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Dad Daughter Superhero

What It Means To Be A Superhero Dad

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I was asked by my friends at Mark’s Canada, who are running an amazing Father’s Day contest that we’ll get into later, to talk about what it means to be a superhero dad to my kids. Now, for the record, I have never considered myself to be a superhero dad. I do what needs to be done for my kids to the best of my abilities and hope that they end up with as good an upbringing as I had. That said, for the purposes of this exercise I decided to ask my kids what they thought were my best traits and have compiled them for you here. Soooo, let’s do this!

1. Making Lunches – It’s funny to think something as simple as lunch making can be remembered by your kids, especially considering how mindless it becomes by the end of the school year. When I pressed the kids further on the answer, they said it was because I ask them what they want and also have them try new things before putting it in their lunches. Kids can be very easy to please at times!

2. Coaching Sports – This is something that is in my blood. My dad coached all my sports teams and a lot of my extended family have also coached different sports. The truth is, I love the idea that I get to help mold these young kids into what they will become later in life. We talk a lot of about respect and hard work, which will no doubt pay off down the road.

Father Son Baseball

3. Playing With Us – A lot of hardcore parenting “experts” will say that you shouldn’t be your child’s friend because your job is solely to discipline them. I completely disagree with this sentiment and believe there can be a balance between the two. That said, I love playing games with my kids. Anytime they want to shoot hoops or jump on the trampoline, I am almost always game. It’s also a great way for me to make sure I step away from work every now then to get some much needed exercise!

4. Driving To Gymnastics and Sleeping Less So We Can Sleep In – This one was from my daughter. She is a competitive gymnast and I am a shift worker, so there are plenty of times that I come home from my shift and stay awake a few extra hours so the kids don’t have to wake up at 5:30am to go to daycare. It’s a small sacrifice on my part to make sure that the kids can be alert at school and their after school activities but it’s nice that they noticed it.

5. Being Funny With Them – This one casts a wide net as I often feel like I haven’t quite shaken my inner child, so I am often volunteering to put myself in embarrassing situations. Take, for instance, last year’s Gymnastics Christmas Showcase, where my daughter and I performed an unforgettable (for me) gymnastics routine. I love doing things that will make my children smile, and it seems pretty obvious that I will occasionally crave some spotlight.

While I was hesitant to write about myself as being a superhero, it actually ended up being a pretty fun exercise to hear it from my kids. The truth is, superheroes come in all shapes, sizes and backgrounds, and if you out there doing your best to be an involved parent, you are the exact superhero that your child needs!

If you’re looking for something fun to do, I highly recommend trying this exercise with your kids, and Mark’s wants to reward you for doing so! Simply ask your kids to draw a picture of their dad as a superhero and share it on social media, tagging Mark’s and including the hashtag #superheroDad and you could win some amazing prizes, including a trip to this year’s Grey Cup! You can visit the Mark’s Contest Page for more details. Have fun and Happy Father’s Day!!

Superhero Dad Marks

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

Daredevil Netflix

Netflix For Dads ~ Daredevil Edition

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There hasn’t been a show since Lost that has captured my attention as much as Netflix’s Daredevil series. I’ll preface this by saying that I am a huge fan of the superhero genre and watch all the various shows that have spawned recently. That said, there’s a huge difference between the shows on regular cable and the shows that Netflix produces and Daredevil has quickly become my favourite of that bunch.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the acting and story lines that season 1 of Daredevil offered, I have to say that the addition of The Punisher to season 2 really brought the show to a new level. Every scene that Frank Castle appeared in was so full of raw emotion and energy that I often found myself on the edge of my seat waiting to see what he was going to do next.

Keeping in mind that this is my favourite show at the moment, I did find the season as a whole was lacking something. The story wasn’t as interesting as it was with Wilson Fisk in season 1 and there were way too many fight scenes for my liking but the development and emotion of the main characters more than made up for any short comings in my mind. Also, bringing Fisk back for a couple episodes and setting up his potential return as Kingpin for season 3 literally had me smiling from ear to ear like a child.

Have you watched Daredevil yet? How did you feel about season 2?

I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team but all that means is that I watch a lot of Netflix. Too much Netflix, actually…

Canada’s Newest Superhero! Captain Caffeine

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Awhile back, I wrote about my superhero idea on my page over at the PTPA. I think it’s time to introduce him to the rest of my faithful followers as I attempt to take his adventures to the next level!

My superhero’s name is Captain Caffeine and he is one of the few Canadian Superhero’s in existence! His goal is to fight chronic fatigue by providing special caffeine injections, which he gets from the planet Tim Hortons!

His arch nemesis is the Decaffeinator, who slips about the country, swapping people’s much needed strong coffee with useless decaf. His plan is to take over the world by keeping the world tired and weak.

As you can tell by this point, I had a lot of time on my hands a few years ago when I created this character. Times have certainly changed but the one thing that has remained the same is that I still have my childish side. That’s why Captain Caffeine has made a comeback and I think I’ll write a few stories for him.

Anyway, this is just an introduction. You’ll be learning more about Captain Caffeine in the weeks and months to come and he may be making a live appearance at the Blissdom Canada conference this October….Just saying.

I’ll leave you with some photos from the live action comic I created about 7 years ago. I was really on the ball back then as you’ll see from the small details, like the Tim Hortons utility belt!

I hope you’ll come back and check out the adventures of Captain Caffeine!

Cheers!

Why Can’t I Be Spider-Man For Once?

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Imagine a world where you could swing from tall building to tall building. A place where you were counted on by millions to save the day! You could have your own statue and people would chant your name in the streets as you swung on by.

That’s the world I dreamt about one day having, but those dreams have since come crashing down. You see, my young son also has aspirations of swinging from building to building as the amazing Spider-Man and that’s where my dreams end.

Have you ever tried to rationalize with a 3 year old? It goes something like this.

Me: “Hey Luke, what color is this orange?”
Luke: “Umm, Blue.”
Me: “No, it’s orange.”
Luke: “BLUE!”

And so on and so on. You can imagine the way the debate goes when he’s arguing for something he really wants. In this article’s case, it’s the chance to become Spider-Man for our daily super hero showdown.

Sure I could pick from any number of other super heroes but it’s just not the same. Here’s how I break down the other choices.

Batman is cool and all but he’s so dark that people don’t want to hang out with him or cheer his name. They’re more afraid that he could snap at any minute and go rogue on all their asses. Not to mention his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, is a complete jackass playboy millionaire. Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad…

Superman would probably be my number 3 option but that’s most likely due to the fact that the actor who played him, Christopher Reeve, has a name very similar to my own. Also, Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent, is a little too weird for me. Grow some balls man and stop being such a klutz dude!

Iron Man is relatively new to the scene, Ironman seems like someone to keep an eye on for all you superhero dad’s out there. I like the cut of his jib, in and out of costume. Tony Stark seems like a cool cat, albeit a little neurotic. The only issue is that people still aren’t sure about Iron Man, so the glory part is missing. In the end, I usually pick Iron Man as my go to guy when my Spiderman dreams go south.

Cat Woman would be an excellent choice but I am missing one key element which keeps me from becoming Catwoman and I’m sure you can probably guess what it is. That’s correct, I don’t have a cat suit. Nuts.

As you can see from the above breakdown, none of these options is even close to being as cool as Spiderman. He has so much to offer and I feel like we are a lot alike.

For instance,

– Peter Parker works as a photographer for the Daily Bugle, while I sometimes add pictures to my blog.
– Spider-Man often saves the world by foiling other super villain’s plans, while at my day job, I save the world by helping to put petty criminals behind bars.
– Peter Parker is kind of nerdy but also sticks up for himself when he needs to, and I often find myself in situations where I should speak up. Plus I am also a nerd.
– Finally, Spider-Man is loved by all and has droves of fans all over the world, while that is how I am perceived by all as well. At least in my own fantasy land, called Chris-Ville (Facebook game coming to a screen near you).

I wish there was a way for me to get this across to my son. He doesn’t even know who Spider-Man is. He’s never seen the movie, tv show or comics. He only knows about Spider-Man from Halloween so I don’t see how it’s fair the he always gets to portray him.

If the world needed a real super hero to save them, would they choose a 3 year old or a slightly overweight grown man. Sure I’m a little short and I use the term “slighty” overweight loosely but c’mon man, a 3 year old?

Something has to give, but so far, my attempts to get him interested in other super heroes have fallen by the wayside. He is firm in his belief that he is in fact Spider-Man as I am forced to continue selecting second rate super heroes.

Do your kids have a favorite character they like to be? Do you know how to get my son to hate Spider-Man? Please, I’m begging you to let me know what I need to do to get this done. Let me know in the comments section.

Also, please feel free to share this post with your favorite social media outlet. I am on so many sites now, I don’t know which way is up. Pin Me I guess…..I don’t get Pinterest yet.

Cheers!