest in the product, because you always have something interesting to say!

DadsDinner said...

Yep, Dadlabs seems worth a look. Thanks, Jeff.

Hi, Lee. Glad you like the site. All the best on your impending housedad adventure. Here's wishing you plenty of sleep and a good supply of babysitters.

Mumatwork - cheers! Good to know someone's reading.

Hmmm... Might start any site refurbishment with tidying up how these comments are laid out!

Anonymous said...

Sometimes I wonder what will happen to me if I become the lady who leaves comments to an imaginary person who writes to imaginary people. Will it finally push me over the edge?

Seriously? I love your site. I think it's a wonderful look into the completely unknown world of Dad-dom. I hereby commit to leaving a comment now and again.

DadsDinner said...

Thanks, JenK,

Think of it as commentary on the truth you find within the fiction rather than an extension of the fiction itself, if that helps you stay sane.

Anything funny or helpful for the rest of us would be great. I'll probably go crazy myself if people start writing to Ed and Dave!

Edmund

Anonymous said...

I love this blog. I am not a dad (and don't have kids), but I think a lot of posts are relevant to just living your life in general - though I enjoy the bits about the kids, too. I'll say, though, that my favourites are more general pieces (video game violence, praising kids, pieces about statistics and media, etc.). The "Dear Dave" stories are fun, too, but they are a lot more "hit or miss".

Not posting my name for Google to find ;-)

DadsDinner said...

Thanks! Good to know I'm not just spouting nonsense. (I do wonder sometimes...)

Not sure I could manage the general posts all the time. I'm more comfortable writing narrative. We'll see how things develop, though - I thought I was out of ideas after three Dear Daves and now there's over eighty.