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Forget Dad Fail; Here Is Some Dad Awesomeness! #AwesomeDads

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I got slightly annoyed this week, after seeing two separate posts featuring photo slideshows with the tagline of DadFail. I won’t link to them but I assure you, they are out there and the pictures were a complete misrepresentation of what I’m guessing in 98% of the Dad population.

I thought it would be a fun idea to counter that post with some pictures of the Dads I associate with, doing the things that real Dads do with their children. I’m sure it won’t get even 1% of the hits those other posts got but it’s a start. We’re certainly not perfect but we are definitely not failures. I put a call out for photos and received so many that this could become a weekly feature.

 

 

This is another Canadian Dad blogger, James from EduDad and also from the Dads Round Table. You can catch him on Twitter at @SaskaDad. He’s a good dude and a great Dad!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet Trent Hamilton, who blogs over at Green Eggs & Hamiltons and also at Life of Dad. Don’t be afraid to hit him up on twitter at @mrThamilton. He is a perfect example of the changing face of fatherhood today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Spencer Warren and his daughter at last year’s Ottawa Children’s Gala, which he also organizes. It’s an excellent event, for kids too, which raises money for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario’s ‘Plan It Safe’ Program. He is a really good person and has committed a lot of his time to helping kids in my community. You can follow him at @CharityForCHEO on Twitter.

 

 

 

 

 

This is Daddy Nickell from the website Daddy Scrubs. It’s actually a very cool website and I encourage you to check it out. You can also catch up with him on the Daddy Scrubs Facebook page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How about a Dad who doesn’t blog? They are the majority after all! Here is a cool shot of Darryl hanging with his kids out in the wilderness. I’m willing to excuse the Penguins hat here because of the amazing setting and the giant smiles!

 

 

 

 

 

Last but certainly not least, we have Mark Buell from my hometown of Ottawa. Hard to believe we are back to tobogganing season already! You can find Mark writing things at, A Semitone Higher and on Twitter @MeBuell.

 

 

That’s all for this week’s Untitled Dad Awesomeness Feature! I hope enjoyed it as much as I did putting it all together. I’m hoping to keep it going but I’ll need your help. You can do so by sending me your cool, Dad pictures, of you and your kids spending quality time together. You can send them to me on Twitter at @CanadianDadBlog, via my Facebook Page, or email them to me at [email protected]. Have a great week!

Cheers!

There Were Two In The Bed And The Little One Said, Roll Over!

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Alright, I’m not sure I can keep this bottled up anymore. I am a human being and I need sleep. Not a couple hours here or there, but a whole night’s sleep!

Since my first child was born, four and a half years ago, I think I have had about 20 good sleeps. I’m sure you can do the math on that one. I’m talking about going to bed and not waking up until my alarm says it’s time to wake up, sleeps. Although I know it isn’t true, it feels as though my children have set out to take turns waking up from one night to the next.

There’s really no rhyme or reason to it either. My son would wake with night terrors, even though we are very strict about what the kids watch on TV. My daughter seems to just wake up screaming for no reason, and then falls right back to sleep. As you parents know, even the act of waking up from your sleep for 3 seconds can severely hamper your mood the next day.

We’ve tried what feels like a thousand different ways to help them sleep and so far we haven’t had much luck. My son seems to sleep through the night more and more as he gets older but my daughter has started coming into our room at least once a week, wanting to sleep with Mommy and Daddy.

I’m not someone who can turn down a sad child, so we allow it but it means almost zero sleep for Mommy and Daddy; which also means more friction between Mommy, Daddy and the kids. My wife and I have discussed me going into my daughter’s room to sleep but that solution seems unfair to me, considering my wife runs a daycare, which I consider to be one of the toughest jobs in the world.

As you can imagine, four and a half years is a long time to go with minimal sleep and I can start to feel it catching up to me. I tend to be irritated a lot more than I used to be. I snap at the kids at times, without putting much thought into why. By the time 6 o’clock rolls around, I am basically ready to check out for the day and it’s a terrible feeling to know that I am letting my family down.

So I turn to you, my good readers, to ask if you have any sleep tips to pass along. My daughter is 2 and a half, won’t nap anymore and is generally a disaster by the time supper is done. With a daycare running out of the house, forcing her to try a nap isn’t an option as she’d keep all the other kids up.

Thoughts??

Cheers!

Holiday Gifts For Dad

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There are so many lists out there about, “What to get Dad for Christmas”, that were not written by Dad’s, that I thought it would be fun to put together my own list. I polled all the Dad’s I knew and added my own input, to come up with a can’t miss list of things that Dads are looking for this Christmas!

Instead of posting the list here, where it would be seen by a mix of Moms and Dads, I was asked by Candace over at Life In Pleasantville if I would share the list with her readers, and I couldn’t have been more excited to!

Without further ado, here is my list of the Top Ten Christmas Gifts for Dad, this holiday season! And yes, Call of Duty made the list, haha!

Cheers!

There Is No Greater Love Than The Love Of A Sibling

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers!

Don’t Eat My Snack, Okay?

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

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

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

“Chris, don’t eat my snack, okay?!“

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

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

“Chris, don’t eat my snack, okay?“

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

Cheers!

I Am Not Super Dad; Not Even Close

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While taking some good natured ribbing from my friends about my new found voice as, “Canadian Dad”, it occurred to me that the perception of what I’m doing might not match up with the goal of why I’m doing it. My goal is not to portray myself as some kind of Super Dad for spending time with my kids. In fact, I hadn’t even really thought about that side of it until recently.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends and take absolutely no offence to the, “Just tell them you are Canadian Dad” and “I blocked you so my wife won’t think I’m a terrible Dad” jokes. We have all been trash talking each other for years and it’s just the way we all interact together. Plus, there’s the fact that they don’t even read the blog anyway, so it’s hard to take any kind of literal offence.

I started this blog as a vessel to feed my addiction for writing, as well as a way to keep a form of living record of my journey through fatherhood. The fact that the domain CanadianDad.com was available is a major reason why I decided to stop procrastinating about it and actually start writing. Truthfully, the writing was the major reason for the blogging idea in the first place. I went through many different topic ideas before settling on the fatherhood niche.

This blog could easily have been, FantasyHockeyGuy.com or RealityTVJunkies.com, and I would have been happy at the time, just to be writing. I am, however, eternally grateful to have chosen to write about parenting because something funny happened along the way. The blogging has opened my eyes to a whole new world of fatherhood, where it’s okay to express your feelings and emotions about being a Dad. It doesn’t make me a better father than someone who doesn’t blog or share their inner most feelings on parenthood, it’s just a different avenue and one that I appreciate and can relate to.

There are a million great Dads out there who are better at it than I am, but I find that writing and sharing my experiences is helping me to become a more attentive father. I still spend way too much time on the computer, when I should be outside spending more time helping my son learn to ride his bike. I’m not always excited to go on a family trip that requires over 4 hours of driving, even though it is a “family” trip. One time, I even pretended to take a picture of the kids with my iPhone, even though I was actually checking my twitter feed…

The point is that I am not a perfect father and I am going to make mistakes, just like everyone else. I don’t write about my life as a Dad so you will think I am an amazing father. I do it so I can share my stories and learn from my mistakes, while also being a part of an amazing community of parents, who are always supportive and more than willing to share their suggestions and ideas.

The biggest benefit I have gained from this blog, is that I am much more self aware when it comes to my habitual lazy ways. I spend a lot more quality time with my kids these days, where I may have just popped on a movie in the past. Instead of dreading the thought of my wife leaving me with the kids for the day, I am actually excited when I get to plan some fun time with Daddy; And not because it’ll make for a great story either, but just because they are so much fun to be around.

Writing about fatherhood is helping me to become a better father for my children, and anything else that comes with it is only gravy (unless you hate gravy, then it could be ice cream or whatever). I know so many great fathers out there and I hope that if you take anything from this post, it will be that just because I share my stories of fatherhood, I am not Super Dad. I am just one of the many Dads out there, trying to provide the best possible care for my children. Sometimes I am successful and other times, not so much, but I’m learning more every day and I’m happy with my progress.

I am proud to be a father and I hope that comes through in my writings about my family. I only hope that you will realize that for all the compliments and accolades I have received since I started blogging, I am far from being a perfect parent. I am just a Dad like most other Dads, except that I have chosen to write about it.

I think a fun exercise would be to take a minute out of your day to let a parent know that you think they are doing a great job. Even though I say I am not a Super Dad, I still enjoy hearing the kind words and think other parents would appreciate it just as much. I don’t know, just thinking out loud again.

Cheers!

A Date With My Daughter

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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!

Apparently, My Helicopter Blades Are Still Attached

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I like to think of myself as a pretty laid back parent. Not in an “I don’t care what my kids do” kind of way, but I’m definitely willing to let them explore the world and learn on their own.

I have to admit, I’ve even chuckled to myself at times while watching parents’ who follow their kids around the playground, petrified at every turn! That was until this weekend, when a neighbour mentioned something that shook me to my core!

Our kids were playing on a backyard seesaw, while I inconspicuously watched from the street…At one point, I noticed my son wandering dangerously close to the “see” portion of the seesaw and couldn’t help but yell out, “Hey, stay away from the ends while people are on that thing!” I didn’t even notice I had said it. I also didn’t notice that I had now crept across the lawn and found myself standing a foot away from the backyard gate.

After a few more nervous sighs, my neighbour exclaimed, “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine”, and I stopped dead in my tracks! It was official, in that moment; I had become the very thing I was laughing at in the playground! I laughed it off with her but in my head I had a totally different reaction.

“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!”

You see, it was easy to keep an eye on them at the park. A lot of times I would even join them on the structures, not to hold their hands, but because I really like playing at the park and it makes me feel young. My son is now at an age where he is going over to other kids’ houses to play, without me, and that has started to conjure up some of the old anxieties that I thought I had rid myself of.

As it turns out, I am no different than any other parent out there. As I watched my son’s butt go flying a foot off the seesaw’s metal seat, I had a feeling of unease in knowing that the only thing I could do to save him from imminent disaster, was to tell him to get off of that deathtrap! I didn’t do that but it was definitely a struggle I had within the confines of my gigantic brain.

In the end, it was absolutely an eye opening and humbling experience and one that I won’t soon forget. In my battle for fatherly world dominance, I was knocked down a few pegs this day and have succumbed to the realization that while I want my kids to pave their own way in this world, it doesn’t mean I’m going to turn a blind eye to the path they choose.

Chopper on, folks! Chopper on!

Cheers!

My Son Schooled Me At Mario Kart And All I Got Was A Lousy T-Shirt

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Yeah, I said it! In fact, I didn’t even get a T-Shirt because my son took it right off my back! Never have I been as humiliated as I was this past weekend when my 4 year old son asked if I would play Mario Kart on the Wii with him, and then he proceeded to teach me just how old I am getting.

Oddly enough, my first thought when he asked me to play was if he was old enough for me to not let him win. After all, I am very serious about my gaming, just look at the photo above. It had never occurred to me that he could possibly be in a totally different league than I was. A much, much higher league, in fact.

I should have known things weren’t going to go as planned when I couldn’t get the Wii to recognize the 2nd remote, prompting my ever so funny wife to quip, “Haha, you’re like the old guy who can’t figure out the electronics”. Very funny, dear. Now go ahead and sleep and don’t worry about why I have a bucket of warm water next to the bed…

After getting the controller issue sorted out, which was totally a Nintendo Wii issue and NOT an old man issue, I set out to let my son take an early lead in the race before I would pounce on the final lap and take him down. After all, kids need to learn about winning and losing at an early age to help them deal with it later on in life, right?

Here’s the problem with my game plan, not only did he take an early lead, but I felt like my driver was stuck in quick sand the entire race! I couldn’t make a move without hitting a banana or driving off a cliff and finished in last place in 3 of our 4 races. I am mortified to even be admitting to this, but at one point I even glanced over at my son’s remote to see what he was doing differently that I was. It was hopeless and it certainly didn’t help to hear the continuous chuckles from the peanut gallery! Ahem, Wifey!

The tipping point came when I calmly stated to my driver, Luigi, that maybe he should have spent more time training like his brother, Mario, and less time goofing around. My son then answered, “Its okay Daddy, just do the best you can”, which gave me pause and perspective on what was going on here.

I realized two things in that moment. First, that I was actually getting frustrated at a video game, which means I’m not as old as I thought I was. The second thing is that my son is actually learning from the lessons we teach him, such as “Always try your best” and “Practice makes perfect”.

It was an eye opening experience for me and a very cool moment of clarity to see your parenting lessons come full circle.

There is one more thing I’d like to point out. Just because I lost to my son, badly, on this day, it doesn’t mean that I’ve given up on the game altogether. I’ll pull all nighters if I have to but I’ll get back to the Mario Kart dominance of my early 20’s and that’s a guarantee! The next time he meets me on the battlefield basement couch, he will see a whole new attitude and a very different looking Luigi!

Watch out, son of mine, Daddy’s coming for that trophy!!!

Cheers!

Dad Blogs Exposed! – Luke, I Am Your Father

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Dad Blogs Exposed is back this week with a blog that gets my nerdy side excited just by reading it’s name. James is the blogger behind Luke, I Am Your Father and I can’t help but do the Darth Vader voice every time I see it…which greatly confuses my family.

I’m going to stop explaining where I met the Dad Blogger’s each week and you should just start assuming that I met them on Twitter, which is true for 99% of them, including James.

James has been writing LIAYF since 2008, a fact which makes me incredibly sad that I didn’t find out about blogging until this year. You can tell he’s been at it for a while too because his writing style is one that draws you in and leaves you wanting to read more. Then again, he could be an English major and I’m just blowing smoke…Let’s just go with my reason, okay?

We actually have a few things in common too, which is always a draw. Our sons’ names are both named Luke, him Lukas, mine Lucas. He loves bacon. I love bacon. We are both die hard fans of a sports franchise that hasn’t been any kind of good for the past decade. Me with the Montreal Canadiens and James with the Seattle Mariners. Sorry James, the M’s are terrible but the first step to recovery is admitting it.

One of my favourite things about James, is that he understands the value in leaving comments on posts from other bloggers. It’s such an amazing feeling, as a blogger, to open your email and see the “Moderate Comment” message and it’s something I try to do a lot of.

James finds and creates stories out of life’s everyday moments and it’s fascinating to read his take. For an example of this, you need look no further than his post from just this past week, Yard of the Flies. It’s a mirror image of the street I live on but it’s told in a way that I would have never thought of.

In closing, James is a good guy and a great father, and I encourage you to check out his blog at “Luke, I am Your Father“. You can also connect with him on Twitter, my weapon of choice, @SeattleDad.

That’s it for another week of Dad Blogs Exposed! Have a nice day!

Cheers!