10. Find Your Mama Tribe: You will make friends. I mean you actually will make friends. The place is teeming with moms. They even have mom to mom contact cards lying around so that you can easily exchange contact information with the people you meet and want to see again. The atmosphere is tailored to celebrate all of the beauty in motherhood, to bring moms together who are in similar places in their parenting journey and to strengthen bonds between us. You’d think it was like a party for moms or something. Oh, wait…

9. You Get to Touch Stuff: It’s not a museum. It’s a giant playdate with tons of amazing products for you to pick up, hold, try on and ride around on. And the stuff is freakin’ cool. I have attended many MommyCons at this point, but I never skip wandering through the vendors. I always see something that I have never seen before and it’s always awesome. You get to eat the Milkin’ Cookies, slather on the Motherlove, toss your kid into a Joovy stroller or wear your little one in a Lillebaby. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. And I’m not even talking about the play area with tons of toys for your kid to play with. It’s like a play area for moms!

8. For All of the Tears: I can almost guarantee that tears will be shed. Whether you are listening to a speaker who is touching on something you thought you were going through alone, a workshop where your personal struggles are being individually addressed or a private conversation where you finally feel comfortable to open up about something you haven’t wanted to talk about; whether you are laughing so hard that you can’t control yourself or you just won a brand new stroller, car seat and baby carrier, I am confident that you will be moved to tears. I have seen it. Every. Single. Time.

7. The Baby Guy: Follow the loud voice and he will lead you to fun. It’s no secret that Jamie Grayson aka The Baby Guy likes to have a good time. He lives up to his reputation in person. Walk right up to him and give him a hug. This is not a place where the speakers sit backstage and just appear at curtain call. You will have the opportunity to have a chat and picture with some of your favorite bloggers and health professionals such as Jessica from The Leaky Boob, Bunmi from Honest Toddler, Jamie from I Am Not the Babysitter and Dr. Jay Gordon.

6. Normalize Society: When you walk the halls and rooms of MommyCon you get transported to what seems at first like another dimension. Upon further assessment you realize that this is actually an example of a society that has been normalized to, well, nature. The human body, the personal interactions and the group mentality are all working in an idealized manner. The human body is respected as a birthing, breastfeeding and parenting machine. People have giant smiles on their faces and if they don’t then they have several people gathered around helping, supporting and listening. The group mentality is one of positive power. Like-minded families come together and understand their connectedness in their individuality as parents and families.

5. Mandatory Bag Check: You can bring your actual bags inside, but you won’t find any of the other kind of baggage here. Everything about you is welcome here. Your struggles, choices and parenting style. But this is real life. You won’t find any of the keyboard courage, butthurt and abuse that you have likely encountered on-line. When MommyCon says, “I support you,” they mean it. Whatever our differences are they do not trump our love for each other, our passion for connecting face to face and our overall similarities as families. Humans are social creatures and we are meant to connect this way. Nature simply doesn’t allow for all of the negativity to take over as happens in more unnatural ways of connecting.

4. Xza Likes to Cause a Stir: You might have trouble tracking down the Owner and Creator of MommyCon. After one MommyCon my husband said, “Did we see Xza today? Oh yeah, she was that blur.” Xza works her ass off to put on these conventions and she runs from sun up to sun down. But she will always stop to host a giveaway or throw t-shirts or exercise some other method of causing excitement in the room. I’ve actually witnessed her tossing t-shirts into a crowd of moms roaring with excitement and throwing their bodies around like they were trying to catch the bouquet at a wedding.

3. You Feel Important: Because you are. This one comes courtesy of my mom, Grandma Badass, who has attended 2 MommyCons. “You feel like you are a part of something. Even I felt that way as a Grandma! You feel important. The vendors are awesome. Everyone is there with ideas to make parenting easier and to help with any struggles.” No one is more important than a mother and at MommyCon you actually feel it.

2. Question Everything: Empowering women is not about telling them what to do. It’s about educating women on their choices, helping them decide what is right for them and giving them the confidence to make the decision that is best for them. You will leave MommyCon smarter. And you’ll be surprised because you won’t remember doing anything except having fun. But you’ll know more about babywearing, breastfeeding, birth and much more. When women come together we get the courage to question things. When we question things opportunities open up. When opportunities open up we get to take control of our lives. And when women take control of their lives we are a force to be reckoned with. When you attend MommyCon you join a movement of Questioning Everything.

1. Swag Bags, Giveaways and Freebies: While MommyCon is not all about the free stuff it’s hard to deny the fun you’ll have when you get home and empty your bag onto the floor like Halloween night. Only these goodies are not sugar and food coloring-filled garbage. This stuff is the latest and greatest on the baby market. The giveaways are staggering including strollers, car seats and gift sets. Take pictures with it, post it on Facebook, tag the business page, they will love you for it!