Vacation plans get rained out? Stuck inside? Wondering how to add some excitement to School Break?
Come take a tour and see where the Best Bears in the Universe are made! Visit the Teddy Bear Hospital! Make your own Friend for Life!
20% OFF any purchase in the Retail Store!
(802)985-1319 • 6655 Shelburne Rd. Shelburne, VT www.VermontTeddyBear.com • Open 10am-4pm Daily k6h-VTTeddyBear0319 1
2/18/19 10:13 AM
802-656-4410 | UVMATHLETICS.COM/TICKETS
N O S SEA
#Squadgoals
S T E K C I T NOW LE A S N O
NLY* ERS O
D T HOL TICKE EASON
*NEW S
$75 PER SEAT DEPOSIT FOR MEN’S HOCKEY & BASKETBAL $25 PER SEAT DEPOSIT FOR WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
#THISISVERMONT
20
KIDSVT.COM JUNE 2019
Untitled-101 1
Dad Guild members Marlon Fisher (right) and Patrick Pierce greet each other at a library playgroup
4/23/19 3:47 PM
CONTINUED FROM P. 19
like the group. Kramer said he was hesitant at first, as he wasn’t sure what he’d have in common with the fellow participants. But he was pleasantly surprised. “I thought it was important to have a group of people going through the same thing at the same time,” Kramer said. He appreciated that he had a designated time every month when he could talk about being a dad. And he found it “validating” to hear that others in the group were dealing with loss of sleep and free time like he was. Ethan AldenDanforth of Shelburne started participating in Dad Guild events this winter. He and his wife moved to Vermont from New York City two and a half years ago and their son, Wyatt, is 8 months old. Dad Guild has given him a venue to get answers to questions about child development from people he can relate to. The group can help dads envision a role of fathers different from what they might have experienced growing up, he said. The message: “It’s not just acceptable, but welcome and beneficial, to have [an] emotional relationship with your child.” In creating a space where dads can socialize, joke and learn from each
other, Albaugh hopes that messages like these will slowly be internalized. Perhaps, for example, a dad who’s uncomfortable wearing a BabyBjörn or being silly with his kids will see another man doing these things at a Dad Guild event and realize it’s no big deal. Or a socially isolated dad will come to a playgroup at the library and realize it’s a fun way to spend time with his child. Maybe passersby will see a group of men wearing Dad Guild T-shirts cleaning up trash from a playground or participating in a march that supports women — things Albaugh hopes to do in the future — and start to create a different picture in their minds of what it means to be a dad. “Overall, dads I meet want to be good dads and want to be connected,” Albaugh said. That starts with acknowledging both the critical role fathers play in a child’s life and the different ways in which fatherhood is transformative. And it requires modeling what it means to be an engaged, caring father. “We’re trying to reverse some societal trends,” said Albaugh, but “it’s going to take some time.” K
Perhaps a dad who’s uncomfortable wearing a BabyBjörn or being silly with his kids will see another man doing these things and realize it’s no big deal.
Learn more about Dad Guild at dadguild.org.