These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things: Impractical Jokers

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It’s a strange occurrence when you stumble upon a TV show that you have never seen, nor heard about before, that makes you laugh so hard that you wake up your sleeping wife. Well, I was fortunate enough to have that happen to me the other day and I have been infecting others with it, ever since!

The show is called, “Impractical Jokers“, and follows four friends who compete against each other in a series of humiliating yet hilarious dare challenges. The one who backs out of the most dares, must perform a solo humiliation at the end of each episode and I’m not sure I have ever laughed so hard in my life.

The show airs on TruTV but I have no idea what that is, probably because I’m Canadian, so I watch it on TVTropolis. I don’t really have much more to add, except to say that you should definitely be watching this show if you like to laugh until your sides ache. You can also find these guys on Twitter @TruTVJokers.

I’ve attached one of my favourite clips below and I hope you’ll come back and tell me what you thought.

Cheers!

There Is No Greater Love Than The Love Of A Sibling

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I’m not sure if it’s a normal thing among siblings at a young age, but the love my children show for each other can be emotionally overwhelming for me, at times. In thinking back to my childhood with my brother, there weren’t too many moments I can remember that didn’t involve something sharp and dangerous being hurled at one of us, while the other ran for their life.

With my children being only 2 & 4 years old respectively, I can’t possibly expect them to fully understand the value of loving and respecting others. Especially given the fact that they live in a house that doubles as a home daycare and have to watch all their worldly possessions get played with by other children, 5 days out of each week.

Yet, they have transitioned seamlessly and I dare say that this is one of the main reasons they have grown so close in such a short time span. My son, the older of the two, is constantly checking in on his little sister to make sure her needs are being met. When she cries, he almost always runs over to rub her back and ask if she’s okay, which usually causes me to pause in amazement at his brotherly awareness.

Sure, they have some battles too but the majority of their interactions are positive ones. To watch my daughter come down stairs in the morning and immediately head to the couch my son is sitting on, so they can cuddle, absolutely melts this Dad’s heart. I see it in a lot of their daily interactions and I smile each and every time something happens.

I don’t know the exact science behind it and I am absolutely not complaining. My wife, who is with them almost 24 hours a day, is clearly doing an excellent job of teaching them the importance of loving and treating each other with respect. I am eternally grateful for her decision to quit her job in order to stay home and raise our children. I don’t know if you have ever worked in a daycare setting, but it is not for everybody (me) and might be one of the toughest jobs out there.

This probably comes off as a sappy Dad post and may even seem like I am bragging about it. I can assure you that it is simply done out of pride. Maybe this is just how all young siblings behave and I am in for a very rude awakening, very soon. Even if they forget it somewhere down the line, I will always have these memories to look back on and to share with them. In the meantime, I will continue beaming with pride every time they find their way into each other’s arms.

Cheers!

A Thank You Letter To The National Hockey League

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This half finished post had been sitting in my drafts folder since September 20th. I hesitated at the time and figured I’d hold off because I knew that the NHL and the NHLPA would come to a quick agreement and I’d have my hockey back by now.

Fast forward two months and not only is there no hockey, but there is no end in sight to this latest lockout. The fact that I can even refer to this as the “latest” lockout should be enough to make both sides of this debacle, hang their heads in shame. That doesn’t seem to be the case though. The NHL is currently going through its 4th work stoppage in the past 2 decades and this fan, at least, is growing tired of the charade.

While I understand that having your salary cut is not something most people would find an acceptable practice, when your salary is 4.5 million dollars and your job is to entertain fans, you can probably see where the general public would find the lockout to be a tad ridiculous. You might also understand how annoying it is to listen to the childish back and forth banter about how you’ll divide the 3.3 billion dollars in revenue.

Most of you don’t know this about me, although you probably assumed because I am Canadian, but I am one of those crazed lunatic fans that worships his team through the good and the bad times. I have shirts, underwear, socks, hats, signed photos, framed jerseys and a million other NHL products lying around my house. Last week, I wrote about how I’m not very superstitious. That doesn’t apply to my love of hockey.

I have been so frustrated with my team’s play that I have actually walked out of games in disgust, only to sit in my car in the parking lot, listening to the remainder of it. I actually had an argument with my wife over which team our son would be pushed to cheer for, the local team or the team Daddy likes. I’ve even switched clothes midway through a game, to try and jolt my team’s chances. These are certainly not the actions of a sane person, but I can assure you that this is how a lot fans, and even a few friends of mine, react to watching our teams play. I know the die-hard’s see where I’m coming from here.

I won’t even get started on my obsession with hockey pools. When you know your team’s depth chart, down to who would get called up if you lost 5 goalies to injury, it may be time to take a step back!

A funny thing happened yesterday, though. While listening to the local sports radio station talk about the latest snag in negotiations, I started thinking about all the things I’ve accomplished throughout what would have been the first month of the NHL season. Without the NHL, I hadn’t worried about the standings or how my pool teams were doing. I didn’t spend 3 hours doing research because some 15 year old kid in Russia might be the next big thing and could make for a nice sleeper pick.

In fact, I’ve done more of the things that make me happy, as opposed to watching hockey, which usually just stresses me out. I’ve spent way more quality time with my family, I got yard work done, I spent more time writing for this blog and I generally didn’t even notice that anything was missing. It has been an eye opening experience for me and in a way; I have the NHL to thank for it.

So, I’d like to formally thank the NHL and the NHLPA for their continued greed. I feel like my blinders have been lifted and I can now see that my time and money is better served being spent on other things. I know I’m only one fan, but when you start losing the support of the die-hard fans, imagine what the casual fan and especially the American fans are thinking.

Best of luck in digging yourselves out of this mess. I’ll probably still watch some games once they return, it’s not hockey’s fault that you can’t get your shit together. However, I can promise you that I’ll be keeping my wallet in my pocket when it comes to attending games and buying merchandise. I’ll spend that time and money on my family instead, like I should have been doing in the first place.

Cheers!

Movember Update And A Birthday Wish!

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I’m struggling with writing today’s post for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I wanted to attempt to accurately capture how proud I am of the Movember team I am Captain of. I’m guessing typed words won’t begin to show my passion for this cause or how excited I am that we have already raised $4,836 towards our goal of $5,000, with 16 days left to go.

The other issue is that today is also my Birthday, and while I realize the poor etiquette in pointing that out to everyone, I can assure you that my motives in doing so are pure. I wanted to share my Birthday wish with you all. If you’ve been reading this blog at all, you’ll know that I don’t believe in a lot of superstitions, so sharing my wish with you all shouldn’t be a big deal.

There are a million things I could wish for, with most of them being things that you would never see come true. Wishing for health and prosperity is nice but those are things that you can’t really control, except for following a healthy diet and going after your dreams. My wish today is a little simpler and a lot easier to obtain.

My wish, on my 34th birthday, is for our Movember Team to reach its goal of $5,000! That’s it. We’re $164 away and I know that this is an attainable wish for today, so let’s make it happen!

PS – Thank You for all the birthday wishes today! It’s only 8am and I already feel more spoiled than I deserve to be.

PPS – A special thanks to our Movember Corporate donors: Tag Along Toys, Play It Again Sports & Logs End Flooring! We couldn’t have gotten to this point without your support!

Cheers!!

Blog Soup – Week of November 5th

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Each week, Blog Soup will highlight some of my favourite posts from other bloggers around the interweb.

1. What’s Important To My Kids – My Report Card by Wildsau – Fellow Dad blogger, Tom (@Wildsau), shares a story of a report card he received from his 8 year old daughter. I’m not going to lie, just the thought of this happening to me someday, gave me crazy goosebumps (and maybe a couple tears…)

2. He Never Let Go Of My Thumb… by Andy Herald (HowToBeADad) – How To Be A Dad co-founder, Andy Herald, shares a touching story about his 3 year old son’s first experience with Trick or Treating.

3. The Low Down On My Mo Down! by Zeev @ PTPA Media – This post, from my MoBro Zeev, takes a hilarious look at the Mo-Pro’s and the Moh-No’s to the moustache growing phenomenon known as Movember. The most important thing to note here, is that the PTPA has agreed to match any donations Zeev can get, up to $1000. If you’re going to give, make sure it’s to Zeev so you can double your contribution!

That’s it for this week. I was out of the fictional blogging office for a majority of it and didn’t get to read too many posts. I’m really glad I got to see the ones listed above and I think you will be as well.

Cheers!

Don’t Eat My Snack, Okay?

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One of the joys of having a daycare running out of my house, is that I get to learn about how truly different kids can be. What is funny to one, could be horrifying to the next. Never has this been more evident than when I attempted to play a little gag on the group at a recent snack time.

We’ve all seen the game played before; “Hey, look over there!”, as I reach over and pretend to eat one of the kid’s snacks. Everyone erupts with laughter and encourages me to do it again to a different child. In my mind, the kids know I have no intention on actually eating their snack. In their minds, however, I am a snack eating monster who will stop at nothing to get my hands on those sweet, sweet apple slices.

That day, the game ended innocently enough. We had all had a good laugh and the kids finished their unstolen snacks with smiles, knowing that they had defeated the angry snack monster. At least, that’s what I thought had happened that day; until snack time came around the next day, that is. I had completely forgotten the game and was catching up on the day’s news, when I heard a voice from across the room say,

“Chris, don’t eat my snack, okay?!“

Oh yeah, the snack game! Thinking this plea was an invitation to steal some yogurt, I made my way over to the table and treated the children to my deepest “Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum” giant voice. The only problem was that upon arrival at my destination, I could see in this child’s face that his statement was no joke. The poor little guy was petrified at the thought of me coming over to steal his hard earned yogurty reward and I felt terrible.

This was just one of the many, many lessons I am learning about the different personalities of children. Just as my son won’t watch Tangled because of Rapunzel’s scary mother, this little boy did not like the thought of a snack monster coming to trick him out of his loot. They all have their quirks and that’s what makes them all so unique and amazing. Needless to say, it’s been a month since the incident and the snack monster hasn’t made any more appearances. Still, every snack time since the incident, I am reminded of the joke gone wrong as I hear,

“Chris, don’t eat my snack, okay?“

Don’t worry buddy, the snack monster has retired.

Cheers!

Lest We Forget

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Please take some time today to remember those who have fought and continue to fight for our country and our freedom. At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, we pay our respects with a moment of silence to remember those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Here is one of Canada’s best known literary works, “In Flanders Fields” written during the First World War by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

It’s important to teach our children about the significance of this day. We don’t want to bombard them with tales of war, but it’s important for them to understand our history and how it helped them get to where they are today.

The best part about taking the time to teach our children about Remembrance Day, is that we also get a renewed sense of pride in the efforts of the men and women who have fought so bravely for our country. That was my experience as I gathered information to share with my kids.

To all the men and women who have lost their lives and to those who have and continue to fight for our freedom; Thank You!

I Guess It’s Time To Make A Wish?

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I’m a little confused as to how I am supposed to write this piece. I don’t realistically believe in a lot of superstitions. Luck, karma, Murphy’s Law, etc… I find it’s just easier to set goals and then to work hard to obtain them. Not getting that big promotion doesn’t send me into a ranting tirade about how I’ve been screwed! I simply dust myself off and look at what I can do better for the next time. I’ve brushed off a lot of dust.

Recently, however, there has been a recurring anomaly that has left me pondering my belief system. We all know the modern superstition, that when you look at a clock that shows the times, “1:11 or 11:11”, that you are supposed to make a wish. It seems like more of a fun exercise to me, where you make a wish that never comes true and then you move on until it happens again in a year or so.

The problem here is that it has been happening to me with such frequency, that I am having a hard time deciphering what it all means! Looking it up on Google doesn’t help either, because there are so many possible explanations that I would no doubt choose the one I like the most and put it towards that. I could go back to the wish thing but there are so many rules about wishing, that I would be afraid to jinx it. Do you have to keep wishing for the same thing? If I wish for money or a promotion over the health and safety of my family, does that make me a jerk? And what about World Peace!!! I can’t take all this pressure!

There has to be some kind of explanation for all of this. I’m talking once a day for the last 20 or so days, this has happened. It can’t be merely a coincidence! So I’m putting it out there to you, the good readers of this blog, to tell me what is going on here? Please fill me in on what I am supposed to do with all this madness.

Also, if you have secretly been waiting for my birthday (PS-It’s in 6 days) to surprise me with a bag of cash or some cool new job offer, where I get to play on Twitter and write stories all day, please just end the suspense and do it now! I can’t go on thinking that something big is going to happen because of these ridiculous 1’s that keep popping up on any clock I happen to be standing close to.

On the other hand, I guess I could just stop looking at my iPhone…Hahahaha, not likely!

Cheers!

The Mo Slowly Grows; But The Cause Is The Key #Movember

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With Movember season in full swing, this will be my first weekly update on how the Mo Grows. More importantly, it’s a chance to talk a little more about why I’ve decided to Grow my Mo for this worthy cause and to give an update on how Team Canadian Dad 2.012 is doing in their efforts.

As much fun as growing a moustache for Movember can be, it is obviously not the primary objective. We are raising funds and awareness to support men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer and male mental health initiatives. These are issues that need to be talked about on a more consistent basis and Movember is helping to get the conversation started. It was in reading some of the stats below, that you really start to take notice of the change that is needed in our mindsets:

* On average men die five to six years younger than women.
* Suicide rates are four times higher for men than women.
* More than five men die prematurely each hour from potentially preventable illnesses.

While Movember does encourage more men to actively participate in the management of their health, studies also show that a lot of men are still ignoring their issues, rather than seeking the opinion of a doctor. Please, don’t be afraid to see your doctor if you think something is a little off. There is nothing uncool or unmanly about going to a doctor’s office to get checked out.

My Story

This initiative hits home for me on a couple of levels. Both my father and cousin are cancer survivors and without the proper funding and awareness, things could have turned out lot different. As far as me personally, after my father passed away from a vehicle accident, I went through a very dark period. For almost two years, I spent countless hours and many sleepless nights, thinking that I had every disease under the sun. I bounced from emergency rooms to specialists to my family doctor, until finally, after getting yet another negative result, one of the emergency room doctor’s referred me to a psychiatrist.

As you can imagine, the thought of needing to see a psychiatrist didn’t sit too well with me, but I went anyway. I’m not sure if it was my time with that doctor or just the realization that I was letting my family down, but I snapped out of my funk and haven’t looked back since. That’s not to say I don’t go get checked out when I feel a bit off, but I don’t let the negative thoughts creep into my head and take over my world anymore.

How You Can Help

We’re not growing these Mo’s for nothing! If you’re interested in helping out, I encourage you to visit our team page at Canadian Dad 2.012 and please make a small donation. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount, just whatever you can spare for this great initiative. Our team has been working very hard and we have already raised over $3000 in 7 days, so I’m excited to see where we can take this.

Furthermore, if you have a business and would like to make a corporate donation, I am offering a sidebar ad in my Movember Supporters section (until Dec 31st), as well as mentions in my upcoming Movember posts. We already have two wonderful sponsors in Tag Along Toys and Play It Again Sports Ottawa and I couldn’t be happier to have them on board!

Please feel free to contact me via email with any further questions and as always, Thank You so much for your time and donations! You are the driving force in the battle to change the face of men’s health!

Cheers!

A Dance With My Daughter

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I wonder if she understands how much it means to me? Does she know that agreeing to dance with me at that birthday party, sent me into a state of bliss that is almost impossible to match?

The smile on her face says that she was equally as excited to be dancing with her Daddy, but would she have been just as excited to have just grabbed anyone at that point? I mean, it was the incredible catchy “Dora The Explorer” theme song.

I like to think that she felt the same way about the 45 second blip in our day, as we stomped our feet and twirled around, our cheeks sore from the growing smiles. I might sound like an overly sappy Dad here, but these are the little moments that make you forget all your troubles and remind you of how great life can be.

Maybe someday, she’ll read this and know how special that brief moment was for her Dad. I hope she does. I hope she reads this and understands that she made a memory for me that day. One that she may not remember, but that I will take with me forever.

It was only 45 seconds, but the memory remains for a lifetime.

Cheers!