92nd Street Y - A Welcoming Place to New Parents and Dads too

I am a big fan of the 92nd Street Y - let me explain:

• Their director, Sally Tannen, holds weekly parenting discussions every Wednesday from 10:30am - noon, covering a range of topics - eating solids, childcare, gender expectations, baby temperament, etc. These weekly discussion last about an hour and are filled with about 20 - 25 new moms and me. Lately, there have been a few dads attending as well. I love going because it only costs $10, my son loves to play on the rug with the other babies, and it is interesting to hear the range of opinions from all of the parents in the group. I can't believe that more stay at home dads don't attend! Maybe it's because not enough dads know about it (the reason for this posting) or they are intimidated by a large group of new moms. Either way, the Y always makes us feel welcome.

• The Y is one of the only places that I am aware of that recognizes new dads and actually has a class designed specifically for new dads with kids from 0 - 1 year old. Their class takes place on Sunday mornings and is facilitated by a guy who holds a PsyD. The good: it is only for 5 sessions lasting an hour each, loosely structured and covers a range of topics, quality bonding time with your baby, you meet some great guys (I know because I participated in this class last Fall and still meet up with a lot of the guys for Sunday Brunch). The bad: the group consists of mainly working dads (I did not meet any other stay at home dads), and takes away some valuable weekend time with your wife.

• The Y has tons of programs for parents to be as well as new parents including "rock & roll Baby" for 5 - 9 month old kids which Jake and I just finished. They also had the author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - Marc Weissbluth - speak to parents one evening in March. Our NYC Dads Group is partnering with the Y at the end of the month when Dr. Michael Thompson, author of Raising Cain and Understanding Your Son's Development, and psychologist, speaks to us about being a dad in tough economic times and the joys/challenges of being a stay at home dad. Here is the link for the 92Y Parenting Center: http://www.92y.org/shop/category.asp?category=Lillian+and+Sol+Goldman+Family+Center+for+Youth+and+Family888Parenting+Center888

I know I sound like a 92nd Street Y infomercial! What I am trying to say is that the Y offers top notch programs, so more Dads and Stay At Home Dads should take advantage of their resources...and then I won't be the only stay at home dad participating in all of these classes by myself! (Special thanks to Robert, Chad, and John for giving some me company at the Y once in a while)

If some of you dads out there are taking classes somewhere that has classes specifically designed for dad's or you are participating in a Parent & Me class that is so good you want to share it with the rest of us, please share and add a comment.