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Dad Blogs Exposed! – How To Be A Dad

I’m not sure why it took me so long to get to this one, especially considering it was the first “Dad Blog” I ever read. This week on Dad Blogs Exposed, I bring you the funny and talented Charlie and Andy from the ever popular, How To Be A Dad.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, How To Be A Dad is a site that aims to bring you the lighter side of parenting, through hilarious videos, info-graphics and amazing photo shop work. Even though their About Us page states, “If you were looking for a website telling you how to be a dad… You didn’t find it, I feel like I have gained from being a regular reader of their site.

In fact, earlier this month, Charlie posted about his son’s 3rd birthday, and had a great idea to ask the readers to leave his son some advice/wisdom/funny stories, that he would turn into a journal to give him some day. It was one of those posts that I got jealous over not thinking of it first because I really liked the idea. Please note, I have a problem with my comments going into people’s spam folders, so if you read the comments on this post, you’ll notice my name pop up a couple times. I willingly accept all mocking and newbie jokes that come from this.

Although they haven’t done too many videos lately, I always enjoyed watching them. I know how much work putting together a video can be, but that doesn’t stop me from reminding them constantly, that some us really enjoyed them, haha. Here is one of my favourites:

I think my favourite thing about Charlie and Andy is that they are visible and personable. They skyrocketed to success very quickly and with 126,000 Twitter followers and counting, it would be easy to just sit back and enjoy the ride. That’s not the case with these guys; they are out there answering questions, making conversation and connecting with their community of followers. I have yet to come across another blogger who doesn’t have great things to say about the two of them, and that’s the highest form of compliment.

The guys have something exciting happening right now as they prepare to launch their very first book! You may have seen their Baby Sleep Positions diagram, if not, here it is:

This diagram has become a huge success, getting stolen and claimed all over the place, by some very big sites. The book, titled “The Guide To Baby Sleep Positions” features some of How To Be A Dad’s best posts and info-graphics and is available right now for Pre-Sale on Amazon and also at Random House.

Bottom line is, although I’ve never met Charlie & Andy, they have never been anything but kind to me; and as a newer Dad blogger (and a Canadian one), it’s nice to not feel like we are all competing against each other. Putting out a book is the top of the blogging Everest and I wish them all the best with it! There will definitely be a copy of it at my place; probably in the bathroom but there’s no insult intended, it’s just where I get my best reading done.

If you want to catch up with Charlie & Andy, you can visit their site, How To Be A Dad. You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook, and pretty much every other social media platform there is. Seriously, these guys are everywhere and active on all of them!

I Saw A Million Faces; Well, You Know The Rest! #BlissDomCA

Where do you even start in formulating a proper recap of the weekend that was Blissdom Canada? I could write about all the great people I met, but listing only a few would be unfair and listing them all would be way too much! I want to write about the experience but speaking about the experience would pay it far more justice. That way, you could see my smile and my arms flailing wildly as I describe each session, interaction and excursion.

That still brings me back to my original question, “How do I accurately describe my time at Blissdom Canada?”

I guess I’ll start from the top. Being of the male persuasion, the thought of heading to a 500 person conference, where the ratio of women to men is 490:10, was a little overwhelming. Nightmarish thoughts of walking into the room and everyone glaring at me with disapproving eyes, filled my head in the days leading up to the event.

Once I arrived on site, it took about 30 seconds for those fears to disappear. That’s because 30 seconds is all it took for me to get my first warm welcome. The next one came at 45 seconds; and then at 60 seconds, it happened again. In fact, every single interaction I had the entire weekend was positive and welcoming.

Not one time did I feel out of place, as a blogger or as a man. I got nervous; and anxious; and overwhelmed at times, but that wasn’t anyone’s fault but my own. It’s a lot easier to say you’re going to go up to someone you idolize, than it is to actually do it. I was lucky to have some people watching out for me and making sure that I felt included in the fun and for that I am eternally grateful.

I went to Blissdom Canada to learn how to become a better blogger but I left with so much more than that. I left with a sense of belonging. I left with great connections. I left with a new found confidence in my abilities as a writer. Most importantly, I left with new friends. Not “friends” in the Facebook sense either, but real friends who are willing to help you when you have questions and who genuinely want to see you do well, as I do for them.

I could write a book about how fulfilling this conference was. I won’t, but I could! I sang, I learned, I laughed, I cried (Let’s not get into that, I am a man after all and I was watching a family video), I gangnam styled, I interpretive danced (see above), I connected, At Blissdom Canada, I saw a million faces…

And I rocked them all!

Thank you so much to the organizers, community leaders, sponsors and attendees. You made this experience one I will never forget and I am going to make it my goal to let the other male bloggers know that this is a conference that will accept them for who they are and not judge them based on their gender.

I’d also like to say a special Thank You to my wife, who was nothing but supportive of my time away and never made me feel like I was doing something wrong by being there. She is a great woman and my family is incredibly lucky to have her!

Cheers!

Oh yeah, I also got to spend an afternoon with Canadian Family Magazine’s Editor-In-Chief, Jennifer Reynolds. It was incredibly rewarding!

Join The Canadian Dad’s Movember Team To Support Men’s Health!

November has quickly become one of my favourite months of the year! Not just because of my birthday *ahem, November 14th* but also because of a yearly tradition called, “Movember”. What began as a small fundraiser out of Australia, has quickly turned into a global phenomenon and I’m all in!

Movember is an initiative started to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and male mental health. Men around the world grow their moustaches while raising money for the cause. I’m not going to post my passport photo but let’s just say that it was taken during Movember and there was no way I was shaving that thing off before it’s time.

I don’t want to talk your ear off about it because there’s lots of time for that. What I want from you today is your upper lip. I’m looking to recruit as many MoBrotha’s and MoSista’s as I can, so we can put our faces and skills to work in raising money for this excellent initiative!

What I’m asking is that you visit our team page, Canadian Dad 2.012, and either signup as a MoBrotha or MoSista, or donate whatever you can to our team goal of $2000. Every little bit counts and on top of that, we get to have a lot of fun laughing at each other’s moustaches. And trust me, mine is ridiculous!

I always see so many teams of 3 or 4 guys, which is great, but I want to create a super team to rival all others! If we are going to put our faces on the line to be ridiculed in the name of raising money, we might as well be as big as possible and go for one of the many prizes up for grabs! C’mon, who’s with me!? We just signed Ottawa native, Mike Reynolds, who has a very cool MoTie shop on Etsy, that raises money for the cause. You can check it out at MoTies For Gals and Guys.

I just want to make it clear that our team is open to ladies as well, so please sign up and spread the good word of Movember! I am also planning a party here in Ottawa for later in November to celebrate our achievements and I can’t wait to see all the crazy Stache action!

Thank You for your time and I hope you’ll consider joining our team! Let’s have some fun with it as we help to raise awareness for men’s health! Please do not hesitate to ask any questions, I’m always here to help! Let’s Do It!

Cheers!

A Date With My Daughter

As a father of 2 blossoming children with busy schedules, a full time shift work job, home day care and multiple other commitments, it’s rare that I get to spend any quality alone time with either child.

Sure, I’ll take my son to the grocery store or my daughter to a doctor’s appointment but I’m talking about “Quality” alone time. You know, the kind that you build long lasting bonds with.

You can only imagine my excitement this week when my wife mentioned that her and her mother would be taking my son out for some Back To School shopping, and that I would be in charge of my 2 year old daughter for an entire afternoon!

I’m pretty sure the adrenaline from the excitement kicked in right away and I got busy planning out our special Daddy/Daughter Date Night! Unfortunately, there were so many thoughts running through my mind that I needed to have a nap, but after that, I got back to planning!

Once the big day arrived, I sailed through my work day, only staring at the clock 7 or 8 or 100 times! We said our goodbye’s and off we went on our date. I should probably take a minute to explain a few things at this point.

1. My daughter has recently given up her afternoon nap, which means that around 4pm she gets very tired and will literally fall asleep anywhere.

2. She has no idea how much this alone time means to her Daddy. To her, at least from my point of view, it’s just another trip in the car.

Back to the date. I had a big night planned and our first stop was to the local Claire’s jewelry store. My little girl is really into jewelry and accessories right now (what little girl isn’t!), so I thought I would take her to pick out some new fashions! We had a blast, both trying on bracelets, rings and hair accesories, until she had found all the items she wanted.

It should be noted that Daddy did not purchase anything for himself, even though I did have my eye on some wonderful Hello Kitty sunglasses!

We then headed off to our dinner reservation at my daughter’s favourite fine dining establishment, Pizza Hut… Seriously, she loves pizza! This is where the story gets inexplicably emotional for me.

My daughter is a Momma’s girl through and through. For the number of times I’ve heard her scream “No, Mommy Do It!!” while trying to help her, my heart should be broken; but it’s not. While laughing and colouring at the table with my daughter, I received a text message from my wife that read “Stop making her laugh!”. At that moment I realized that my wife and I had chosen the exact same restaurant for our dates. I won’t even begin to try and explain what the odds of this were.

We went over to say hi and they asked us if we wanted to join them, to which I answered “No Thanks, we’re on a date!”. This is the part where I get all sappy Dad on you.

My daughter came back over to our table with me and didn’t mention Mommy, Nana or her brother for the rest of the time there. She just laughed, ate and enjoyed Daddy’s company for the entire dinner.

It was one of those moments for me, where time stood still and we genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. I hope someday my daughter will read this and understand how much this gesture meant to me because I’m not sure I can accurately put it down in words.

Cheers!

Win a “The Dark Knight Rises” Prize Pack From @IMAX® (CAN/US)

Hey guys, if you are a Batman fan, I’m sure you’ve already seen “The Dark Knight Rises” by now. That doesn’t mean that I’m not still going to fill your briefcases with swag from the movie, courtesy of my friends at IMAX!

I was going to give my review of the film next, but then I realized a couple things. First, if you haven’t seen the movie, I will be the jerk that ruined it. Second, you don’t need me to tell you that the movie was awesome, do you?

Because it was!

If by chance you have not seen “The Dark Knight Rises” yet, this will be even better for you because part of the prize pack will include two IMAX movie passes! Here’s the rest of what you can take home if you are chosen as the winner:

* One 2 pack of IMAX ticket vouchers (ARV $42),
* Two different The Dark Knight Rises IMAX movie posters (ARV $20),
* Two different Adult Large t-shirts (ARV $20), and
* Three different The Dark Knight Rises IMAX mini posters (ARV $10 each)

That’s right, all of that from me to you. I’ll accept the virtual hugs or high fives, whatever you are more comfortable with. Before the rest of you get angry that you didn’t win, I forgot to mention something…I am not just giving away one prize pack, but two of these packages so you’ve just doubled you’re chances by simply reading this!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below telling me who your favourite Batman actor is. Maybe you are a Michael Keaton fan or you enjoyed the original Adam West character best. Maybe George Clooney is your Batman of choice…..okay, okay, let’s not go that far!

This contest closes October 17th at noon EST and is open to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec) and the United States. One entry per household please, contest is moderated.

Good Luck!

IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation. For show times visit: http://www.imax.com/movies/m/the-dark-knight-rises-the-imax-experience/

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Incredible Infomercials – Insta Slim Shirts

Well, just last week I let you in on my secret addiction to Informercials. Now that it’s all out on the table, I can finally share all of my favourites with you and attempt to explain why I am so addicted!

This week I am happy to introduce the Insta Slim shirt/tank top. Their tagline is, “Would you like to get rid of your lumps, bumps and bulges without surgery, exercise and pills?!” When your selling point is that you can “feel and look younger and more confident” without dieting or exercising, there is something flawed with your product.

They go on to explain that you can “firm and tone your chest” with their shirts. I hate to disagree with their market research and medical trials but, No You Can Not! You are not firming or toning anything, you are just hiding chub under a suit of armour. Which is in fact quite awesome, but not a medical miracle.

The testimonials are what push this informercial from good to great for me. One happy customer says, “the instant benefit is that I’ve lost 3 inches off my waist!” Again, Nope. You’ve simply found a place to hide the cinnamon buns for a short period of time. Once the shirt comes off, the 3 inches (and probably more) will come bouncing back!

Finally, the woman who says, “I threw away all my husbands shirts and replaced them with these” as she rubs his chest provocatively. Yeah, until you get home and he takes the shirt off! Then you are faced with the even worse reality of having beer goggles, without the beer!

For entertainment value and laughability, I give the Insta Slim Infomercial a very tight 7 out of 10! The other great thing about this product is that it spawned a number of amazing blog reviews on YouTube. Seriously, they are worth a watch as some of them are hilarious! Enjoy, the magic that is the Insta Slim Shirt!

Cheers!

No Cougars Allowed!

I guess this would qualify as a Wordless Wednesday post but I have trouble conforming to regular blogging standards, plus the fact that I like to provide a little background info on my photos, which would negate the Wordless part…

Anyway, this is a photo I took at our local library. At first glance, it looks like a couple obvious rules: No Rollerblading and No Dogs. It wasn’t until I took a closer look at the “dog” that I noticed that something was a little off.

Apparently dogs are okay at my library but you are absolutely NOT allowed to bring your pet cougar!!

Cheers!

The Most Awesome Snow White I’ve Ever Met

If I learned anything from Scott Stratten’s presentation in Ottawa the other day, it was that awesome customer service can make you forget about anything bad that has previously happened and puts your focus solely on the awesomeness at hand.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to have been a participant in something awesome and it would be a crime for me not to share it with you all. We took our family to a local fair that we visit each year. The day actually started off on a less than stellar note as we spent way too much money on ride tickets, and then I found myself faced with a frustration that I tweeted about in a fit of monetary anger.

It was probably not one of my finer moments, but being asked to pay an extra $4 so my 2 year old daughter can ride on Dumbo for 45 seconds didn’t sit right with me. I’ve been to a lot of fairs and hadn’t had this problem before. It is what it is, I paid the fees and we had a great time on the rides despite the hit to the wallet. In what can only be described as perfect timing, right after I sent that tweet we ran into one of my daughter’s favourite Disney characters in Snow White.

Now, you may remember that I once posted about how my son was afraid of people dressed in costumes. My daughter is no different and just this July we had an incident with a princess at a carnival in our hometown, where my daughter got spooked while we went in for a photo op.

For some miraculous reason, this particular Snow White character had no negative effects on my little girl and as we approached her, I could feel my daughter shaking with excitement. We stood and talked with her for a minute as she asked my little girl’s name and gave her a high five. My daughter then surprised all of us by asking to have a picture with her, as you will see above.

That could have been then end of the experience and I would have been a happy Dad with just the fact that the interaction went surprisingly well. As it turns out however, Snow White wasn’t finished just yet. We moved on and went to the petting zoo and saw a magic act before making the trek back to the lunch area about 45 minutes later.

As we were just about to reach “Food Alley”, as I like to call it, we heard someone say, “Hi Julia”, and then I noticed my little girl stop and smile. I looked over to see Snow White waving to her and calling her name. Do you have any idea how many people she talked to that day? I’m guessing a lot, so to remember my daughter’s name and then to go out of her way to say hi to her amidst the sea of people at the fair was truly Awesome!

It really changed my whole view of the fair that day and ensured that it will remain a yearly tradition for our family. From now on, when I see the signs for this particular fair, all I will think about is that one interaction with the coolest Snow White I’ve ever met. I hope the people from the Carp Fair Board and the company that employs this Snow White, Official Princess Parties, will read this and share with their staff because this is the exact way that you create repeat business. When you impress people with Awesome, especially parents, you will be rewarded in the long run.

I realize that the people involved here will probably never see this but in case they do, I want to say a very big Thank You to our mystery Snow White! Not only did you give my daughter a memory to last a lifetime but you have also showed her that she doesn’t need to be afraid of people dressed in costumes anymore, which believe it or not, is a pretty big deal to a family who is afraid to plan a Disney trip.

It may seem like a small thing to some of you but that one small interaction has helped me understand the importance of each and every detail that goes into a job or project. Can you imagine not being able to plan a family trip for fear of your children’s anxiety? Then, in just a split second moment having those fears lifted and instilling some hope for a young family.

Totally Awesome!

Cheers!

My Addiction To Infomercials Revealed!

I think I’ve been blogging long enough that it’s time I start letting you in on some of the little things that keep my mind occupied. One of my very special secrets is that I have an abnormal love for infomercials.

It’s hard for me to pinpoint the reason for my obsession with these 20 minute masterpieces, but my best guess is that it’s due to a man named, Don Lapre. He was one of the first infomercial pitch men that really hooked me in. In fact, he was also my first experience in actually buying into an MLM scheme and also my first experience in being ripped off.

Here’s the video that hooked me for the very first time. As you can see, he is very persuasive!

Awesome, right?! Yeah, so that guy killed himself while he was in the middle of a giant federal court case against him for fraudulent activity… Glad I didn’t pursue that dream.

Anyway, my crazy obsession with infomercials took on a whole new life a few years after that initial video. It got to a point where I would stay up very late at night and literally watch hours of infomercials, with absolutely no intention of ever purchasing anything again.

From Magic Bullet’s and P90X to Flavor Wave and Get Rich Quick Schemes, I love them all. I especially love when the drug company warnings take up 80% of the actual ad. I can’t explain it, I’m not ashamed of it and I am certainly not about to stop loving these marketing miracles!

For this post, I want to leave you with one of my new favourite infomercials, for a product called the Schticky. You may think it’s because it stars that wacky ShamWoW guy, Vince Offer, but the real reason is for the insane sexual innuendo they somehow managed to slip in to the middle of it. Don’t worry, you’ll know it when you see it!

Now that I’ve opened Pandora’s box, you’ll be seeing a lot more of my favourite informercials on here. Then again, that could be a whole new blog site in itself….

Cheers!

A Great Giveaway From @TagAlongToys in #Ottawa!

If you have kids and live in the Ottawa area, you have no doubt heard of Tag Along Toys. If you haven’t, I encourage you to finish reading this post and then proceed immediately to 499 Terry Fox Dr in Kanata so you can experience the joy that is toy shopping there!

Store owner, Patti, is one of those people that draw you in with her kindness. The first time I brought my kids in there, she welcomed them and treated them as if they were one of her own. My son then played with her son for about 30 minutes while we chatted. It was an experience that makes you want to come back in to the store everyday.

Patti has agreed to allow me to give away a couple great toys to my Ottawa readers and I couldn’t be happier. Even more happy about it were my children, who got to pick out one toy each to review for the store.

We landed on a Make Your Own Paper Airplane Set for him and a Make Your Own Sock Puppet set for her. Oddly enough, both sets were from the brand Creativity for kids and I couldn’t have been more happy with their choices. They were so excited that we did both of the when we got home that day!

My son was up first and we had a blast making paper airplanes all together. Here’s the proof!

Next up was the puppeteer! I could post a million pictures of how that went down but I find that videos always work best! Enjoy the amazing JubeJubes!

And there you have it! The kids loved both toys and now I have a chance to award one of my Ottawa readers with both of these great and creative items! All you have to do is leave me a comment below with your child’s “Must Have” toy for this year.

Simple as that! Contest closes Monday, October 8th at noon and is open to residents of the Ottawa Valley and you must be willing to go to the Tag Along Toys store to pick them up. In the meantime, I encourage you to stop in to the store anyway or you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook. I promise, you won’t be disappointed with their social media presence because it’s where I became a huge fan!

Good Luck! Cheers!!