In 2024, I'm still amazed by the number of public restrooms that lack changing tables.

If you're reading this, you or someone you know likely has a public changing table horror story. Mine happened on our son’s second birthday at a family-friendly spot in Columbus. As family and friends arrived, I was in the parking lot, battling a blowout in the trunk of my Ford Escape. It was a breezy, rainy October afternoon, and despite the kid-friendly amenities, there were no changing tables.

That day, I vowed to Dadvocate through The Dadass Podcast and this blog. Partnering with Columbus City Council in 2023, we installed over 130 changing tables in local businesses, nonprofits and organizations. This was a significant step forward, ensuring easier access for all to clean, safe changing stations throughout Columbus.

Now, we're partnering with Council again. From now through August 26, Columbus City Council is reintroducing the Diaper Changing Station Accessibility Grant. This initiative connects local businesses, nonprofits and community groups with free baby changing stations for their restrooms.

Please, share this link with your favorite places in Columbus who could use a changing table. Encourage them to take advantage of this opportunity. This is a prime example of how public-private partnerships can make our city more welcoming and inclusive.

With a six-month-old, we’re constantly deciding where to shop or eat based on facilities like changing tables. It might seem minor, but it's a significant barrier for supporting some of our smallest businesses in the community.

This is an incredible opportunity, thanks to Council, and it could have a profound impact. All it takes is spreading the word and making small changes, one diaper change at a time.

-Matt Lofy, The Dadass

There is only one way I can take my Disney songs on repeat and that is with tons of shredding guitar solos and a healthy dose of double kicks. Thanks to our friends in Punk Rock Factory (PRF), I found it.

To say our family is big fans is an understatement. According to Spotify last year, we listened to them so much we were in their top .5 percent of listeners and six of their songs were in my top 10 songs of 2023. They mix covers of Disney hits from Frozen, Moana and others, along with TV show theme songs like The Office, Parks & Recreation and Ted Lasso.

They're from the UK, and when I saw they were coming to Columbus, I jumped on the opportunity to take our son who is four. Dressed in high top Spiderman kicks similar to high top Chucks and with a perfectly placed mohawk by Dad, the two of us set off for his first concert.

He talked about the show for days leading up and sang at the top of his lungs all the hits on our drive to A&R Music Bar. He was stoked as we entered and quickly overwhelmed as the reality of a concert venue hit him. Fast forward 20 minutes, we hit the merch stand, had our drinks and ordered a Mikey's Late Night Slice (classic pepperoni) and were out on the porch for the opener. He had a blast though, as we heard the music from inside, because "it's way to loud!" Although he had hearing protection, he said he'd only listen to the loud music if it was PRF.

It was cool though, because everyone else on the patio were parents of youngsters, too. I met so many dads, who like me, attempted every trick in the playbook to let out energy and avoid crashing as bedtime quickly came and passed. While we did, we got to take in an outdoor performance of Say Anything playing the main stage at KEMBA Live. Between games of tag and hide and seek, the little guy and I would poke our heads in to see if PRF was hitting the stage.

As the time came for them to start their set, the little punk rocker wanted to get close to the stage and get up on my shoulders. With each song he knew, I'd hear him yelling and see his hands tapping his knees. In the first 20 minutes of their set, I got five hugs, 20 punk rock hands and saw the joys of being at a first concert.

The show and venue were all very kid friendly. It was a night that I will always remember (I'm actually tearing up while writing this), and I know he will, too. Because of how excited he was on the way home and throughout the night, this automatically became my favorite concert of all time. 

I hope every dad, whatever genre you're a fan of, gets to experience a first concert with their kids.

-Matt Lofy, The Dadass

As host of The Dadass Podcast and president of a local chamber of commerce, I believe there is an important conversation we as parents need to be having at home and we’re not. That conversation is related to parenting the future workforce.
 
On the news, we see countless industries in decline like our trades, appraisers, insurance, and more as baby boomers retire. According to a recent Business Insider article, The Forever Labor Shortage, the Congressional Budget Office projects the potential labor force to expand by a mere 3.6 percent between 2022 and 2031 — one-eighth of the pace in the 1970s. This will continue in the decades that follow.
 
Outside of workforce issues, it’s seen in our national security efforts as well. Most of our U.S. military missed its 2023 recruitment goals, making our military the smallest size it’s been since pre-WWII. According to an Army Times article, the U.S. Army had 485,000 in late 2021 to around 452,000 active-duty soldiers today. Now the Army, who has had the largest decrease, is announcing recruiting reforms.
 
As parents, let’s focus on topics like central Ohio being one of the fastest growing regions in the country while also having one of the lowest ratios of houses per job created nationally. This means if you’re an entry level worker, good luck finding something you can afford or a place you actually want to live.
 
A Forbes article from July 2023 says the average student loan debt in America is $28,950 owed per borrower and that about 92 percent of all student debt are federal student loans; the remaining amount is private student loans. So not only does this greatly impact the financial burden when entering the workforce, this is another glaring national issue impacting our country. I’ll stop here. I’m not bold enough (or educated enough) on this topic to go further.
 
The point I’m trying to make is that as parents, we are faced with two decisions that directly impact the future for our children and indirectly shape our future work force and economy:
 

1. The lessons we teach our children help them develop skills needed to be a contributing member of our workforce and communities
2. We need to guide, not dictate, the interests of our children and encourage more than “go to college” as the only option

As parents we have an opportunity to shape the future by the way we choose to parent, but we don’t always think about the impact we can have. The way we raise our children can be what helps to drive regional community building, impact future industries that solve major issues we face (or will face) and it starts with teaching skills that matter like communicating, empathy and curiosity. As we don’t ever want to limit opportunities for our children, let us not limit their future interests that could lead to business ideas and passions that shape the future of our communities, businesses and country.
 
We owe it to our children and to our future workforce.

-Matt Lofy, The Dadass

Last month, we surprised our four-and-a-half-year-old son that I was taking him to Monster Jam. For about 48 hours he told everyone about his surprise, even the front desk ladies at school. He was so excited he even woke us up on the day of the event, which was a Saturday, at 3 a.m. to ask, “is it time to go to Monster Jam?” To say he was pumped, was the understatement of the year.

Every two minutes on the drive to The Schott he would ask if we were there, where I would kindly inform him that “we are now XX episodes of Bluey away.” (Fun fact, our household tells time and distance in the estimated length of a Bluey episode, which is typically 5-6 minutes per episode. You get it!)

This was both of our first times attending Monster Jam. From the easy parking experience to hopping on to an OSU shuttle to the stadium, it was super kid friendly and easy to navigate as a solo parent. The most challenging part was trying to walk past every vendor and paid experience available.

Prior to leaving, my wife gave the executive order that I was approved to purchase a monster truck of some sort for him. As we waited in line to scope out the bounty, I succumbed to the urge of purchasing a light-up Grave Digger mug with a rainbow snow cone bursting through the top of it. Pro Tip: ask how much it is before handing your credit card. Those bad boys were $25 a pop. At least we now have a kick-ass plastic mug at home.

The most impressive part of the entire experience was how interactive it was. There were two emcees that would be in the stands or on the dirt course to talk between competitions. There were fun, entertaining videos on the jumbotron, along with the occasional audience participation activity.

After each round, you could scan a QR code on the screen to score the tricks. Even from the third level, we felt close and apart of the action down below.

I did learn a few lessons that I hope may help you if you're considering a Monster Jam experience in the future:

• As mentioned earlier, ask how much before buying anything, especially snow cone light-up mugs
• Bring a light layer to wear. The fans and extra ventilation for combating the exhaust does make it colder in the arena.
• Everyone needs hearing protection. I left with my ears pounding. As a retired punk rocker, nothing is as loud as eight monsters trucking out at the same time.
• Get ready for nonstop stories and recaps. It’s nearly a week after and I’m still hearing about it…and I freakin’ love it!

-Matt Lofy, The Dadass

We get to talk to a lot of informed, interesting and inspirational people at CBUS Dads. One topic we didn't know much about is pelvic health - that is until we connected with Molly Bachmann PT, DPT. We gave her the floor to explain to our community the importance of pelvic health for our children, our spouses and lastly, men.

You probably have heard of physical therapy for knee injuries while playing sports or back injuries
from sitting too long at work. Did you know there is also pelvic floor physical therapy for urinary,
bowel and sexual dysfunction as well as pelvic pain?

Let’s start with what the pelvic floor is. The pelvic floor is 3 layers of muscle that sit at the base of the
pelvis. Their most important job is to keep our organs in place and keep us upright as they work with
other postural muscles. They are unique in that they surround the urethral opening, go up to the base
of the penis and clitoris, surround the vaginal opening, and surround the rectum. These muscles are
part of what keeps us peeing and pooping regularly and what allow us to experience pleasure with
intercourse.

Physical therapists undergo advanced post-graduate education in pelvic floor anatomy and physiology
to help meet the pelvic health needs of patients. Considering the field of physical therapy as a whole,
pelvic floor physical therapy is a more recent, but a quickly emerging field.

We can help people recover from symptoms that stem from impairments in the musculoskeletal,
nervous, reproductive, urologic, and gastrointestinal systems. Pelvic health symptoms generally fall
into a few categories: bladder, bowel, sexual dysfunction, and pelvic pain. The symptoms may
develop for many different reasons, including injury, trauma, surgery, medication-induced, pregnancy,
stress, menopause, overuse - just to name a few.

Pediatric Pelvic Health
Many children suffer from bladder/bowel voiding dysfunction. In fact, 20 percent of all pediatric visits are for
incontinence problems. The good news is that non-invasive physical therapy techniques are highly
effective for these disorders. The umbrella term for difficulty with bladder/bowel control in children is
“dysfunctional voiding.” Below is a list of different diagnoses that fall under dysfunctional voiding:

• Daytime wetting
• Nighttime bedwetting (nocturnal enuresis)
• Stress incontinence
• Overactive bladder
• Urinary frequency/urgency
• Urinary retention
• Frequent urinary tract Infections
• Constipation
• Bowel incontinence and/or inability to empty bowel
• Fecal urgency/frequency

Physical therapy helps with each of these issues through a myriad of ways. After an assessment, the
therapist will determine the best approach for each child. Sometimes this may involve direct pelvic floor
exercises, others may involve addressing gaps in developmental milestones, modifying toileting behaviors
and eating habits, breathing techniques or stretches to reduce pelvic floor muscle tone.

Tips to help your kids gain continence and confidence in toileting:

1. Make sure your bathroom is set up for kiddos! Often, toilets in our homes are made for adult size bodies. This can make it hard for kids to get the appropriate posture needed for complete voiding and it can feel scary to sit on something much bigger than you!
2. Hydration matters and kids need reminders
3. Developing a strong core also develops a strong pelvic floor. Encouraging kids to play games and engage in activities that use core muscles is important throughout development!

Support for Spouses/Partners Before and After Birth
The pelvic floor and pelvic girdle muscles undergo significant changes during pregnancy and labor and
delivery. Optimal pelvic health during pregnancy can help reduce musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction,
ease labor and delivery, and help reduce postpartum complications. In 2018 the American College of
Obstetrics and Gynecology issued a statement acknowledging that postpartum care in the United States
needs to be improved, suggesting the term “4th Trimester” should be used for the immediate postpartum
period and that postpartum women need more care than what is currently being offered. All pregnant and
postpartum women can benefit from pelvic floor physical therapy given the crucial role these muscles
play during delivery and how prevalent dysfunction is after birth. Pelvic floor physical therapy reduces
the risk of pelvic organ prolapse, urinary, bowel, sexual dysfunction, and pelvic pain. Similar to other
diagnoses we treat, many of our patients tell us they wish they knew about us sooner.

During pregnancy, our bodies undergo significant changes as the pregnancy progresses. Many women
experience symptoms that pelvic floor physical therapy can address. Fortunately, some women tolerate
pregnancy very well and experience no unwanted symptoms. For these women, pelvic floor physical therapy can help with optimizing pelvic floor motor control to aid in labor and birth and improving pelvic floor and pelvic girdle neuromuscular function to reduce pain and dysfunction in the postpartum period.

All new moms should undergo an evaluation with a pelvic floor physical therapist. Ideally, this evaluation
would take place in the first year following delivery, however, it is never too late to see a pelvic floor
physical therapist. Postpartum pelvic floor physical therapy can help with:

• Urinary retention, urgency, frequency, hesitancy, pain and incontinence (leaking)
• Constipation, difficulty with bowel movement, fecal incontinence
• Painful sex, diminished or absent orgasm
• Diastasis Rectus Abdominis
• Restoring core function and strength: abdominals and pelvic floor
• Pelvic floor and pelvic girdle, low back, and hip pain
• Cesarean section and episiotomy scar tissue and pain
• Pelvic organ prolapse prevention and/or treatment
• Eliminate pain from perineal and/or levator ani trauma
• Reduce pain from pelvic neuralgias

Tips to help your partner/spouse before and after birth:

1. Call your local pelvic floor PT to make an appointment for them. Reducing the mental list of all the things that need to be done can make a huge difference and help your partner feel supported
2. Continuous labor support has continued to prove to be one of the most effective ways to reduce unnecessary medical interventions and unwanted outcomes in birth. If you are not planning on working with a doula (though you really ought to consider it!), make sure you are reading up on all things labor and birth and attending classes where you can learn physical skills to support your partner.
3. So much of the supplies we gather before birth are intended for the baby. Consider looking into things your partner may need for recovery like the ones listed here. So often I hear people say they were completely unprepared for postpartum recovery. Having equipment like these and a scheduled therapy evaluation will help to reduce the hardship in recovering from birth.

Men’s Pelvic Health
Don’t forget, you have a pelvic floor too! Studies have revealed that due to pelvic floor dysfunction, 10 percent
of men will encounter symptoms of pelvic pain. Due to misdiagnosis, many patients are prescribed
antibiotics thinking they have prostatitis. Physical therapy that is focused on pelvic floor muscle training
is the answer.

Some symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction are:

• Typically refers to burning, itching, aching, or other types of pain in the penis, scrotum,
• testicles, perineal, and/or anal area
• Men suffering from pelvic pain often times experience pain caused by sitting, certain types of
• exercises, and certain types of clothing
• In addition to pelvic pain, men often experience urinary urgency/frequency/hesitancy as well
• as pain and slower/diminished urinary stream
• With pelvic pain, men may have discomfort in their penis, scrotum, and perinea upon
• ejaculation
• Some Men experience signs of erectile dysfunction, accompanied by reduced ejaculation
• strength
• Men may endure gastrointestinal distress, bloating, and/or constipation
• Symptoms of GI distress can be aggravated by actions like ejaculation or exercise, or
• unprovoked and spontaneous
• Men may experience these symptoms intermittently or constantly

Causes of Pelvic Pain:

• Surgical trauma (vasectomy, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) interventions, prostatectomy)
• Orthopedic injuries or other traumas (spine, hip, knee, and/or ankle injuries/pathology,
• accidents)
• Biomechanical or structural dysfunction (hip dysfunction, piriformis syndrome, scoliosis, leg
• length discrepancy)
• Excessive exercise or changes to exercise routine
• Excessive sitting
• Chronic constipation and straining
• Jelqing and/or attempts at genital enhancement or foreskin regeneration
• In rare cases, bladder, prostate, or sexually transmitted infections after successful resolution of
• infection
• The majority of men with pelvic pain, with or without urinary or bowel complaints, have pelvic floor dysfunction

Tips for maintaining pelvic health:

• Figure out a stress management plan. Stress is one of the most significant causes of pelvic floor tension and dysfunction
• If you are someone who sits for work, figure out a standing schedule that will reduce adverse pressure on the pelvic floor
• Many men focus their workouts on strength. Strength is important! But it isn’t the only thing you need for longevity. Many men neglect mobility training. This is particularly important for the pelvic floor which also needs to lengthen.

To learn more about pelvic health, you can find Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center on
Instagram, YouTube and our website. If you think you may need an evaluation, call our
office.