More Dads Take to Web for Parenting Advice
GRIFFIN: I feel like we should be talking football. But here we go. For the first time ever, dads from across the country came together for a summit. What are they talking about? How the Internet can help make them better dads. Our Josh Levs met up with the group.</s>JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, give them a shot. You know, look - they're all dads. We're all dads here, right? And what I found that I didn't know is that this is a new burgeoning business. That more and more guys are actually focusing on these blogs that are about being fathers. And they had this summit, the first-ever summit, where lots of them came together. So I got a group of them together, and I asked them: What are guys looking for online?</s>ERIC ELKINS, DATINGDAD.COM: They're really looking for other dads who are going through the same things they are and looking for some support, looking for some funny stories and - and really wanting to share the magic that it is - that is being a father.</s>PAUL BANAS, GREATDAD.COM: Guys are responding the same way that a lot of women have traditionally responded. They look for articles on - on potty training, on how to get the baby to sleep, how to name their baby. And - and then they end being a lot on - on relationship issues. Because there are a lot of things that guys just don't talk about with anybody after the baby is born. And we get the fair amount of traffic of - is on articles about sex after - after pregnancy, because the relationships change with that first baby.</s>LEVS: And you don't hear about this stuff a lot, right? They - these issues don't come up a lot. Yes, go ahead.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This role is being completely reinvented. And lots of men are out there wanting to talk about it, because there's not a previous generation you can go to. You can't go to your dad, because his form of fatherhood was completely different than what we see today. And so it's new media; it's new fatherhood. And that's what we're talking about here.</s>LEVS: So on your blog, you find that this is a place where you can present information about it, ideas about it, have a conversation with other dads about it, where they're sharing their experiences. Because they need that - what? - that sense of community? They need to know there's other guys out there going through the same thing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we're not the Peter Griffin or the Homer Simpson that we're often portrayed as. We're involved in our family; we're working; we're trying to provide, or we're working at home in a lot of cases. And our role in the family is be - being real men.</s>LEVS: And what "real men" means, right? I mean, that's part of - what it - what it means to be a real man now. You know, guys who get together and have poker night and can talk. Guys can just, like, call each other. What is it specifically about being online that is offering dads something? What do they want from the Web?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not out, you know, going to the PTA meetings necessarily or going - you know, we're not meeting the other guys in - in the neighborhood as often as - as we should, you know? The nights of poker night are not that easy and they don't happen as much. And that's a - one core group of guys. But with the Web, you get to talk to guys all around the world that you may never actually meet in person. And you can share these ideas and have this conversation.</s>LEVS: When are they getting on blogs? Because my day is so busy. And if you have a job, and then you get home and you have your kids, are they - are they getting - are they staying up late, at 2 in the morning because they couldn't have sex?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're finding that they're saying, you know, I'm on - in the computer at work. But they're also saying, there's a huge segment of time between 30 minutes and two and a half to three hours when they get back home where they're actually going online.</s>LEVS: What are the biggest things that you think in general people in society don't understand about dads?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, dads are so active in their kids' lives, whether it's - I mean, I work for home. I've worked from home for four years. My kids come home; I have to help them with their homework. You know, it - I'm the one doing it. I'm the one going -- signing their forms and going to the play, and I love it. I - I would have it no other way. And I think that's the biggest thing people seem to miss, is that it's not - you still all the advertisements, all the - the literature. Anything, it's always with the mom slant on it. And it - it - it is a slight.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not only are we active, but we're confident. We're really good fathers, you know?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like changing my - my baby's diaper. And I like getting the milk at night or whatever, because there's a - it's a very human thing, whether you're a woman or a man, caring for a - a little baby is a very human emotion. So we wanted to promote that same feeling or that acceptance of that to other men, to promote men being involved dads who felt uncomfortable as well, but also to the, you know, larger society to see us that way.</s>LEVS: And just to give you guys a sense of how fast this is growing, a couple of these guys have dropped their jobs, their other jobs, and they're doing these blogs full time. And they're getting enough traffic, enough advertising on it, that it's keeping them more than busy enough for a full-time job. They're doing really well. I've posted all the links for you at the page, up at Facebook and Twitter. I got my page here for you. You can check them out. You can post ideas. And you can tell us what you think about this. But I know - I mean, Reynolds, you were just saying --</s>WOLF: And then you fast-forward to the Wolf house --</s>LEVS: I know.</s>WOLF: --my life, and it's Dora the Explorer. It's - it's - we've got Sesame Street full blast. The - the - the place looks like a hurricane aftermath. That's how our place looks like - you know, with the kids all over the place.</s>LEVS: There's no exposed rug on the floor because there's toys everywhere.</s>WOLF: Because we both have little kids, yes.</s>LEVS: No, look - I mean, my - a friend of mine the other day, he's my age. So - and his - his dad is - well, my - around my dad's age. And never changed a diaper in his life.</s>WOLF: Wow.</s>LEVS: His dad has never changed a diaper in his life. And this is a reminder of how much things has changed. And it's also a reason why, as you're seeing in these blogs, why dads are reaching out to each other.</s>WOLF: Mm-hmm.</s>LEVS: Because they need ideas, because they want advice. And you look like you're just completely in shock.</s>GRIFFIN: Well, I guess I had different experience. Because, I mean, my father was there. My father changed the diapers. You know, I grew up with three boys; we all learned how to cook and do the laundry. So I had a - kind of a different experience.</s>LEVS: Did you grow up cooking in your house?</s>GRIFFIN: Oh yes.</s>LEVS: Wow.</s>GRIFFIN: But what - what - I - I just want to know who actually is visiting this site? Because as I'm looking at it, I'm thinking, Mmm, I bet there's more women checking up on what guys are doing --</s>LEVS: There are.</s>GRIFFIN: --on what guys are doing, than guys checking up on what other guys are doing to raise their kids.</s>LEVS: There are. And that's actually something interesting. I asked them about that. I said, how much of the time is it really women wanting to know, like, 'Hey, what should I be expecting out of my husband?'</s>GRIFFIN: What's the secret here?</s>LEVS: Or, how did - how did you guys out there start doing these things when I can't get my husband to do that? They do get a lot of traffic there. But they also do know in a lot of cases who they're talking to, whether it's over Skype or people who otherwise have a presence online. And there are guys who have - for some reason, have not felt comfortable going other places. But maybe, secretly, are comfortable - they're more comfortable when they're on their own in a room with a computer, reaching out to these guys online saying, 'Look, I need help. I want to maximize my bonding time with my kids while I'm here. What do I do?' And it's every situation. It's divorcing; it's dating - all of this stuff. And they're reaching out to the Web.</s>GRIFFIN: And my advice would be: Get off the Web and go see your dang kids.</s>LEVS: Hopefully, they're asleep by that hour.</s>GRIFFIN: All right. Well, that was great.</s>WOLF: Good stuff, man.</s>GRIFFIN: Certainly interesting.</s>LEVS: Hey, it's all a window into our world.</s>GRIFFIN: Brought us something new. That's for sure. Thanks, Josh.</s>LEVS: You got it.</s>GRIFFIN: We'll have the top stories coming up next.