Oren Miller GiveForward

The Story of Oren

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A fellow father, dad blogger, and friend, Oren Miller, is going through a tough time right now. Diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, he is in a fight for his life and the dad community is responding in a united effort to help Oren and his family with moral and monetary support.

To the dad blogging community, Oren Miller is more than just a dad who writes about his kids. He had the idea to start a Dad Bloggers Facebook group a couple years ago that now houses almost 800 fathers from around the world. This may not sound like a big deal to some but this group has been a source of great pride, support, debate and friendship to those members and, to us, Oren is our leader.

A GiveForward campaign was started, with the initial goal of $5,000, to help Oren’s family go on a trip together. In less than 24 hours, the campaign had reached $15,000 and it continues to grow each day. What started as a simple gesture has now turned into an amazing outpouring of support that is going to help Oren and his family with more than just a family trip. Essentially, the dads have decided to push the bystander effect to the side and set a new trend of giving and sharing as much as they can to help a fellow brother and friend.

I have never been so proud to be associated with a group of such amazing and supportive people. Just two years ago most of us were struggling on our own with our blogs, and now, thanks to Oren, we have a place where we can hang out, share ideas and thoughts on fatherhood, and develop friendships that will last a lifetime. We owe Oren more than just money but this is our way of helping him now, in his time of need, and I hope you will consider helping him out as well.

To donate to Oren’s fund, you can click on this GiveForward Campaign and help in any way you can. Thank you for your consideration in helping my friend and his family.

Father Son

I Still Remember

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I rubbed my daughter’s back last night as she cried in her sleep and wondered how many times you did that with me. I can still remember climbing in to your bed when I would get scared and have vowed to never deny my children that luxury.

I think about how proud you must have been when I scored a big goal or made a nice catch. My kids do those things now and my heart swells with pride. Some people say not to over praise your children but I can never seem to stop myself. I wish I’d had the chance to trade these stories with you.

I remember how cool and calm you were when I’d get hurt. I channel that energy now when I see my children in pain, even though I am filled with nothing but panic. I’m guessing this is what all parents feel.

I wish I could ask you silly questions, like whether you smiled the way I do when we coloured nonsensical pictures for you, as my children do for me.

I still see the effects of the work you did to make our community a better place to live and hope I can live up to your level of commitment. There are so many times where I feel like I don’t have the energy and wonder how you accomplished all that you did. Because of you, I work harder so that my kids will see me as a difference maker someday.

You let me be my own person and make my own mistakes, while also giving me the chance to make up for those mistakes without violence or rage. Like the time I “borrowed” that money of your dresser… I’m still learning patience and I wish I had you here to tell me that it gets easier.

I remember a lot great times, which is what I hope for my children when I am gone. Even when I think about the tougher times, I find so many lessons that I can apply to my parenting today.

There are so many things I never got to say to you, so instead I make sure to say them to my children every single day.

Although you may not be here to lean on, I am doing my best with what you left behind so I can be the kind of father my children deserve. The kind of father I had in you.

Canadian Dad Bissell Vacuum

Canadian Dad & Agent Bissell in The Attack of the Evil Dirt Twins

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I was asked by the fine folks at Bissell Canada to review their Multi-Surface Expert™ canister vacuum cleaner. So, instead of the usual sponsored post you are used to, my family and I decided to mix it up by creating a trailer for a new movie, “Canadian Dad & Agent Bissell in The Attack of the Evil Dirt Twins”!

For the record, the vacuum was incredible, and especially for a family that has been searching for something that works for years. I’m a huge fan of the canister system and it actually picks up dirt off my floor! It was also perfect for hardwood, tile and carpet, which is a huge bonus for me. For more information on the Bissell Multi-Surface Expert™, you can visit the information page on the Bissell Canada Website.

So, without further ado, here is my family’s big screen debut!

Disclosure: Bissell Canada provided us with the vacuum cleaner to facilitate this “review”. I really do love it and love even more that my kids got to have fun with it.

Bike Riding Training

The Greatest Bike Riding Teacher Ever!

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He ran up and hugged me tightly. “Daddy, you’re the best bike teacher ever!” he exclaimed, his voice filled with pride. Up until that moment, I had managed to contain my emotions solely to a prideful glow, but this kid always seems to find a way to push me outside of my comfort zone. Today’s moment comes courtesy of him learning to ride his bike, without training wheels, in under an hour.

The truth is, teaching a child to ride a bike has little to do with the teacher. I was essentially there for moral support and to follow along behind him, holding his seat as so many Hallmark cards would imply. He is the one who did all the work and my heightened emotions came from watching his pride in himself rather than being proclaimed World’s Greatest Bike Teacher, although it does have a nice ring to it.

This is just one of many obstacles he will hurdle in his lifetime and watching him have pride in the things he accomplishes has been helping me renew my own sense of pride in the things I have done recently. It’s so easy to get lost in routine to the point where you feel like you are just going through the motions of life. What my kids have taught me is that you are never too old to learn something new, and in the case of my children, I’m learning to become a teacher, mentor, disciplinarian and role model, all at the same time. This has opened my eyes to all the other things I want to accomplish in my life and has encouraged me to start going after those dreams.

Funny the effects children can have on our brains.

Zinc Chozen Scooter 2

The Day A Grown Man Got A Scooter And Ruled The World!

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Naturally, the first thing I did when my shiny new Zinc Chozen scooter arrived in the mail was to scour the neighbourhood for other grown men to join my scooter gang. I actually thought it would be easy to find some other dads to join my crew but when it proved more difficult than expected, I went with Plan B and recruited my children.

Now, before we go any further, I promise that my original plan was to give the scooter to my kids, but after my initial test run on the beautifully smooth Zinc Chozen, I knew that this was going to become one of daddy’s toys. You see, I never had a real scooter as a child and seeing as how I don’t own any other method of transportation other than a car, I figured I was due.

My initial goal with the scooter gang was to use our super speed to fight crime in my city. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, there is a severe lack of crime in my city, which thwarted that plan. On the bright side, I have been able to use the scooter as a way to bond with my children. We’ve gone on rides to the park, to school and had some amazing adventures in general that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to have without it. I think my favourite thing about the new Zinc scooter is that my four year old daughter has been asking if we could go on a scooter ride, “just the two of us”. Fathers of daughters will understand the heart tug on that one.

I know the Zinc Chozen scooter is designed to be a trick scooter (I promise I am working on my tricks) but it actually ended up providing me with something that I hadn’t expected in the form of a tighter bond with my kids. Also, for the record, this thing is the smoothest ride I have ever had. Even on the gravel pathway it exceeded my expectations, which is the main reason why I will be keeping this baby all to myself!

For more information on Zinc scooters, you can visit them on their Website, ZincHQ.com, and also on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

Now, check out my awesome scooter gang!

Zinc Chozen Scooter

Disclosure: I received a Zinc Chozen scooter for review. Everything I stated above happened and the scooter is extra rad and makes me feel like a kid again.

Mother's Day Brookstreet

A Night Away For Mommy

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Last weekend was Mother’s Day and instead of our usual routine, I decided to send my wife to the Brookstreet Hotel here in Ottawa. The goal was to get her a good night’s sleep and a day full of pampering without having to worry about doing anything parenting related. Now, my kids think hotels are hilarious, so we decided to have a pizza dinner in her hotel room on the first night, but quickly left mommy to her relaxing.

My wife’s stay included lots of sleep, breakfast in bed and a spa treatment at the Brookstreet’s Au Naturel Spa, before we would return in to pick her up, refreshed and ready for Mother’s Day dinner. I was surprised at how much there was for the kids to do at the Brookstreet because I had always assumed that there wouldn’t be a ton of kiddie stuff for some reason. They had a whole array of children’s activities and as you can see from the video below, my kids spent quite a bit of extra time out front of the hotel after we dropped mommy off, entertaining the guests as they walked by.

My wife said she loved her stay and even though we didn’t actually stay in the hotel, my kids and I had a blast taking in everything there was for them to do at the hotel. With Father’s Day just around the corner, I know what I will be suggesting…

Disclosure: My wife was provided one night accommodation by the Brookstreet Hotel and I was not required to write this post. The spa treatment was paid for by us.

Fearless Kid

Fearless

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“C’mon, dad! Let’s go exploring!”, she yelled as she ran into the small forested area we would soon refer to as “The Jungle”. She didn’t need me to follow along but invited me anyway, which was nice. Though you wouldn’t know from the fearless way that she leaped into the woods, part of me wanted to believe that my presence made her feel safer in there.

We ran through the jungle carrying sticks, just in case we ran into trouble, and popped out at an old wooden bridge that covered a small stream. I tried to explain to her that this was the bridge I used to hide under with my friends when I was her age, but she was way ahead of me in making her way underneath. She’s adventurous, this one. Just like her dad was at that age. We played troll under the bridge for a few minutes, with her insisting on being the troll even though I was perfect for the part, before moving on to the next adventure at a nearby park.

As we walked down the pathway to the park, I felt like I was walking through my past. We passed the creek where I used to catch frogs, the baseball diamond where I found out that I made my first competitive team, the high school where I broke out of my shell, and the park that I spent countless hours pushing my limits. You’d think twenty plus years would have had their way with these places but they all looked exactly the same as I had left them.

Exploring is tough work, so while I didn’t get the chance to stop and take in all the memories that were crashing around in my brain, I did relish the opportunity to create a new memory with her in a place that meant so much to me in my youth.

We left the park, walked through the baseball diamond across from the high school, crawled under the bridge and ran through the jungle back to our original starting point. “Did you have fun exploring with me, daddy?”

More than you will ever know, sweetheart.

A Moment In Time

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Amidst the chaos in the fenced off kindergarten playground, I watched him quietly shovel sand into his bucket. If there has even been a time where I could ignore my surroundings and focus on a singular event like he was, I certainly can’t remember it. I realized today that I am lucky to have had the opportunity to hang around to watch him play and interact with potential new friends. Next year he will be thrust into the real world that is grade 1, where his school life will truly begin.

One of the most important things that being a parent has taught me is how to stop and enjoy a moment in time. This was going to be one of the last times that I would be able to watch him interact in the school yard and I was going to soak up every last second of it. At one point he glances over and flashes a smile my way. I played it totally cool, while my emotions raced with a thousand memories of his youth. It’s a lot harder to let go than I imagined it would be. He’s sheltered right now, with kids his own age, oblivious to what awaits beyond the steel gates of the kindergarten sanctuary. Soon he will learn about bullies, girls, structure and peer pressure, and I worry about whether I given him all the tools he needs to make the right decisions. Time will tell, I guess.

What I do know, is that I still have four months left with my kindergartner and I have no intention of rushing through that time. We’ll worry about bigger kids and heartbreak when we get to it, but for now, we’ve got some memories to create.

She Has No Idea How Loved She Is

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The animated and believable way in which she can tell a story about fictional princesses who can fly and who also turn into magical mermaids with super strength.

She has no idea how loved she is.

When she bats her eyes and asks for five more minutes of colouring before bed, after I’ve already given her five more minutes three times.

She has no idea how loved she is.

When she gives me the twentieth drawing she’s done that day and says, “This one’s just for you, daddy”.

She has no idea how loved she is.

Having to scold her when she’s misbehaved, because that’s my job as her father, but having it hurt so much to do so.

She has no idea how loved she is.

Listening to her beautiful voice sing when she thinks no one is listening.

She has no idea how loved she is.

Getting lost in her eyes as she recounts her day.

She has no idea how loved she is.

The way she instinctively plays with my hair while I read her bedtime story.

She has no idea how loved she is.

The passionate way in which she loves her friends and family, and at such a young age.

She has no idea how loved she is.

Watching her play “family” with her dollies and all I can think about is that someday those dolls will be real people.

She has no idea how loved she is.

The pride in her eyes when she does something she’s never done before.

She has no idea how loved she is.

Her career choice, when asked: Superstar

She has no idea how loved she is.

The way she understands and practices compassion for others.

She has no idea how loved she is.

It’s my little girl’s birthday today and yet I feel like I’m the one who got the greatest gift. Happy Birthday, Baby!

Sometimes Inspiration Hits When You Need It Most

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Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend my third We Day event. I went into this We Day thinking that I had seen all there is to see when it came to the Free The Children event, and I left with something I hadn’t realized I needed. Personal inspiration.

Life has been busy lately. With family, a full time job, part time job and a blog to look after, I had started to feel overwhelmed on an almost daily basis. In essence, my time had become small units of monetary value and I was having trouble seeing it any other way. Family was still number 1, always, but every other aspect of my life was suffering and I was too busy to notice it.

Enter, We Day. This was by far the largest We Day I had been too, almost quadrupling last year’s Ottawa attendance. As I sat and listened to speaker after speaker share their stories as the 16,000 children in attendance screamed and flashed their strobe-like wristbands, I was transported back to the place I was in a year ago. That place was one of kindness and love, where the prevailing thought on my mind was making sure I left the world a better place than I entered it.

I got to hang out with my inspiring friend and We Day speaker, Hannah Alper. I met another amazing youth in Vishal Vijay and had the chance to speak to two amazing local girls from Huntley Centennial Public School, named Isabelle Poulin and Chelsea Wilken, who were all doing their part to create a positive change in our day to day lives. Listening to these children speak and share why kindness was important to them, reminded me of what was important to me.

When I got home that day, I immediately re-launched Kindness Canada, as it had been on the back burner, and started re-organizing my life. I realized that I still have time to do all the work that I was doing, but I plan on doing it smarter so that I have more time to focus on the things that are most important to me. Those things are my family, my health and my commitment to making the world a better place, one smile at a time. I guess this sounds cheesy but it’s how I feel, so I’m not sure how else to word it.

The We Day movement is something that I knew nothing about a year ago, and yet I have no idea where I would be without it. Everyone from the founders to the PR team and speakers are all amazing people and it just reinforces the benefit of building a strong community. I realize that the event was created to inspire children to change the world, but it has changed my world, multiple times over. Please do yourself a favour and check out the Free The Children website and the videos within it. They will change you in a very good way. Also, keep an eye out for Hannah and Spencer West as they embark on the We Create Change Tour, which started this week.

Here are some shots from the National We Day event I just attended. It’s not the same as being there but it’s still pretty cool!

We Day Speakers, Isabelle Poulin & Chelsea Wilken

We Day Speakers, Isabelle Poulin & Chelsea Wilken

Simple Plan frontman, Pierre Bouvier, rocks the We Day stage

Simple Plan frontman, Pierre Bouvier, rocks the We Day stage

 

Hannah Alper and Vishal Vijay give their powerful presentations.

Hannah Alper and Vishal Vijay give their powerful presentations.

Power In Numbers

Power In Numbers