Blog Roll - Canadian Dad

Reasons Why Dad Needs A Mobile Device For Father’s Day

June 13, 2018/2 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Mobile Shop . All opinions are 100% mine.

I can’t be the only person who frequently visits The Mobile Shop while doing groceries, to play with all the display phones and dream of getting that next beautiful upgrade, right?? Next to my house and car, my mobile device is the next most important item I own, especially as a content creator. The Mobile Shop has asked me to share some of the ways that I use my device on a daily basis to help capture my experience as a father. Without further ado, here are just a few reasons why dad needs a new mobile device for Father’s Day this year!

Video/Facetime Chats – While talking to your family on the phone is more than adequate when you are out of town or working late, there is nothing quite like the excitement on your kids faces when they get to see you while they talk to you. The funny faces and laughs that we have are also a nice boost for this dad when I start to get a little home sick.

General Everyday Use – I realize this sounds a little vague but there are so many little things that my mobile device can do to help me throughout the day. I have used it to quickly find answers to life’s important questions, such as “What can I do about the smell in my child’s soccer cleats?”. I use my mobile device almost daily for the Maps feature and often bring it outside to reference recipes while BBQing. My favourite use, however, is the ability to immediately and stealthily purchase an item when my wife casually mentions that she sees something she would like while we are shopping. No more forgetting what that thing was when it comes to time to shop for her 3 months later!

Capturing Memories – While it is true that I print only about 1% of all the photos I take with my mobile devices, the photos and videos we have stored online get looked at often and I am a firm believer that we are living in an amazing time to be able to capture so much of our children’s lives without having to worry about getting that perfect shot or running out of film. We will often sit down as a family and watch hours of funny video from when the kids were younger and mom and dad had hilarious hairdos/glasses/clothing!

Dad’s Hideaway… – Look, it’s no secret what dad is up to when he disappears for an hour. Well, maybe it is, but here you go anyway. Hiding in the bathroom and playing video games on a mobile device is a staple of fatherhood and may be the #1 reason why dad needs a new high performance mobile device from The Mobile Shop this Father’s Day. Hey, we all unwind in different ways and this just happens to be one of our go to places, okay?

Prices and promotions shown in photo may no longer be valid.

I had the chance to speak with Tammy at The Mobile Shop in my hometown Real Canadian Superstore this week and was blown away by her knowledge of each product and accessory. When I told her that I was a blogger who needed solid video, photography and audio capabilities, she immediately had a short list of devices that would suit my needs and explained why each would be a great fit. The Mobile Shop also allows you to choose from numerous wireless providers, so you have a ton of options, and you may also earn hundreds of PC Optimum points on each purchase!

With Father’s Day right around the corner, I highly recommend stopping in to The Mobile Shop nearest you and talking to one of their representatives about how you can make this the best Father’s Day ever!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Mobile Shop . All opinions are 100% mine.

What It Means To Be A Superhero Dad

June 9, 2018/2 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

I was asked by my friends at Mark’s Canada, who are running an amazing Father’s Day contest that we’ll get into later, to talk about what it means to be a superhero dad to my kids. Now, for the record, I have never considered myself to be a superhero dad. I do what needs to be done for my kids to the best of my abilities and hope that they end up with as good an upbringing as I had. That said, for the purposes of this exercise I decided to ask my kids what they thought were my best traits and have compiled them for you here. Soooo, let’s do this!

1. Making Lunches – It’s funny to think something as simple as lunch making can be remembered by your kids, especially considering how mindless it becomes by the end of the school year. When I pressed the kids further on the answer, they said it was because I ask them what they want and also have them try new things before putting it in their lunches. Kids can be very easy to please at times!

2. Coaching Sports – This is something that is in my blood. My dad coached all my sports teams and a lot of my extended family have also coached different sports. The truth is, I love the idea that I get to help mold these young kids into what they will become later in life. We talk a lot of about respect and hard work, which will no doubt pay off down the road.

3. Playing With Us – A lot of hardcore parenting “experts” will say that you shouldn’t be your child’s friend because your job is solely to discipline them. I completely disagree with this sentiment and believe there can be a balance between the two. That said, I love playing games with my kids. Anytime they want to shoot hoops or jump on the trampoline, I am almost always game. It’s also a great way for me to make sure I step away from work every now then to get some much needed exercise!

4. Driving To Gymnastics and Sleeping Less So We Can Sleep In – This one was from my daughter. She is a competitive gymnast and I am a shift worker, so there are plenty of times that I come home from my shift and stay awake a few extra hours so the kids don’t have to wake up at 5:30am to go to daycare. It’s a small sacrifice on my part to make sure that the kids can be alert at school and their after school activities but it’s nice that they noticed it.

5. Being Funny With Them – This one casts a wide net as I often feel like I haven’t quite shaken my inner child, so I am often volunteering to put myself in embarrassing situations. Take, for instance, last year’s Gymnastics Christmas Showcase, where my daughter and I performed an unforgettable (for me) gymnastics routine. I love doing things that will make my children smile, and it seems pretty obvious that I will occasionally crave some spotlight.

While I was hesitant to write about myself as being a superhero, it actually ended up being a pretty fun exercise to hear it from my kids. The truth is, superheroes come in all shapes, sizes and backgrounds, and if you out there doing your best to be an involved parent, you are the exact superhero that your child needs!

If you’re looking for something fun to do, I highly recommend trying this exercise with your kids, and Mark’s wants to reward you for doing so! Simply ask your kids to draw a picture of their dad as a superhero and share it on social media, tagging Mark’s and including the hashtag #superheroDad and you could win some amazing prizes, including a trip to this year’s Grey Cup! You can visit the Mark’s Contest Page for more details. Have fun and Happy Father’s Day!!

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this campaign.

Get Your Yard Ready For Summer With A Little Help From STIHL!

June 6, 2018/0 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

It’s no secret that winter can be rough on Canadian properties. From ruined lawns to downed tree branches, there is a lot of work to do once spring finally rolls around. This year’s spring clean was a lot easier for me as I teamed up with STIHL to put one of their Lithium-Ion Chainsaws to the test against the mess of flailing branches around my property.

Before we get to STIHL’s chainsaw’s performance, there were plenty of other tasks that needed to be completed to get the house ready for summer. I don’t know about you guys but once that nice weather hits, I get a sudden boost of energy and dare I say, I actually enjoy doing the clean up! Here are a few spring cleaning tips that will help your house shine this summer!

1. Clean Your Windows – We’ve all cleaned windows before, right? Wax on, wax off, simple! I’m talking about DEEP cleaning those windows, though. You can start by removing your screens and gently washing them with soap and a garden hose. Then wash the windows from the outside in and you’ll be ready to catch that cool breeze on the hottest of summer days.

2. Declutter The Garage – There’s something funny that happens when you have kids. Stuff begins to simply pile up in places all throughout the house. For us, the majority of that stuff ends up in the garage. What was once a beautiful, open space with so much potential, has become a wasteland of toys and random items that we have never been used before. I’m not sure anything makes me feel as good during spring cleaning than emptying the garage and only putting half of the stuff back into it. Fun tip, go into it with an open mind and the will to say that you don’t need 7 different types of broken lawn chair, and you’ll feel great by the end of it!

3. Lawn Maintenance – Full disclosure, this is the area that I have the most learning to do. For the first couple years in our new house, I was out there picking all the weeds and really trying to make the lawn work. After a few unsuccessful years, however, I slowly stopped trying and eventually gave up. This is going to be the year that things turn around though! We already have the frame for a really nice garden and I think with a little elbow grease, we can make it beautiful again! Quick Tip: Mow at least once per week. This will help with healthy growth for a lusher, more dense lawn. STIHL’s Lithium-Ion mowers are not only powerful, they’re also lighter than the average mower so that you can breeze through the task.

4. Clean Up Your Trees – This is where STIHL comes in! I have never owned a chainsaw before, instead opting for the hand saw route in previous years. The truth is, I was never very handy growing up and the thought of using a chainsaw frightened me a bit. Well, I’m happy to report that my fear was unfounded and after using the STIHL Lithium-Ion Cordless Chainsaw to clean up all the stray branches around my property, I started offering to help other folks with their yards because I loved it so much.

The cuts were so smooth and powerful that I easily finished in a quarter of the time it usually takes to do it by hand. The chainsaw is also very lightweight, so I was able to move it easily from branch to branch without having to constantly shift while on the ladder. The other thing that struck was how quiet the chainsaw is. I expected this big, lumbering noise but you could barely hear it doing its thing.

5. Bath Time! – People are the only ones who need a bath from time to time. When you think about everything the outside of your house goes through in a year, I’m sure it would appreciate a good washing from time to time as well. You can borrow a pressure washer, or you know, visit your local STIHL dealer and pick up one of their models, and get to work cleaning all the dirt and grime off your house. It’s a good time to spray off and stain your deck while you’re out there, too!

6. Party On, Wayne! – I can’t think better way to celebrate all your hard work then by inviting a few friends over, firing up the BBQ and showing off your new STIHL Chainsaw!

I hope your spring cleaning adventure is as smooth as mine was and please feel free to share your spring cleaning tips in the comments below! And, if you are looking to make things a little smoother this spring, I highly recommend checking out STIHL’s line of Lithium-Ion Chainsaws. They have made my job easier and way more fun!

Disclosure: I was provided a STIHL chainsaw to facilitate this blog post.

My Completely Biased, Non-Objective Review Of Our Disney Cruise

April 26, 2018/1 Comment/in Reviews, Reviews/Giveaways, THE BLOG, The Daddy Files /by Chris Read

Yep, you read the title correctly. As I sat here and framed out this blog post, I realized that I didn’t have a single bad thing to say about our recent trip aboard the Disney Dream cruise ship. We were there as part of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration conference but my opinion of the cruise has nothing to do with that either. It was just a really, really fun experience and is something we are absolutely going to do again!

Let me walk through it from start to finish as best I can remember it all. I’ll try to throw in some tips along the way but seeing as how it was my first Disney cruise, what the heck do I know about tips and tricks? That said, tip #1 is to try to get an early boarding time if possible. Boarding was quick and easy, with the added touch of having your family announced on the loud speakers as you walk onto the ship as the staff are all lined up clapping for you. It felt like we were walking the red carpet! I say to try to board early because we walked by the main lobby a couple hours later and people were still being announced! All I could think of was how sore the staff members’ hands would be from all the clapping.

Tip #2, which probably should have been tip #1, is to download the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app. You will get an itinerary left in your room each day but the app was a far better resource in finding out what was happening on the ship at any given time. It’s also handy for its chat feature in case you get split up on the ship. We mostly used it to find out when the character meetings would be so we could get there early to avoid lines.

Speaking of Disney characters, they were everywhere! There was definitely no shortage of character meetings and we never saw a line that was excessively long. On the last night of the cruise, you are treated to a long list of characters and it was amazing to see both children and adults alike, myself included, smiling for pictures with Mickey, Minnie and the gang. You can’t help but relive a bit of your childhood while surrounded by so much joy.

Oh, Tip #3, which should actually be tip #1, then bumping the last tip that should have been #1 to #2… Anyway, you should definitely pre-plan your vacation in advance by reading reviews of the ship and even joining a Disney cruise group or two on Facebook. They are incredibly helpful and will have you feeling like a cruise veteran from the minute you get on the ship. Knowing about things like door magnets, fish extenders, pirate night and where the best seats are for the shows can really enhance your experience.

Speaking of the shows, every single one of them was amazing! I’m not just talking about the shows in the beautiful Walt Disney Theatre either. The sail away party, fireworks display and pirate party were all really fun for the kids as well. Tip #4, we grabbed the same spot on the upper deck, right next to the stage for each show and it was a great view for the kids. There isn’t tiered viewing from the main deck so it made it seem like if you weren’t in the front row, you wouldn’t get the best view of the fun. Also, we spent the extra money on pirate makeovers at the Pirates League in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and the kids ended up looking amazing and loving their new pirate looks. I have to admit I was skeptical about spending the money, as it wasn’t cheap, but it was totally worth it.

I forgot to mention the big production shows! Not being a big theatre guy, I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy the shows on board the Disney Dream but they absolutely blew my mind! The first night we were treated to the Golden Mickeys, which was an award show with some amazing performances. Tip #5, maybe, if your kids like to be a part of the shows, you’ll want to sit in the front row for this one as Snow White needs a few extra dwarves and that’s where we saw them pick the kids from. The next night we were treated to a Beauty and the Beast show that easily could have been on Broadway, not that I’ve ever been to Broadway, but in my mind it was Broadway-worthy! Finally, the show I was least interested in attending prior to attending was called Disney’s Believe. As it turns out, it ended up being my favourite of the trip and not just because it was the story of a workaholic father and a daughter who wants him to find his imagination again. So what if I cried during the show, it’s totally acceptable in today’s society!

A post shared by Chris Read (@canadiandadblog) on Feb 23, 2018 at 3:12pm PST

Where was I? Ah yes, the shows were great and the popcorn was even better, which brings us to Tip #6. Not everything is covered on the trip. Popcorn is one of those things but you can cut the cost considerably by purchasing the refillable container on your first day aboard the Disney Dream. Refills are only about $1 after that so you and your kids can enjoy as much as you want without breaking the bank!

Since I mentioned food, we might as well talk about it. This might be the single greatest reason why I would choose a Disney Cruise over almost any other vacation from now on. Every meal I ate became the greatest meal I have ever had and while that sounds like an exaggeration, I promise you I was melting into my seat with each bite. I’m a terrible food photographer but I am excellent at eating food, so I mostly stuck to that skill.

We had a couple meals at the Enchanted Palace, including (tip #7) lunch immediately after boarding the ship, which I highly recommend doing as it is not very busy at this time. We also ate dinner at the Royal Palace and Animator’s Palate, both of which were excellent. Animator’s Palate was neat because there were video screens on the walls and characters were pop up from time to time and talk to them. I’d also love to give a shout-out to our dinner crew, Ravindra and I Made, who made our dining experience a magical one. From making Mickey Mouse out of ketchup blobs to performing magic tricks for the kids throughout our stay, they were the best duo we could have asked for. Side note and tip #8, there are 2 dinner service times, so make sure you sign up for the one you want way before your trip. Our kids are better suited for the 8pm time slot, so it worked out that I screwed up and didn’t pick one in time. You have no excuse now!

Hands down, the coolest feature on the Disney Dream cruise ship has to be the Kids Club. What is Kids Club, you ask? Well, Kids Club is a magical section of the ship where you simply drop your kids off and then go up to your room for a nap, errr, I mean, you go off and explore all the fun places on the ship that kids aren’t allowed to go, such as the adults only swimming area, packed with a pool, hot tub, lounge chairs and bar service.

Back to Kids Club, it is a place for kids to hang out any time throughout the day or night to not only give parents some time alone but also for the kids to have a blast and meet other kids. We were allowed to tour the club during the open house on the first day but it was no parents allowed from that point on. Kids Club has a video game room, a movie room, a craft room and a ton of activities planned throughout the cruise such as baking and slime making. There is also an amazing mock-up of the Millennium Falcon that you can sit in and control. Yes, I was jealous. The security is extremely tight when picking the kids up and you get to create a secret password that you have to tell the counsellor before taking your kids out of the club. Tip #9, don’t pick a stupid password like I did because you will be forced to continue saying it throughout the weekend and it never starts to sound less dumb.

Also, of note, you know how you go out for dinner and your kids finish their meals before you’ve even taken your first bite of food and then they pepper you with questions and hang off your arms talking about how bored they are for the rest of the meal? Yeah, not on the Disney Dream! One hour after you have been seated, counsellors from the Kids Club come into the restaurant and take your kids to the club with them so you and your significant other can enjoy the rest of your meal, and possibly a fancy drink, and possibly dessert, and maybe a 2nd dessert…

I talked about the adult’s only pool area but there were also a bunch of bars/clubs on the ship for the after-hours crowd. While I’m not much of an after-hours person these days, I did spend a couple nights in the very fancy, Pink, bar. While it is technically a champagne bar, our server, Pen, was more than happy to grab us our favourite IPAs from the bar next door. Tip #10, the next time you cruise on the Disney Dream, please go in and say hi to Pen for me. She was a great host and loves entertaining people!

Look, even I’m tired of writing at this point but this stuff is important, so stay with me here another couple minutes, okay? I only have a couple more things and then I’ll finish with a flurry of extra short form notes.

The Disney Dream 3-night cruise docks at Nassau, Bahamas and again at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay, which is pronounced Castaway “Key” for some reason I never bothered to ask about. When I found out that there was a Castaway 5K run, that also came with a fancy medal, I decided to register myself and the kids. It was a lot tougher than I expected and the kids embarrassed me by lapping me and laughing while they did it… Still, I finished, got the medal and then ate some delicious BBQ on the beach!

A post shared by Chris Read (@canadiandadblog) on Feb 25, 2018 at 9:31am PST

Castaway Cay was definitely one of the bigger highlights of the trip for us. Even with her cast on, my daughter had an amazing time in the water, which, by the way, was ice cold, as I pulled her around in an inner tube. We shared fancy, age appropriate drinks, ate amazing BBQ food and lounged like we never have before. There are plenty of excursions you can book for your day on the island but we choose to make it as relaxing a day as possible, which was absolutely the right call for us.

Okay, I promised to end with a flurry, so here are a few other notes from our time on the Disney Dream!

1. I was very impressed with the emphasis put on cleanliness aboard the Disney Dream. Not that I expected it to be gross but the ship was immaculate. Every restaurant, event and especially the Kids Club required you to either wash your hands or use a sanitizing wipe before entering and it was great to see how seriously they treated those pesky germs!

2. Our cruise director, Mike, was amazing. We met him on day 1 and he told my daughter he’d have to sign her cast later in the trip. Well, true to his word, we found him on our last night and he not only signed her cast but spent some time asking her about herself. What a great guy!

3. We found out that you can order milk & cookies before bed through room service. Consider this Tip #11.

4. Finally, a huge shout out to Shilpa in Guest Services, who definitely had the biggest positive impact on the trip for us. I can’t really get into it because I’m not sure if she was supposed to do what she did for the kids, but rest assured, they will never forget her kindness, and neither will we. Disney has a great one in her and if you happen to be aboard the Disney Dream, you should definitely go down and give her a high five for us!

I’m sure there are a million things I forgot to talk about but this should cover all your basic needs when it comes to climbing aboard a Disney cruise for the first time! It quite literally was a dream come true to sail aboard the Disney Dream and we will absolutely return for a future cruise! That said, if you do have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments or shoot me an email chris@canadiandad.com! Cheers!

Win A Family 4-Pack To Opening Night Of Cirque Du Soleil’s Corteo!

April 19, 2018/82 Comments/in Giveaways, Reviews/Giveaways, THE BLOG /by Chris Read

Disclosure, I was provided with tickets to the show in exchange for this post.

It wasn’t until my daughter started gymnastics a few years ago that I could truly appreciate the beauty and difficulty of a Cirque Du Soleil show. I’m sure that sounds ridiculous because of course it’s difficult to do what they do, but after seeing my daughter break her arm on a relatively common gymnastics move, I can’t imagine the skill and concentration it must take to fly through the air, gripping only a piece of metal or cloth the way the Cirque performers do!

In fact, up until recently, I thought there were open tryouts for Cirque Du Soleil and had even started putting together my audition portfolio. As it turns out, being really good at softball and a decent all around athlete in your youth does not qualify you for Cirque fame… Oh well, I’m sure I’ll be able to use these photos for something else down the road.

A post shared by Chris Read (@canadiandadblog) on Apr 19, 2018 at 7:39am PDT

While a career in acrobatics may not be in my future, I will certainly be attending the upcoming Cirque Du Soleil show, Corteo, with my family when it comes to my hometown of Ottawa from June 27 to July 1 at the Canadian Tire Centre this summer. To celebrate it’s arrival, I want you to be able to enjoy the show, too!! If you’d like to win a Family 4-Pack of tickets to opening night of the show in Ottawa, simply fill out as many entries as you’d like on the Rafflecopter form below and I’ll choose a winner in a couple weeks!

“Join the parade and get carried away with life!”

CORTEO brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. You can get a sneak peek of the show by checking out this Cirque Du Soleil’s Corteo Trailer!

If this is your first time attending a Cirque Du Soleil show, I am so excited for you and promise you will be counting the minutes until they return again! Hope to see you there!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Rewards Of Being A Gymnastics Dad

April 4, 2018/4 Comments/in THE BLOG, The Daddy Files /by Chris Read

I probably should have written this story sooner but life is busy sometimes, okay, so back off!! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. You guys are great! I’ve told the story before of how my daughter was the first girl born into my dad’s side of the family in over 70 years, so my entire journey of fathering a daughter to date has been new, challenging, rewarding and amazing.

One of the many differences has been with my daughter’s choice of extra-curricular activities. I played hockey and baseball for as long as I can remember and my son followed in those same footsteps, even though I tried to get him to try other sports. My daughter, however, found her love in gymnastics, and man is she ever good at it! Every time I see her do a new move, it feels like the most incredible feat I have ever seen.

Although I know nothing about gymnastics, I still like being a part of the gym and help out whenever I can. My daughter’s coach, knowing that I try to be a team player, had asked me if I would do a little performance with my daughter for the Christmas showcase and naturally, I agreed. The idea was simply that my daughter would do a move and I would then try to replicate that move in front of all the parents and children in attendance. Easy enough, right?

Well, what actually ended up happening was that my daughter and I ended up choreographing an entire routine to surprised everyone in attendance. A couple notes about this. First, I was waaaay more nervous than I expected I would be, which then caused my foot to cramp up minutes before we went on. Second, the video below was posted to Facebook and now has over 2 million views, which is crazy! Finally, no, I don’t know how I nailed that first cartwheel and failed so badly on the other. I’m guessing it was a combination of age and lack of grace…

Luckily for me, there wasn’t too much pain the next day, although I’m guessing the shock of the video going viral probably helped. We never expected so many people to love the routine but I am so grateful that everyone got to see just how talented my little girl is! I wasn’t sure about this gymnastics thing when she started in it but it has ended up being an extremely important and rewarding part of our lives.

So, without further ado, and if you haven’t seen it, please enjoy what was one of the best nights of my life!

Canadian Dad Podcast: Ep. 15 – Father, Speaker, Cross-Stitcher, Mike Reynolds

March 16, 2018/0 Comments/in Podcast, THE BLOG /by Chris Read

Today on the podcast I speak to Mike Reynolds from EverydayGirlDad.com. On the show we cover topics such as:

– Body Image for Men

– Mike’s switch from PuzzlingPosts.com to EverydayGirlDad.com

– Mike’s new found love of Cross-Stitching

– Speaking in New York on the Changing Face of Maculinity

– Mike’s t-shirts for Charity Venture

– The hopeful revival of our Creative Minds Podcast

You can visit Mike’s Everyday Girl Dad Project on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!

I hope you enjoy the show and please feel free to leave a very kind review if you see fit! 😀

Canadian Dad Podcast: Ep. 14 – Fatherhood Writer, Casey Palmer

March 9, 2018/1 Comment/in Podcast, THE BLOG /by Chris Read

Today on the podcast I speak to Fatherhood writer, Casey Palmer, from CaseyPalmer.com. On the show we cover topics such as:

– Finally meeting in person at the Dad 2.0 Summit

– Casey’s Live From the 3.5 Project, which began as a Black History Month feature but grew into a something much bigger

– Our thoughts on the dad blogging space in Canada and if blogs are on the way out

– What we hope our platforms will do to inspire our kids creatively.

– Casey’s time at the Parenting 101 Conference in Kelowna, BC

You can catch Casey on his blog CaseyPalmer.com, Twitter @CaseP, Facebook MrCaseyPalmer and Instagram CaseyPalmer

I hope you enjoy the show and please feel free to leave a very kind review if you see fit! 😀

Do You Believe In Disney Magic?

March 7, 2018/3 Comments/in THE BLOG, The Daddy Files /by Chris Read

Last week I had the good fortune to have been invited to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration in Orlando, Florida. Like most attendees, I brought my entire family to the conference, which took place for 3 days at Coronado Springs Resort in Walt Disney World and then 3 days at sea aboard the Disney Dream cruise ship.

Now, before I continue, let’s address the topic of the conference title. You may not know this but I am not a mom and neither were the other 7 dads in attendance. Do I wish the conference were called Family or Parent Celebration? Sure, that’d be swell. That said, I recognize a couple things here. First, there are 190 or so moms in attendance and 8 dads, although I know more dads were invited. This is essentially the mom to dad ratio in blogging, so I get it. Second, they did an amazing job at saying both moms and dads while on stage all week, and I was never made to feel out of place, so I’m over it.

Let’s move on.

Dad’s Favourite Character Meeting Of The Week!

The reason for this story is that I went into the conference stressed about how I was going to balance attending sessions with spending quality time with my family. On top of that, I had seen how excited people were about attending and I was feeling guilty because I didn’t understand why everyone was so hyped up. I mean, we’ve been to Walt Disney World before and it has always been fun, if not hectic, but this was a next level excitement that I hadn’t felt since Joe Carter hit the homerun to win the Blue Jays the World Series in 1993!

Next Level Excitement On The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride

It wasn’t until the tail end of the opening conference session that I started to understand it. Disney Parks & Resorts Director of Corporate Citizenship, John Breckow, took to the stage and talked to us about Disney’s charitable efforts, with specific emphasis on the Make-A Wish Foundation. He spoke so sincerely about their efforts that you could tell this wasn’t just a Disney executive trying to sell you on why they are great. He really cared about helping kids and I joked with him afterward that no one had ever made me cry that many times in such a short period of time but the stories were so powerful that you couldn’t help but well up. The larger message of his presentation was that Disney tries to say, “Yes”, as much as humanly possible and this was proven to us multiple times throughout our trip.

Letting Go And Being Part Of The Show At Animal Kingdom!

After John’s presentation, I felt like I was in a trance for the rest of the week. You might know me as a happy-go-lucky dad on the blog but the truth is that I can be a grump at times and things that might normally have bothered me on this trip were quickly brushed aside as I was able to focus only on the good that was happening around me. Essentially what happened was that I was able to revert back to seeing Disney through a child’s eyes, while also enjoying watching my own children’s excitement as their father, if that makes any sense? I felt just as excited to see characters like Mickey, Minnie, Sully and Chewbacca as my kids were and it felt great to allow myself to feel that type of childish joy.

Hanging With Mickey & Minnie at #DisneySMMC

I’m not going to get into every minor detail of our trip in this post but wanted to leave with this message. Visiting Walt Disney World is a once in a lifetime trip for a lot of families and you will get a lot more enjoyment out of your stay if you allow yourself to see the parks through a child’s eyes. Buy the memory maker package and jump in to the character pictures with your kids. Ride “It’s A Small World” 20 times, sing along each time and make sure to do the actions on the restaurant signs while you are in line for it. Be a parent who is also a child at heart and your experience will be a magical one!

Snores On A Plane

February 14, 2018/2 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

I don’t get out much. In fact, I generally take one trip a year to wherever the Dad 2.0 Summit happens to be. I’m not a huge fan of flying but I tolerate it because it sure beats driving 4 days to get from point A to point B. That said, something happened on my latest flight that I feel I need to talk about, even though it is potentially embarrassing. I mean, transparency is the deal I made to you all when I started this blog, right?

Let me set it up by saying that I have been battling illness since Christmas and going into my trip to New Orleans for the conference, I was feeling pretty drained. I got through the first couple days with no issues but the night before I was set to leave, I was up all night, even having to find a pharmacy at 2am to grab some meds to help me sleep.

Some other things you need to know about me. I am incapable of napping. It’s true that while most people, especially parents, can lie down and pass out in seconds, I have never been able to have a nap regardless of how tired I might be. Oh, and this is important, I’ve been told by multiple sources that I snore, even though I have firmly denied this claim as fake news.

I was all set to come home on Sunday afternoon when we hit a bit of a snag. Our already delayed Delta flight out of Detroit had landing gear issues after taking off and had to return to the airport. This was stressful enough and then we found out that we wouldn’t be able to leave again until around 3:00am. For someone who was not feeling the greatest, this was not the news I wanted to hear. As much as I tried to get comfortable in the terminal, it just wasn’t happening.

When we finally boarded the plane again, I must have passed out right away in my seat because I was woken up by the gentleman in the seat next to me. He mentioned that I was snoring VERY loudly and just wanted to make sure I was aware. I looked around, stunned, and saw the smirks on a couple passengers faces. Instead of being mortified, as you might imagine, I laughed it off and made sure to keep my eyes wide open the rest of the flight.

I only wish I was able to channel whatever it was that allowed me to nap on this occasion so I could use that for future nap attempts… I’m sure it had nothing to do with it being 3am and having been awake almost 24 hours.