back to school – Canadian Dad

My Kids Are Growing Up Quickly, And I’m Okay With That

September 11, 2017/0 Comments/in THE BLOG, The Daddy Files /by Chris Read

“They’re growing up too fast, please slow it down!”

I’m sure I’ve been guilty of uttering a variation of the above phrase at some point in the 10 years I have been a father. I’m also guessing that we’ve all had moments where our children have left us in awe at their budding independence. I used to dread the day when my kids didn’t want to hold my hand anymore while walking to school, but the more they grow, the more I understand their need to blaze their own trail.

As I walked behind them on the way to school the other day, I watched as they excitedly talked about all the friends they were going to see and which classes they hoped they would end up in. If we accomplish nothing else as parents, I will always be happy that my kids genuinely enjoy each other’s company, which may or may not have anything to do with us but I like to think we helped foster that a little bit.

When we arrived at the school, both kids ran in opposite directions to greet the many friends they hadn’t seen all summer, with neither one of them batting an eye in my direction. This may have upset me a few years ago but now I actually enjoy watching their excitement as they pick up right where they left off with their friends. I’m also thankful that they are fortunate enough to have a strong core of friends to come back to.

I stood by myself for awhile, taking in all the sights and sounds, watching the other parents, each with their own 1st day styles and personalities, and hoping my kids would have a great back to school experience. I forced them both to give me a hug before I left because I’m still a dad who needs a little love and validation, but I walked away knowing that my kids would be able to handle anything that comes their way and that they had each others backs, no matter what.

When I picked them up after school that day and asked how their 1st day went, they answered in unison, “Good!”, before running ahead to walk with their friends. Good is better than bad, right? The way I see it, I can spend time stressing out about the kids growing too quickly and potentially hold them back or I can let them grow and explore at their own pace and be there for them when they need me most.

And, hey, every now and then they’ll throw us a bone, like how they’re still cool with our customary 1st day of school pictures!

Back-To-School Isn’t Just For The Kids!

August 29, 2017/18 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

With all the focus on the kids for back-to-school season, I’d like to remind you that us adults need some back-to-school love too! We need equipment that can handle school year tasks such as making PTA flyers, photo editing, meal planning, life scheduling, ~~doing kids homework for them~~ and more!

That’s where Microsoft Canada comes in! Their lineup of back-to-school products is second to none doubly important if you have children in high school or heading off to college/university this fall! Have a look below at just a few of the amazing back-to-school picks from Microsoft Canada. Each of the devices is touch capable and includes Windows Ink on Windows 10, allowing students to take advantage of intelligent sticky notes, screen sketches and smart editing!

Surface Pro

The Surface Pro gives students the best-in-class laptop, plus the versatility of a studio and tablet. When class is finished, students can pop off the keyboard and use it for catching up on shows or connecting with friends.
• Weighs as little as 1.69 pounds and its 12.3-inch PixelSense display has stunning resolution on a brilliant touchscreen
• Combines the 7th Generation Intel Core m3, i5 and i7 processors and up to 16GB of memory
• Handles your most demanding creative tasks with up to 13.5 hours of battery life
Price: $1,049.00

Surface Pro Type Cover

The Surface Pro Type Cover gives students the full-laptop experience with slightly spread-out keys for fast and fluid typing, a two-button trackpad built for precision control, and back lighting for continued working after the lights go out.
• Change your tablet to a laptop in a snap with this extremely thin, light, and stable keyboard optimized for lap use when you’re tired of working at your desk
• Made from premium material that are sturdy yet soft to the touch and is ultra-quiet while typing furiously in class
• Choose from black, blue, bright blue, red, and teal so you can really personalize your Surface device and express your unique style
Price: $129.99

Surface Laptop

The Surface Laptop compliments students’ personal style with a blend of texture, subtle details and clean lines. Notetaking has never been so easy with the luxurious Alcantara covered keyboard – inspired by fabrics found in high-end Italian auto brands – offering an exceptionally comfortable typing experience for those three-hour lectures.
• Enjoy more space for your ideas with the 13.5-inch PixelSense edge-to-edge touchscreen display
• At 2.76 pounds, the device is lightweight but packed with Dolby Audio Premium sound and 14.5 hours of battery life
Price: $1299.00

HP Pavilion x360

For the student that wants an all-in-one device, the HP Pavilion X360 is a convertible PC that can be used four ways – as a laptop, stand, tent, and tablet – thanks to its unique 360-degree hinge.
• A 15.6” full HD touchscreen allows students to zoom, flick, or tap their way through all work and play needs
• Saving content year after year is a breeze with its massive 1TB hard drive and 8GB of memory
• Features an SD card reader, 3 USB ports, HDMI output and running the latest Windows 10 operating system
Price: $999.00

HP ENVY x360

Students can go full tilt with this super-flexible and supremely stylish HP Envy X360. It delivers laptop productivity, tablet convenience and everything in between on a 360-degree rotating display that flips to the perfect view every time. Performance is solid and smooth with a 6th generation Intel Core i7 processor and 256GB SSD
• An razor-sharp 15.6-inch full HD touchscreen pairs up with nearly 9 hours of battery life to keep going all day in class and into the night at home. Multi-format SD card reader, 3 USB ports and an HDMI output
Price: $1,199.00

HP Spectre x360

The HP Spectre X360 redefines what is expected from technology. This 8-million-pixel ultra-thin convertible PC allows students to accomplish more than ever before.
• Indulge your creative side by viewing and editing high resolution photos on a 4K display, or sketch and draw with your active pen and Windows Ink
• 16 hours of battery life and HP Fast Charge means uninterrupted all-day performance with a lightning-fast Intel Core i7 processor
• Quad HP speakers, HP Audio Boost, and custom tuning by Bang & Olufsen experts makes entertainment after class come to life with sound you can feel
Price: $1,199.99

Surface Mouse

Stand out in class (for all the right reasons) with rapid clicks and silent scrolling with this precision-tuned ultra-quiet Mouse. Sculpted for your hand and designed for a simple work space, Surface Mouse is the perfect partner to your Surface and Keyboard.
• Premium precision pointing and clicking for scalable performance across the screen of any Surface and external monitor
• A clutter-free and reliable experience that works from up to 50 feet away
• Metal scroll wheel that feels solid under your finger while the body fits perfectly in your hand
Price: $64.99

Surface Pen

Surface Pen lets you create without limits. It’s precision ink, rubber eraser, and tilt for shading means greater sensitive and virtually no lag between documenting your thoughts onto your device.
• A natural writing and drawing tool that writes like pen on paper allowing you to rest your hand on the screen of your Surface device just as you would with a sketchbook
• Sketch, shade and paint with artistic precision and finer control with 4,096 pressure points that respond to the lightest touch
• Available in four colors – platinum, black, burgundy, and cobalt blue
Price: $129.99

As you can see, Microsoft Canada has something for everyone in your family to help them get ready for back-to-school! I’ll be getting my hands on a brand new Microsoft Surface Pro soon to help me with all the back-to-school blogging and photo/video editing I’ll be doing this Fall!

Well, are you ready for back-to-school? Which item on this amazing list is the one you would get the most out of? I can’t wait to hear from you!

Also, I hope your kids have a great first week back at school and an amazing year!

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

On Kids Developing Their Own Fashion Sense

August 25, 2017/5 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

It’s back-to-school season and admittedly, this one has been harder than the others. Normally we’d pick out a fancy outfit for the kids to wear on their first day back, which they’d put on without a fight, then we’d snap come cute pictures of them holding signs saying what they wanted to be when they grow up. This year, however, has been a little different.

Sears Canada challenged the kids to go back-to-school shopping on a budget of just $100 each, with the goal of putting together an outfit for their 1st day back at school. Because we are good parents who don’t make our young children travel to malls alone, my wife and I tagged along to help pick out the clothes for them. Little did we know that not only were the kids done with us choosing their clothes for them, they didn’t want our help or input in any way whatsoever.

When I really thought about it, it made perfect sense. We have sporty kids who now have a different version of cool than we do, so we let them loose at our local Sears Canada location and only kept track of how much each item was for them. Another stipulation of the challenge was that all of the clothing had to come from the Sears Canada Private Label collection, which was no problem because they had so much to choose from!

I’m happy to report that both kids managed to come in under budget, with my daughter actually scoring multiple outfits and my son picking up a sweet new pair of shoes to go with his clothes. Here are some of the items they managed to grab!

My beautiful daughter, seen here channeling her inner model, fell in love with this “Believe in Yourself” Short-sleeve Graphic Tee, and we fell in love with the $3.97 price tag! She also managed to score these Zip Detail Pants for a cool $14.97 and an awesome Girls’ Fitted Running Jacket for $8.96! On top of all this, she managed to get a couple new swimsuits and got a free denim lightweight backpack for spending $50 on her back-to-school items!

Admittedly, my son spends less time worried about fashion than his sister but I think he still managed to do quite well with his choices. He went with the “New York” Boys’ Popover Hoodie for $19.97 and paired it with a very cool Graphic Jersey Tee for $3.97, which reminded me of Guardians of the Galaxy! With the rest of his gift card he grabbed a pair of Double Face Mesh Shorts for $9.97 and capped it off with a nice pair of Airwalk Neptune Skate Shoes for $38.49. All in all he surprised me with his knowledge of how to match things, which is a nice departure from the combos he tends to throw together at home…

As you can see, the kids really cleaned up with their purchases and we even had some money leftover to get mom and dad some sweet Sears Label Hamburger and French Fry socks! As you can see, there is a lot of great stuff for children of all ages at Sears and if you are looking to get some back-to-school shopping done, this is definitely the place to be!

Disclosure: We received compensation in order to complete our shopping challenge, however the children absolutely would not let us help in any way whatsoever…

Win A $300 Sears Canada Gift Card In Time For Back To School!

August 21, 2017/372 Comments/in Giveaways, Reviews/Giveaways, THE BLOG /by Chris Read

There may still be a couple weeks of summer left but it’s Back To School shopping season for parents! Whether you’re sad to see summer come to an end or excited to get back to a structured schedule, you can’t escape the fact that clothing and accessories need to be acquired and I’m going to send you on a Sears Canada shopping spree to help you get it all done!

Sears Canada holds a place close to my heart as my grandmother worked there for years and would take me there on the bus at least once a week for many, many years of my youth. I don’t remember much from those years but I do remember hanging in the shoe department and the fact that she used to have a bag full of used tissues that she’d pull out to clean my face. I know that has nothing to do with Sears, I just wanted to throw it in there…

Where was I?? Oh yeah, I took the kids to Sears Canada this week to do our back to school shopping and while I’ll be writing about the full experience later in the week, I can say that I was amazed at how much stuff we were able to get for the budget we had set. I was also impressed with the Sears private label clothing line, as were my kids, which you can see in the above photo.

So, how do you win this amazing shopping experience?? Simply fill out as many of the Rafflecopter entries you feel comfortable with and I’ll draw the winning name in a weeks time! Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In Their Own Words: Kids Review Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie Snacks

September 27, 2016/0 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

I thought I’d try something new on the blog today so instead of writing a review about something my kids will be consuming, I figured I’d ask them to take care of the actual review themselves. This week we are working with Mott’s and trying out their Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie fruit flavoured snacks.

We sent a package of Fruitsations with the kids each day for their first week of school and now that we have all emerged from that week without any bruises, the kids are ready to share their thoughts on the 80 calorie snack pouches that are Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie!

We’ll start with my 8 year old, whose testimonial interview went exactly like this:

Me: “Okay buddy, how did you like the Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie snacks that we put in your lunch this week?”
Son: *Staring down at his tablet* “Good”
Me: “Hey, could you put the tablet away for a few minutes so we can talk about these snacks?”
Son: *Glances up for a split second before looking back at tablet* “Ok”
Me: *Takes tablet away* “So, how did you like the Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie snacks and do you want us to keep putting them in your lunch?”
Son: *Staring at tablet in my hand* “Good”
Me: “Great, thanks for the amazing attention to detail in that review”

To be fair to my son, he has always had a short attention span so I wasn’t expecting a novel here. He is also a very picky eater so the fact that he said they were good is a major victory in the lunch snacks department!

Next up is my 6 year old daughter, who I have no doubt will win an Oscar or an Emmy someday. Her reaction to the Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie snacks was exactly as I had expected from her and our conversation went a little bit like this:

Me: “Honey, now that the first week of school is over, how did you like the fruit snacks that we were putting in your lunches?”
Daughter: *Doing jumping jacks and cartwheels* “They were the BEST SNACKS EVER!!!!!”
Me: “Wow, what did you love most about them?”
Daughter: *Grabs my ears and pulls our faces together* “EVERYTHING!!”
Me: “Then I’ll assume you would like us to continue putting them in your lunch?”
Daughter: “I want twenty one hundred packages in my lunch!!” (Hey, it’s a number in her world)

Well, there you have it, folks. Both of my picky eaters were impressed with the Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie snacks and we now have a new staple for their lunch bags that we know will come home eaten. Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie snacks contain fruit and vegetable juice from concentrate from apples, pears and carrots, plus strawberry puree and can be picked up at your local grocery store.

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this program but these are the actual conversations I had with my children because there’s no way I could have come up with that on my own.

How To Convince Your Picky Eaters To Finish Their Lunch

August 31, 2016/0 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

As hard as we’ve tried as parents, our children still act as if we are trying to poison them when we serve them mom-and-dad-approved meals. I have no idea where we went wrong but it has been an uphill climb trying to get them to start eating foods we can feel good about, and I wanted to share a few of the ways we have managed to get them back on track.

1. Hiding Fruits & Veggies in Their Meals

That’s right, the oldest trick in the book is exactly that for a reason. We weren’t exactly experts at it right off the bat but we have learned from our early errors and now our hiding skills would make Harry Houdini proud.

2. Pay Them Money

This strategy worked like a charm at the beginning. Unfortunately the kids were eating so many fruits and veggies that we had to either re-mortgage the house or cut this wonderful trick from our list.

3. Cover Everything in Peanut Butter

What kid doesn’t like a huge slab of peanut butter, am I right?! We found that if you threw enough of it on their food, they wouldn’t even recognize what it is that they are eating. Genius! Also, for the nut free crowd, you can try alternatives such as strawberry jam or melted cheese.

4. Start Them With Something They Love, Like Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie!

One thing we haven’t had to force on the kids are Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie fruit flavoured snacks. They are made with no artificial flavours or colours and the kids love them! Mott’s Fruitsations +Veggie snacks contain fruit and vegetable juice from concentrate from apples, pears and carrots, plus strawberry puree.

Each pouch is only 80 calories and they are perfect as lunch or after school snacks for our busy kidsIt’s worked well in our household and it makes mom and dad happy campers! You can grab Mott’s Fruitsations at your local grocery store and I’ll leave you with a quick word of advice to put them up high in your cupboard or you’ll be staring at an empty box the same day you buy them…

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this program. I would definitely never pay my children to make wise food choices…

Back To School Also Means Back To Fitness

September 28, 2015/1 Comment/in Reviews, Reviews/Giveaways, THE BLOG /by Chris Read

This is a tough thing to admit but I tend to make a lot of excuses when it comes to my health and well being. No matter how often I think about being active, I always seem to have an excellent reason to do the exact opposite of that. Take this past year, for instance. I was working out at my local GoodLife Fitness at least 4 times a week and started training for my first 5K in the Canada Army Run. How many times do you think I’ve gone running from that day to about a week ago, almost a full year later? Zero! That’s right, in some twisted trick that my brain played on me, I had completed my goal and therefore had nothing left to prove. Even my time at GoodLife has been reduced to once a week, which is completed unacceptable.

Now that the kids are back in school and I have realized just how many hours there are in the day, I have decided to pick myself up off the couch and get my butt moving again. I figure one of these days it’s going to click, so as many times as I get off track I think it’s equally as important to keep fighting for consistency in my exercise regimen. I also decided that I couldn’t keep running in the discount running shoes I had been using, so I turned to Sport Chek for some assistance and decided on the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 32 running shoes. Between the sole support and the mesh uppers, these shoes make it feel like I am running on top of clouds. Look at them up there in all their orange glory!

Just so you don’t think I’m a selfish monster, I also let my wife and kids pick out some new shoes. Besides, back to school seems like a special enough occasion to warrant some shiny new kicks, right? That and the fact that my kids have been running with me to keep me motivated. My wife, who has also been joining me on this exercising adventure, went with the Nike LunarGlide 7 women’s running shoes and I could tell by the spring in her step that she made the right decision. The kids? Well, my daughter saw the Skechers Twinkle Toes shoes, glittery with light up ability, and practically started shaking with excitement. My son chose the Under Armour Micro-G Velocity shoes because of the colour… Kids, am I right? I told both children that they could pose any way they would like to show off their new shoes and, go figure, they both decided to wear the shoes on their hands instead of their feet. Again, kids.

Under Armour Mirco-G Velocity Kids’ Grade-School Running Shoes

Skechers Twinkle Toes Sport Chek

And there you have it. I have now successfully run 5 times in the last two weeks and I am starting to get that confidence back in my stride. Here’s hoping it sticks around but as you all know, I won’t be afraid to admit it if I get knocked down again. I would also like to say thanks to Sport Chek for helping me select my awesome new running shoes. I expected the price to be obscene and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was going to cost me an arm and a leg for excellent quality equipment. You can find out more about what’s happening at Sport Chek by checking out their Facebook and Twitter pages.

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this program, however I did in fact fall off the health wagon again and the shoes really do feel like what I imagine clouds to feel like.

Canadian Dad Podcast – Ep. 2 – Mabel’s Labels Co-Founder, Julie Cole

September 11, 2014/0 Comments/in Podcast, THE BLOG /by Chris Read

On this episode of the podcast I spoke to Mabel’s Labels co-founder, Julie. We talked about how Julie manages to stay organized while raising her family of 6 school aged children and running a successful business all at once.

We also discuss back to school, hockey parents, the importance of connecting with members in your community, kids and cell phones, and we trade parenting gaffe stories with each other. Julie and I will also talk about how we will both be speaking at the Blissdom Canada conference this October.

Finally, Julie was kind enough to provide listeners of the podcast with a discount code for 10% off your next purchase at Mabel’s Labels, but you’ll have to listen to the show to get the code 😉

Celebrate Back To School At Best Buy {And Win A $250 Gift Card!}

September 2, 2014/432 Comments/in Giveaways, Reviews/Giveaways, THE BLOG /by Chris Read

Let’s get this out of the way right away. This post is sponsored by Best Buy but the words come from me, a father who will be watching both of his children attend full time school for the first time this year! Needless to say, I am slightly emotional about seeing them both off on their first days but know that they are going to do great! I am made slightly less stressed out in knowing that we have equipped them with all the gear they are going to need in order to succeed in their new adventure.

When Best Buy contacted me, I actually had no idea that they carried so many back to school supplies for kids from preschool to high school. I am also happy to note that they are fully stocked for all your child’s Frozen needs as well, something that was much appreciated by my daughter… For my son, I managed to get all of his pencils, scissors, glue and even some Home Presence Bento Lunch Boxes for both kids! Oh, and I did all of this online where you can choose to have it shipped or reserve it and then pick it up in store.

On top of all that, the Best Buy Mobile selection is huge and also helped me find some really cool Back to School apps, such as:

Hurray For Pre-K: This a book app that introduces preschoolers to an exciting peek at a Pre-K day and is a great way for parents to help reduce child anxiety about preschool.

Cozi Family Organizer: I’ve actually been using this one for a couple years and love it. Cozi helps to manage the chaos of back-to-school and everyday life with the Cozi scheduling app that allows you to keep track of all family-members’ schedules, share grocery, chore and to-do lists in real time and access, view and update from any mobile device or computer.

myHomework: This will be the first year for homework in our house and myHomework claims to keep your child on track in school by helping to organize classes, assignments, projects, and tests by tracking what’s due and when. A color coding system organizes homework by class. I’m in already!

LunchBag: LunchBag is an app that helps you plan lunches for you and your family, whether at school or at the office. It also has a database of more than 100 lunch items, and you can check each off as they’re made.

With these tools at my disposal, all I have to worry about is my own emotional state as I wave goodbye to my kids this week, and not even Best Buy can fix that! Now that you know where to go for all your Back to School needs, Best Buy wanted to get you started on the right foot by providing you, my loyal readers, with a $250 Best Buy gift card to help with all your mobile needs! To enter, just head to the Rafflecopter form below and complete the appropriate task! Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In The Presence of a Man

September 6, 2012/22 Comments/in THE BLOG, The Daddy Files /by Chris Read

I lost my little boy today…

Last thing I remember was singing him to sleep and holding him tightly, promising to never let him go. This morning however, he crossed through the gates to the other side and never looked back.

I don’t even feel like I got to say a proper goodbye. One minute he was there and the next, gone. I just stood there in stunned disbelief, remembering all the good times and thinking about all the things I still hadn’t taught him.

I definitely wasn’t ready for this moment, that much I know for sure. He certainly can’t be ready for the next stage of his life. What if he gets hurt? Who’s going to be there to make it better? What if he can’t get his lunch bag opened? He’ll starve to death! As I went through all the terrible scenarios in my head, all I kept repeating was “This can’t be happening! This can’t be happening!”

The reality is, it WAS happening and there was nothing I could do about it but stare in awe of the fine young man my wife and I had created and raised. My little boy had crossed the gates into manhood and I’ve never EVER been so proud in all my life!

Our walk to the school this morning was a long one for sure. My son had no idea the emotions that were swirling around the minds of my wife and I, but hopefully someday he will. That pit in your stomach as you feel like you are walking the longest plank, to imminent doom.

I hope that someday he will get to experience this moment with his own children. Maybe then he will understand that all the crying and stress from his parents wasn’t about sadness or anger, but a totally different emotion that overpowers all others.

Pride. Because that’s all I feel for him on this day as he embarks on his new journey.

I’m proud of him for having the courage to take that next step. I’m proud of him for making sure to hug his sister before he left us today. I’m proud of how he coloured in the lines at the teacher interview yesterday and how he counted to 30 and sang the alphabet song as if he’d been doing it his whole life. I’m proud of every accomplishment he has ever achieved and everything he still has left to do in his life.

Everyone told me I would love being a father, but no one warned me about the pride. Seriously, why did no one tell about this part? How am I supposed to be “Big, Tough Daddy” when I start to well up when my son beams about passing his first swimming class? If that’s the kind of thing that sets me off, what’s going to happen when he scores his first goal in hockey? (Okay, we haven’t discussed sports yet but c’mon, we are Canadian!)

The important lesson I learned today is that while my kids still have a lot of learning and growing to do, so do their Mommy and Daddy! I have to learn how to deal with all these emotions while continuing to maintain control of myself. All I wanted to do after we dropped him off today was to curl up in bed until it was time to go get him. I didn’t do that, but it was definitely on my mind.

As it turns out, he did just fine at his first day of school. As he says “I didn’t even cry, not once!” and “I even opened my snack box and now there’s nothing left in it!” with that big ol’ grin of his. My son is more than ready for school and I couldn’t be more proud of him for it.

I lost my little boy today…but I gained a wonderful young man!

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