THE BLOG – Page 20 – Canadian Dad

Win A Quaker Prize Pack Including $250 In Gift Cards!

September 15, 2015/164 Comments/in Giveaways, Reviews/Giveaways, THE BLOG/by Chris Read

To celebrate my participation in Quaker’s campaign for their “The Recital” video, they are letting me give away this amazing prize pack to one lucky reader! This campaign has been really eye opening for me in that it has got me thinking about how easy it is to fall into a routine with our kids. Don’t get me wrong, routines are great and all but I think we still need to step outside the box every now and then to show our kids that it is okay to take risks.

I hope you enjoy this giveaway, picture above, and also take a minute to watch and share The Recital video again. I really love the new trend of emotional marketing, especially when it involves dads! This giveaway is not open to residents of Quebec and I’ll select a winner on September 24th.

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The Boston Pizza Kids Card Is Back, Baby!

September 11, 2015/0 Comments/in THE BLOG/by Chris Read

Fact: My family love eating at Boston Pizza. It has become our go-to restaurant anytime we get too lazy to make something for dinner, which means they know us by name… My kids love the fact that they get a full activity book to play in while they wait for their food and my wife and I love that the kids get a full activity book to play in while they wait for their food! The other reason my wife and I love taking the kids to Boston Pizza is because of their Kids Card.

In exchange for a $5 donation to Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects between August 31, 2015 and October 11, 2015, you get a Kids Card that is good for 5 Free Kids Meals valued at $35! On top of that, if you register your card with your MyBP account, you will get a 6th Kids Meal for free! You can register for a MyBP account by visiting BostonPizza.com or downloading the Boston Pizza app in the Apple iTunes store. The other important note is that the cards don’t expire until June 2016, so you don’t have to worry about wasting the free meals.

About Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects:

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects which raises funds and awareness for organizations that provide kids in Canada with role models and mentoring programs. Since its inception in 1990, the Boston Pizza Foundation has raised and donated more than $20 million to directly improve the health and well-being of children and families. Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects partners include: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Kids Help Phone, Live Different, JDRF and The Rick Hansen Foundation. Boston Pizza hopes to raise at least $730,000 for Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects with the 2015 Kids Cards program.

Well, what are you waiting for? We bought two Boston Pizza Kids Cards right off the bat, which gives us 6 Free Kids Meals for each child. With 11 months to use them, we’re probably going to end up buying a couple more just to be sure. It helps knowing that the money is going to support a great cause. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have about the program. Alternatively you can interact with Boston Pizza on Twitter (@BostonPizza), Facebook (Boston Pizza) or Instagram (@BostonPizzaCanada).

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this program. Side note, we have already burned through one full kids card and I am now the guy wandering around with three of them in his wallet…

Enjoy More Movies With The Scotiabank SCENE Debit Card

September 8, 2015/93 Comments/in Giveaways, Reviews, Reviews/Giveaways, THE BLOG/by Chris Read

“Would you like to use your SCENE points to pay for your snacks, sir?”

I looked at the cashier, slightly baffled, wondering if she was talking to me. My family loves going to the movies and I have always handed over my SCENE card without really thinking about it, until this visit. I marched confidently back to our seats with my FREE snacks, proudly explained to my wife what had happened and waited for her to proclaim me a hero!

“That’s nice, honey. Did you get the straws??”

You can’t win ‘em all, I guess… Either way, I was excited at the prospect of spending less money at the movies, which is a concept I’m sure we can all get behind. While scoping out the SCENE website, I noticed that Scotiabank had a SCENE debit card and I immediately got that tingly feeling that is usually reserved for special holidays such as Christmas and Back to School.

With the SCENE debit card you can earn SCENE points on all your purchases which means that you will be enjoying free movies and more throughout the year! Just check out some of these benefits!

• Earn 1 SCENE point for every $5 you spend on debit purchases
• Earn 1 SCENE point for every $1 you spend at Cineplex theatres or online at cineplex.com
• Redeem points for free movies and more!
• Earn 1 point for every $5 you spend at Sport Chek

Look, I’m not one to tell you what to do but if you love movies as much as we do, this card is a no brainer! Not convinced yet? Check out this handy Scotiabank SCENE Rewards Calculator to see exactly how many free movies you could see by opening an account and getting the SCENE Debit Card! All I’m saying is that there are a LOT of superhero movies coming out next year and this would definitely help lighten the load on your wallet.

To send you off on an even happier note, I am going to give away a pair of Cineplex movies passes so you can feel for yourself how great it would be to pay for your tickets with SCENE reward points!

To enter, simply leave a comment below and let me know either what your favourite movie was this year or which movie you are most looking forward to seeing in the theatre! I’ll choose a winner next week!

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this campaign. That said, I am actually a giant nerd who needs to see every single superhero movie coming out in the next 5 years, so I kind of need these points…

Oh, The Places She’ll Go

September 1, 2015/1 Comment/in THE BLOG, The Daddy Files/by Chris Read

When the doctor informed my wife and I that we were going to be having a daughter, a wave of panic came over me. It wasn’t that I didn’t think I would be a good enough father, it was more the fact that I had spent so much of my life around guys that I wasn’t sure how different life would be with a little girl around. You see, it had been well over 70 years since there had been a girl born on my father’s side of the family. My grandfather had four sons, three of them had two sons each and then two of us had boys as our first children. To say the odds were against us having a daughter would be a giant understatement.

Still, there she was, a beautiful baby girl staring back at me, wrapped in a pink blanket and wearing a pink knitted hat. She has been in my life for just over five years now and I can honestly say that having a little girl has changed the way I think about almost everything. Just when I think I have her figured out she never fails to throw me a curve ball. She fell in love with princesses and ballet so I assumed she was going to be a girlie girl. Next thing I know she’s running Spartan Races, destroying rock walls and bowling kids over at her soccer games.

Just this past weekend we went camping at the KOA in Cardinal and they have a gigantic inflatable water slide. If I’m being completely honest, I’m a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to rides and heights in general so I was hoping my kids wouldn’t be interested in the water slide. I got off the hook with my son because he was preoccupied with the Kids Bingo event but I could tell by the daredevil look in her eyes that there would be no denying her this adventure. Due to her lack of height she needed a parent to go up the ladder with her and, after my wife vanished in a puff of smoke, I ended up drawing the short straw. Here is an example of what we were going up against, although the picture does it no justice.

A funny thing happened on the way up to the top of the slide. My fear of heights vanished and was instead replaced by pride at watching her fearlessly climb her way to the top. As it turns out, her fearlessness helped me conquer one of my fears, which was a lot to process afterward. As we conquered the slide together I was reminded of the new Quaker video, The Recital (shown below), from earlier in the week and have since vowed to do more crazy and goofy things with my kids going forward. Life had gotten a little too serious lately and when that happens it can be easy to lose sight of what’s important. Let your freak flag fly, people, and enjoy the smiles that follow!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Quaker.

What I Watch On Netflix After The Kids Go To Bed

August 30, 2015/2 Comments/in THE BLOG/by Chris Read

What started as a fun thing to check out when we had free time has now turned into an all out family obsession. I am, of course, talking about Netflix. Honestly, if it weren’t for sports, I don’t know that I would even have cable anymore because there is so much content for our whole family on Netflix that we are never without something to watch. As they have graciously asked me to be a part of their Stream Team, I thought I would use this month’s post to focus on the shows my wife and I watch after the kids have long gone to sleep. And I mean fast asleep because you don’t want them walking in during some of these shows…

Suits

Suits is your classic smart ass drama/comedy. It follows main characters and lawyers Harvey and Mike as they get into all kinds of trouble. The characters mesh perfectly, especially the dynamic between Harvey and Mike and there were very few episodes where I felt like the shtick was getting tired. Season 5 had been excellent so far and I hope the show lasts a long time as it is one of my all time favourites!

House of Lies

I just started this one last week on a recommendation from a friend and I was hooked immediately. This show is kind of like Suits, which explains why I loved it, except it is waaaaaay raunchier and foul mouthed. It follows a team of executives, led by Don Cheadle, and has a lot of smart comedy in it. There is also a lot of sex. A LOT. Definitely do not watch this with the kids anywhere nearby but definitely give it a test run because it is pretty funny.

Daredevil

What can I say? I’m a sucker for the superhero crazy that is going on right now. In my opinion, Daredevil is the best of all the superhero shows out there right now, and I’ve seen them all! The action seems so real and graphic, and the story is so dark that you can’t help but get sucked into it. Add in the fact that Vincent D’Onofrio is absolutely haunting as Daredevil’s main adversary and you’ll see why I’ve already watched the entire series twice.

Breaking Bad

I put this one off until after it had been over for a year. After the glowing reviews from all my friends I don’t know why I never watched it, to be honest, but I’m glad I finally did. I don’t know what more to say about it than to say that everyone was right. This is a must watch show no matter what kind of television you are into. I will also add that Better Call Saul, the spin-off show, was equally as brilliant.

Wet Hot American Summer

I have to admit that I loved the original Wet Hot American Summer movie even though a lot of people I know thought it was ridiculous (not in a good way). Watching this series brought back a ton of great memories of the original movie and didn’t disappoint. I still can’t believe the entire original cast agreed to come back for this series. If you loved the movie, you will love this series.

Bloodline

Bloodline was a nice change of pace from the shows I normally watch and quickly became one of my favourites on Netflix. It is slow moving but the characters are so amazingly well written and acted that I got hooked immediately. I can’t wait to see what season 2 has in store of the Rayburn family.

Narcos

This show just launched on Netflix yesterday but I have been waiting impatiently for weeks. I have only seen the first two episodes but that was enough for me to know that I will be staying up late to get it done over the next couple nights. This show is based on the rise and fall of Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar and the Drug Enforcement Agency agents hunting him.

Man, I hadn’t realized how much television I have been watching lately… Netflix has this feature that gives you like 15 seconds after one episode ends before the next one begins to decide if you want to watch more. I have such a hard time deciding what to do that I usually just keep watching until the TV breaks down. Life is hard.

Now it’s your turn! What do you watch on Netflix after the kids go to bed?!

Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team but that is only because I was already an addict of the system and begged them to take me on board…

Am I Making The Most Of My Time As A Father?

August 25, 2015/3 Comments/in THE BLOG, The Daddy Files/by Chris Read

Where does the time go? I’m serious, what just happened here? I blinked and my children were another year older. It leaves me reflecting on whether I’m making the most of this time with them or if I’m letting it slip by too quickly. I had been asked to write something about the new video from Quaker, The Recital, and quickly planned out what I wanted to talk about. That changed instantly after I watched the video, however. There as a line in there that really resonated with me and it’s when the dad in the video says,

“And I hope she doesn’t think I work too much or don’t pay enough attention to her because I really do value the time we spend together”

That’s exactly it, isn’t it? This line just kept ringing in my ears afterward because it is exactly how I feel about my kids. I have a full time job and also freelance on the side so that my wife can stay home to raise the kids. This means that while most parents are chastised for having their phones out around their kids, I occasionally need to have mine out in order to pay the bills. Still, I wonder if the kids remember all the fun events they got to go to or will they only remember that daddy was on his phone (fulfilling social media obligations for that event) during them?

I worry everyday that my children won’t understand this and I do my very best to explain it to them and to keep my work to the times when we are not together, but I’m certainly not perfect. I actually considered leaving blogging earlier this year because I felt like it was taking away too much of my family time. I got to a point where there seemed to be so much going on that I just shut down to avoid it all. As it turns out, I just needed to implement some structure to what I do. Yes, after 4 years of this I am still learning how to manage it. Laugh away.

This is the path we have chosen and I am grateful for every opportunity I have received and for every Harlem Globetrotter who has visited my house to play basketball with my kids… I just hope that my children will look back someday and remember that above all else their daddy loved them and did everything in his power to give them the best life possible. Now, grab some tissues and watch this very cool video from Quaker. PS – I’m already planning something special for my daughter and I to do together after watching this!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Quaker to showcase their new father/daughter video and hit me harder that I had expected. Do all the things you want to do with your kids before you blink and they have families of their own.

*Photo Credit: The cover photo was taken by David Redding Photography.

It’s Official, I’m A Minivan Man!

August 19, 2015/5 Comments/in THE BLOG, The Daddy Files/by Chris Read

We’ve all heard the jokes about buying a minivan. Having never actually been inside one I was led to believe that they were simply a boring box on wheels and that I should never ever consider owning one for fear of being voted off the cool people island. When we went car shopping recently we didn’t have a minivan on our short list, but now that the dust has settled I can confirm that there is definitely one sitting in my driveway right now.

Shameless plug here but it was my work on the Schick “Drive Free” campaign that got me thinking about how much money we were pumping into our current vehicle because it was older and needed a constant stream of maintenance. We figured we’d at least check out some new vehicles that would have warranty plans we could rely on. After looking at a couple different option the salesman cautiously asked us if we had ever considered a minivan. We both kind of laughed it off but next thing we knew we were sitting in the back seats checking out all the cool features it offered.

After some hard negotiations… Wait, let me try that again. After cowering under the sales table we finally agreed to purchase a brand new, fully loaded, Dodge Grand Caravan and I have to say that this is the happiest I’ve been with a new car purchase. It has given us the freedom to allow each of our children to choose a friend to take places with us and that has really taken summer to a new level! We’ve done museums, beaches, parks and pool parties all with a van full of kids and room to spare. Seriously, minivans are the exact opposite of everything I’ve heard about them. Up next is our minivan’s first camping trip and I can’t wait to see how much stuff we can cram into it!

In closing, you should definitely buy a minivan so you can be cool like me. On top of that if you think gas, maintenance and insurance are all too expensive, you still have a lot of time left to enter the Schick “Drive Free For A Year” contest! All you need to do to enter is click on the previously mentioned link, follow the easy steps and Schick could be paying your gas, insurance and depreciation for a whole year! You can also visit the @FreeYourSkinCA Twitter handle for more specials and details about the contest. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this program, however I did actually buy a minivan and I really do love it! I also actually feel cool while driving around in it. It’s like punching an achievement on my dad card!

Easy Barilla Spaghetti For Your Picky Eaters

August 15, 2015/0 Comments/in THE BLOG/by Chris Read

I’m always surprised by the number of families who make two totally different meals at dinner time. This is usually because the kids won’t eat the food the parents are eating and, not wanting them to starve, a second meal is created. I don’t say this to judge, as I have been in this boat myself. I mention it because instead of creating a completely different meal we simply started finding meals where we could individually tweak the ingredients to make everyone happy.

One of the first meals we tried this with was with our famous Spaghetti Sunday! What? Don’t pretend you don’t name your days after the food you will be eating! Where was I?? Oh yeah, the spaghetti! You see, my wife and I love spaghetti but the kids have never liked spaghetti sauce. This has left us either avoiding making it altogether or with two empty bowls and two full bowls when we do prepare it. Instead of going the two dinner route, my wife came up with a brilliant plan.

Looks Plain; Tastes Delicious!

Instead of putting the sauce on the kids Barilla spaghetti noodles, she simply added a little bit of butter/margarine and some parmesan cheese. I have never seen children eat a meal faster than my kids did that day. They even asked for seconds! Seconds I tell you! Just so you don’t think, “that’s all?!”, I should also mention that we included a salad and garlic bread to round out the meal. I realize this may not sound like much, especially to you wizards whose children eat everything you put in front of them, but this was a big breakthrough for us because it changed our mindset about dinner time. We had been stuck in a spot where it was either two separate dinners or make the kids starve to make a point, neither of which were good options.

On top of this new development, we have really been encouraging the kids to help out with the meal preparation and they are both really starting to love it. The great thing about the spaghetti meal is that they can pretty much do all the work aside from lifting the heavy pot, so they really feel like they are making their own meals. So, what are you waiting for? Stop slaving over two meals and get your kids involved experimenting with different combinations. At the very least you’ll end up creating some really fun family memories!

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in the Barilla Share The Table campaign. Barilla was kind enough to send us some pasta for our experiments and I couldn’t be happier that they did!

My Workout With The Cast Of Marvel Universe Live

August 10, 2015/0 Comments/in THE BLOG/by Chris Read

Blogging is such a funny thing. There are so many times that I am left pinching myself at some of the cool opportunities that have come my way and there were plenty of new pinch marks on my arms after this past weekend.

I had the opportunity to meet Hayley and Josh Murillo, who are cast members of the Marvel Universe Live show that is touring North America right now. Not only did I get a chance to meet them but they also took me through one of the workouts the cast uses to keep fit for the show. I’m not going to lie, it was a physically humbling experience and something I definitely felt the next day. Luckily for all of you I recorded the whole humiliating exercise and you can now watch it below…

Later that same night I took my family to the actual Marvel Universe live show and have to say that it was absolutely outstanding! Seriously, the motorcycle stunts alone would have been worth the price of admission but to see all of my favourite superheroes standing right in front of me sent me into a full on geek attack. I don’t want to spoil the show for anyone so I will simply say that when the Hulk appears for the first time we were all in awe of his costume and performance.

If you have children who love comics or if you are a huge fan of the Marvel Universe you need to go see this show. The production value was second to none and you are left shaking your head at some of the stunts the performers pull off during the show. They is flying, explosions, people on fire and Xmen. What more could you ask for??

Alright, I’ve talked enough. Please take a couple minutes to check out my interview and workout with the cast of Marvel Universe Live! Also, thank you so much to Feld Entertainment and the Canadian Tire Centre for allowing me to continuing doing my thing!

You Can Glamp If You Want To

August 4, 2015/2 Comments/in Reviews, Reviews/Giveaways, THE BLOG, The Daddy Files/by Chris Read

I have a lot of great memories of camping with my family when I was young. We used to go camping at least twice year but often times more. Heck, my parents even drove us all the way to Walt Disney World and we camped instead of staying at one of the resorts. It occurred to me this summer that my young family had yet to embark on our first family camping trip, until now!

We decided to book at the 1000 Islands/Ivy Lea KOA for a number of reasons. First, it’s just over an hour from our house in case things went horribly wrong. Second, they rent cabins with bunk beds for the kids and we thought that sounded fun (and it was). I actually wrestled with the idea of tenting because staying in a cabin felt like we were breaking the rules of camping. That, and the fact that the price difference between tenting and cabin certainly isn’t negligible. In the end I have no regrets as this was one of our best family trips yet!

Due to my superior planning skills and attention to detail, I did little to no research on the Ivy Lea KOA prior to us arriving on site. You can imagine my surprise and excitement as the first thing we saw as we pulled into the park was a gigantic jumping pillow! While I understand that the jumping pillow was put there for the children, I also noticed there was no rules posted against the older campers taking part in the fun…

Here are a few other things I didn’t know about the Ivy Lea KOA. They have heated pools with a water slide. There is an adults only jacuzzi, which I frequented often. There is an arcade. The bathrooms are in immaculate condition, which was important because our cabin didn’t have a bathroom in it. Most importantly, they have a full time activities director whose job it is to keep your children busy and having fun. Every morning we would walk up to the main office and check out all the cool activities planned for that day. As you can see for yourself, there was never a shortage of things for the kids to do.

I think my favourite activity was the wet ‘n wild wagon ride in which all the kids grab water gun and load onto a tractor pulled wagon. The tractor then weaves through the campground as an epic water battle takes place between the young riders and the campers who choose to take part. It was so much fun trying to sneak up on the kids and it was great to see how many people took part in the fun.

This was such an amazing family getaway that we actually booked another KOA adventure before the end of summer! I should also note that the staff at the 1000 Islands/Ivy Lea were absolutely incredible and really go out of their way to make sure that everyone has an incredible experience. If you are looking to go camping with your family but don’t feel ready for tent life, I can’t recommend the cabin experience enough as it was a great intro to the outdoors.

Finally I’d love to give a shout out to GMC Canada for allowing us to test the GMC Acadia on our KOA adventure! It was great timing, too, as I’m not sure how we would have done it without all that extra space. We packed that thing to the max and it still drove like it was on the clouds. My kids were actually quite upset when I told them we had to take it back because they loved the 7 seats and the fact that I didn’t have to pack stuff on top of them like the rest of our road trips… I kind of miss it, too.

I’ll leave you with a few more pictures of our KOA experience and strongly encourage you to check one out for yourself.