New Mexico Men's Wellness - - -

Have you heard of this group? New Mexico Men's Wellness is a community of men dedicated to an evolution of our concept of masculinity towards respect, nurturing, and honor. This group welcomes all men to participate in their many activities and will support men in connecting with a small men's group for ongoing support (similar in concept to FathersNM's Dads Groups!). 

Find their website by clicking here.

FathersNM staff members Barry, Gabriel and Johnny were able to attend the annual NM Men's Wellness conference at Ghost Ranch this past October. Wow. What a powerful gathering. AND, NM Men's Wellness has been an instrumental support to FathersNM since the beginning.

Thank you men... for so much.

Monday Evening (October 16th), in Santa Fe - Food, Fun, information....

Fathers New Mexico is presenting at 6pm on why "Dads Matter"

Where it's at;  3164 Agua Fria St, Santa Fe, NM 87507-5402, United States

Hosted by Santa Fe Convive and Fathers New Mexico

All families are welcome. Please don't let transportation be a barrier... contact Johnny Wilson at tokaprod@gmail.com if you'd like to arrange transportation.

There's Food.

There's Childcare. 

Save the Date (Albuquerque's South Valley!)

Professional Development Day

December 1st, 2017

8:00am- 12:00pm, breakfast provided

Who should attend:   All types of service providers working with new families during pregnancy, postpartum and infancy.
Celebration of Families Day
December 2nd, 2017
10am-2pm, lunch provided
A community event for the whole family. Great resources & learning activities.
Both events will be held at:

The South Valley Multipurpose Center:  2008 Larrazolo Rd. SW, ABQ NM 87105

Registration and agenda coming soon.
 

Questions:  Contact Emma egamelsky@marchofdimes.org

THIS FRIDAY!!! And, EVERY Friday (Alb. community groups)

Fathers New Mexico will host a SE Heights Dads group.  The first weekly gathering is this Friday the 8th of September! 

These groups will be at 6pm to 8pm at the Sundowner Community Room (6101 Central NE).

All dads are SO welcome!!!

These groups address all kinds of challenges and strategies related to being a dad:

 - healthy eating

 - co-parenting

 - legal issues

 - communication

Come celebrate being a great dad, and connect to support. We can't wait to see you!!!

There are ways in which family/society/cultures stifle men.

Men are the privileged sex. Absolutely true. But, it is not an absolute privilege. We can talk about relative disadvantages that dads experience. And, we can talk about disadvantages that go further back...

I found this article to be a profoundly interesting insight into ways men are hurt... And possibly a contribution to how, as a consequence, men are less capable and more inclined to hurt others.  Read Why Do We Murder the Beautiful Friendships of Boys?

What about spanking?

Click oaths interesting article. She raises some very good points. 

And, more to the point, the scholarly article about the "meta-analysis" she is referencing is thorough and thoughtful. Not short, nor easy to read, it has lots of things to think about.

Daddies are good for language skills....

Scary Mommy published a fun piece about the science behind having dad do the bedtime story. Go ahead, read it by clicking here.

And whether you are a mommy or a daddy, enjoy the bedtime story. Or, the nap time story. 

ETR acknowledges young dads

It is slow going getting common perceptions to shift from the inaccurate. If a belief is deeply held, people tend towards confirmation bias. That is, they interpret the world in such a way as to see what they expect to see. When it comes to dads, we have been given a great many images and concepts that insinuate the primacy of mothers and the fragility of fathers' commitment to their children

Nothing could be further from the truth. Dads are devoted, like moms. Dads want to be with their children. If we observe significant amounts of separation of dads from their children, we need to look into that. It appears that ETR (Education, Training and Research) is opening up these questions... take a look at this article they published. They have done a great deal of work in the areas of the sexual and reproductive health of young people and it is gratifying to observe that they are looking at young fathers with a desire to understand, rather than assume and judge.

Thanks ETR.

We all need to show respect for ALL parents...

Please, read this and listen to the Latino USA piece including in this link.

The young woman featured in this story went to extraordinary lengths to show us to our ourselves. I know it's Washington state, and not NM, but I think we can all see how relevant this is to us here in NM. 

If we have positive expectations for our young people, ALL of our young people, we can improve outcomes. Even if they have had a child. ESPECIALLY if they have had child. Imagine what we can do if we have positive expectations AND we offer resources designed to support them (not blame).

HAVE YOU READ THIS INTERESTING ARTICLE ON ABSENT FATHERS?

The New York Times published this article titled "Why Fathers Leave Their Children" and it brings up some interesting ideas, not the least of which is the recognition that most absent fathers didn't simply make a callous decision to abandon their child one day. The separation between fathers and their children is typically a process. A process that is painful and wrought with disappointment and self doubt.

While the author, Mr. Brooks, resorts to some simplistic remedies by the end of the article, his illustration of how separation can occur, and his avoidance of putting blame squarely on mom OR dad, are refreshing takes. 

Thanks for the effort Mr. Brooks, and thanks for caring NYTimes.