Welcoming New Dads Well

Monday's playgroup was one of the best ever for KCDADs. It was not just the record number of attendees (11 dads, 19 kids) but the way the new guys were welcomed. Everybody introduced themselves to the new guys (Chris and Jason) and almost everyone was able to have a conversation with each of them.

When you’ve had a group for as long as we have (5 years), you have a lot of guys who know each other so well it can be hard for new guys to crack the clique.

Remember high school - you couldn't just sit down at whatever table you wanted to in the lunch room. You had to sit with "your" people. You wanted to sit with "your" people. They got you. They were like you. They knew all the inside jokes. When someone new sat down at "your" table, no one talked to him; what did he know about "your" people?

Every once in awhile a new guy would be admitted into your clique, but it always took him a long time to catch up, to learn all the inside jokes, to be like you.

So, it takes truly special people to go out of their way to make new guys feel welcome. That is what we all did on Monday – and that's what makes KCDADs a very special group of guys. Within just a couple of hours these new guys caught up, learned a few of the inside jokes and were instantly just like the rest of us.

I knew I'd finally get to sit at the "cool" table.