The following is an announcement for a very cool workshop that’s going to be run by a friend and neighbor of ours and should be of interest to a number of Attachment Parenting Blog readers.
Expecting a child can be an overwhelming time in your life, one of physical and emotional change often complicated by outside pressures. Take this four-week journaling class to reclaim your initial joy and excitement about the journey, or take it to record those special moments and create a written legacy for yourself or your child. You donât need to be a writer to benefit.
Taught by writing instructor Tanja Pajevic. In seven years, Tanja has taught 22 writing workshops and over 500 students at the University of Colorado at Denver, Indiana University and in private workshops. A former Fulbright Fellow to Slovenia, Tanja holds an M.F.A. from Indiana University, where she was a Hemingway Fellow. She has published her fiction and creative nonfiction in literary magazines such as Crab Orchard Review and Orchid and is the recipient of a recent Faculty Development Grant at UCD as well as a residency at Vermont Studio Center. She is expecting her first child in late July.
When: Tuesday, May 9, 16, 23, 30 at 7:00 â 9:00 p.m.
Where: North Boulder
How much: $150 ($125 if you register by April 24)
How to register: Contact Tanja at journaling -at- boulderreview.com
What to bring: Something to write with and something to write on.
As a Dad and as someone who was quite involved with the birth of all three of our children – at home each time – I find it cool that there are a variety of journaling and other processing workshops for pregnant women (see, for example, the wonderful book Birthing from Within), but there’s zippo for us men to process the changes in our lives, the radical switch from boyfriend / husband / lover to father. Either there’s a gaping hole here, or there are some books and workshops out there that just aren’t very successful, or perhaps men just aren’t interested in processing this sort of thing?
I’ll try to convince Tanja to pop up here and offer her thoughts, or even ask her husband what his thoughts are about the male perspective of pregnancy and childbirth. Meanwhile, what are your thoughts on this subject, dear reader?
I don’t know of any workshops specifically geared toward men, although Ken did find a couple of books on the topic. The first one, THE GUY’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING PREGNANCY, CHILDBIRTH, AND THE FIRST YEAR OF FATHERHOOD, we both found to be obnoxious, not very helpful and not very funny. THE FATHER’S ALMANAC (Revised) by S. Adams Sullivan, though, is a good resource that covers pregnancy through pre-school, and is a great place to start. But with the exception of Bradley childbirth classes, I don’t know of too many hands-on exercises for dads.
I have to disagree with Tanja on this one. The Guy’s Guide to Surviving Pregnancy was meant to be a humor book more than a how-to book for parents. I actually found it quite helpful, as the writer went through similar experiences as I did. Plus it’s just flat out funny. My wife and I sat up late at night when she couldn’t sleep due to the baby kicking. She and I read that book over and over. It’s one of our faves and one that I will recommend to anyone, as long as you don’t take it too seriously.
Different people, different experiences. I flipped through the Guy’s Guide and thought it was appalling, actually. I don’t understand why published books about parenting from a Dad’s perspective always have to be about “how to sneak out to hang with your buddies”, “how to have just as much sex as before”, “how to avoid diapers” and so on. It could be funny, but only when balanced with some minimal level of *maturity* in the discussion…
I’m not sure about dad’s books, but my husband and I have been jointly keeping a journal for our daughter. We write in it every month, and write down the things she’s saying, what we’ve done, where we’ve gone, and special things we want to remember. It’s become a loving collection of letters. We plan to keep doing this as she grows up, and then give them to her when she turns 18.
“Turns 18.” Hard to believe that day will come. Her life is flashing by so fast.