22
May

Mosquitos: The Joy of Country Living in the Spring

For the most part, spring had finally arrived in Ontario and it is about time if you ask me! It has been great being able to pull out the kids shorts and put away the coats, and get outside for lots more fun!

We live in the country and have a large yard for playing which is great! Only downfall this time of year: the millions of trillions of bugs! Blackflies and mosquitos are taking over by the swarms!

The bugs make it hard to get outside and enjoy this beautiful weather, and we end up stuck indoors wishing we were outside!

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15
May

Sage advice: Taking Tips From a Great-Grandparent

I vividly remember walking into my grandfathers hospital room a couple of days before he died and getting too choked up to tell him that we were expecting a child–what would have been his first great grandchild. While he never met Leah, it was a special moment for me, his oldest grandchild to share with him and with my own mom (who was the one who eventually told him about our news).

Since then, my girls have grown up being very familiar with their great-grandmother and for that I am grateful. I grew up with the one they now call GG in my life too, but to me she was called Nanny. She’s the most active 30-plus-year-old (that’s as close to her age as I’ll get)I know and gets more enjoyment out of lifting up our kids than even I do.

She’s also dead set in using the tricks she’s used for decades to get our kids to do the same things she fought her kids over when they were growing up.

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9
May

Child Art Savers

With the end of the school year literally just around the corner, my biggest fear isn’t what will I do with the kids all summer to keep them entertained but more of ‘what am I going to do with all artwork and drawings that my kids did from September to June’ kind of thinking.

I want to keep every single last doodle and masterpiece but then I start hyperventilating at the thought of my house turning into a candidate for that hoarding TV show.  You get the picture.

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8
May

How Prepared is Your Family?

How prepared is your family for an emergency? Our family definitely isn’t. It’s sort of ironic that my partner, an emergency manager by trade, isn’t at all prepared in the ways he prepares his clients. Sort of like the doctor who smokes–just not taking his own advice.

This week is National Emergency Preparedness Week. So I’m committing to building an emergency kit for our family. What better time to build or check one you already have?

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6
May

Kids VS. the Screen

My kids love watching TV and movies, and we let them.  We don’t really have a set amount of time that we feel is ok; we base it on the day. Some days the TV is never turned on, and some days are movie days because they are not feeling well or everyone is tired.  Our boys are definitely not glued to the screen all day, they love being active and playing outside. They love using their imaginations and turning our house into a jungle or a castle.  Cars are almost always on the go, and Mr. J is now really into Lego building.
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2
May

Being a Dad Who Cries

There’s nothing in my eyes, those are tears

I’m a guy who cries. A lot.

I haven’t always cried a lot. there was a time when I was a teenager and maybe even in my early 20s where I’d at most have been a semi-frequent tear shedder. I did cry at movies that had particularly moving parent and child moments or when dogs lost their lives. Eight Below is still the worst movie I’ve ever seen for just that reason.

Physical pain wasn’t, and still isn’t, a big instigator of tears. I can suffer an injury or run silly distances without shedding tears. But if someone tells me the burn on my arm reminds me of their child, you’d best have a tissue ready.

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  • CategoriesDads
  • AuthorMike

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