We are headed to Copper Point in Invermere for our annual July vacation soon. I’m excited about the resort because they allow for kids to golf – for free. Zacharie is only 6, but already one of his favorite activities is joining me at the driving range. He’s no Junior Tiger or Junior Rory – he’s thrilled just to make contact – but he’s showing an interest in the game.

So when Daddy comes around the back 9, I’ll have my wife meet me at the turn and have Zacharie join me for the rest of the round. He’s so excited.

And that, apparently, will be just the beginning of his golfing summer.

The National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada‘s Take a Kid to the Course Week returns this year from from July 8-14, allowing children under 16 to golf for free when accompanied by a paying adult.

It is exactly what it sounds like: Kids Golf Free! To grow the game, kids are invited on the course for free.

All courses will offer a minimum of one round of complimentary golf for a child, under the age of 16 who is accompanied by a paying adult. However, some restrictions may apply and therefore it is strongly recommended that you call your participating course to book a tee time and get further information on the programs they are offering.

Some people are asking on the Facebook page about taking children as young as 3 on the course this week. While I’m excited to grab Zacharie and have him practice some of his big boy swings on the course, I can’t imagine Charlie doing it. You have to remember pace of play, and respect for the other players. Think of the type of course you want to play, and perhaps have your child stick to a tee shot, a chip, and a putt.

Many courses will also have junior clinics, free range balls, free junior club rentals, or parent/child tournaments.

Here’s a map of courses in the Calgary area involved in Take a Kid to the Course Week:

According to the map above, Valley Ridge, The Links of GlenEagles, Elbow Springs, River Spirit, Richmond Green, Eaglequest, HeatherGlen, Blue Devil, McKenzie Meadows, Elks, Inglewood, and more are involved in the program.

Dads… Broadcast Times:
*documentary channel – Monday, June 17 @ 9pm ET
*CBC News Network – Saturday, June 22 @ 7pm ET, Sunday, June 23 @11pm ET

What would happen if you took a camera and did video diaries of what it’s like to be a Dad? We can read the blogs to understand the stories and emotions about what it means to be a modern father, but there’s something about seeing someone tell their story. When you can see the tears, here the fear and worry, understand the difficult circumstances, and watch the pride of a Father as he talks about his son as a parent, the feeling is richer.

Dads… is a documentary that revolves around 7 dads from the UK, New York, and Vancouver. Each was given a Flip video camera and asked to share their stories about what it means to be a Dad. They speak, diary style to the camera, while also taking you on a tour of their parenting lives.

There are single dads, older dads, younger dads, stay at home dads, and busy working dads. There’s even a gay, divorced dad. And that’s where this documentary about Fathers starts.

In the beginning, we meet Asher and his father, Derek. There’s is a crushing story of a same-sex couple that divorces and we learn that Derek, a Dad who is a Dad in every sense of the word, doesn’t have any legal or biological claims to his son and must start the process of adoption.

“You had to be biologically created through surrogacy, and then adopted by me,” Derek emotionally confesses. “That’s how badly I wanted to be a Father to you.”

How’s that for modern parenting?

Vancouver bartending Dad, David, has a son named Asher, as well. The film opens with Asher talking about his favorite things in a language only a Dad who is present with his kids can translate.

Asher likes popsicles, and boobies. Awesome.

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On Mother’s Day, surveys showed that Moms wanted time alone. They sought out some “me time,” a little space to relax away from the kids.

So on Father’s Day, are Dads allowed to go golfing, sit in the basement and watch sports, head to the pub for some beers with the boys? No. The expectation of Fathers on Father’s Day is that they spend time with the kids.

Let’s just call it Mother’s Day 2: Father’s Day.

Is Father’s Day A Day On Or A Day Off?

This weekend I’m going camping with my kids. Just me and the boys, my wife may join us but she’s not a fan of camping, so I’m not expecting her. I booked the trip months ago and the boys are thrilled. We are going to be camping in a park that is renowned for having a large concentration of fossils. They’re bursting with anticipation.

A few years ago, when I was a new Dad, I booked a golf trip to visit a buddy. As the day came closer, my wife mentioned, “That’s Father’s Day weekend, you know.” I hadn’t noticed. There was disdain in her voice when she commented on it after the fact. I skipped out Father’s Day to have some me time and that was a bad thing, was her point.

So what are the expectations of Fathers on Father’s Day?

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Is being a Dad in 2013 harder or easier than being a Dad in 1965? Most guys who subscribe to the Dad 2.0 philosophy say we have it harder than the Don Drapers of the world.

Why?

Participation. When you’re a more active and involved Dad, there is more balancing to be done. Back in the day, Dads were self-centered. They worked hard, and the kids were there, but it was really a selfish life they led. They brought home the bacon and felt that was enough to demand relaxation on their own.

Still, while Dad: the Next Generation admits it’s harder to be a Modern Father, they aren’t shy about admitting they’re doing a better job than the old school guys. A full 96% of Dads feel they’re as good or better than previous generations. That’s some cocky bragging, son.

Today’s Dads are better at being involved with the kids to the tune of spending 6.5 hours a week alone with them each week. That seems like a shockingly low number, but when I really think about it, we do have a lot of family time in our household. I’ll take the boys on adventures on our own a few times a month, but I guess there really isn’t a lot of one-on-one time, even in my hands-on parenting.

Check out the pictures below for more statistics comparing Dads in 2013 with Dads in 1965.

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The first time my car needed an oil top up, I had to pull into a gas station and ask which cap to remove. I am not a car guy. If it was left to me, I would have dumped some 10w30 in the windshield fluid tube. Seriously.

So don’t worry about me beating you out in the Shell V-Power® Ultimate Enthusiast Contest for the first time in Canada. As the name suggests, the contest aims to find the Canadian who best embodies the ultimate enthusiast – that one person who eats, sleeps and breathes their vehicle.

Shell is serious about finding a bona fide car geek. The contest requires you to answer some easy questions (including “Do you let anyone drive your car?”), but it also requires you to think about some answers and answer questions about how your passion for vehicles began and what you would purse if money was no object.

Those answers will then be judged by a panel of well-known automotive insiders including Graeme Fletcher, licensed mechanic and Canadian automotive journalist; Jil McIntosh, freelance auto writer; Frédéric Plante, co-host of 5 à 7 on RDS; Joe Duarte, senior Autonet writer, Sun Media; Justin Pritchard, automotive journalist and co-chair, Canadian Car of the Year Awards; and Gary Grant, automotive blogger.

What are you fighting for?

One Grand Prize winner will receive the week of a lifetime in Italy, including an exclusive Ferrari experience in Maranello. Plus, a year’s worth of Shell V-Power® Premium Gasoline!

Or the winner can choose to pamper their beloved vehicle with the prize of $10,000 of Shell V-Power® Premium Gasoline – Shell’s most advanced gasoline designed to deliver optimum performance through advanced technology.

You have until July 25, 2013 to enter the contest and prove you’re the #UltimateEnthusiast.

(I’d choose the trip to Italy, friend. Image via LinearClassifier)

To get you primed to enter the big contest, and to help spread the word to your car crazy friends, Shell is serving up a $50 Shell Gift Card. Just click through the form below, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Shell for supporting Team Diabetes Canada in exchange for this sponsored content.

There is something special in riding your bike to school. It’s an old school luxury that more kids (and parents) need to experience. For a few weeks a year I get to experience these magical mornings, and they always bring a smile to my face. I just wish it was able to happen more often.

We bought our house specifically because it was close to a french immersion school that offered pre-school classes. Charlie was just born, and Zacharie was 3 when we moved, so it has been there school for the past 3 years.

Normally I drive them to school on my way to work. I have to be on air by 9a, so it’s a quick kiss 4 blocks from home on my way in. But, for 10 weeks a year, I am on the afternoon shift. That means I don’t need to be at work until noon or 1p. That means the morning routine is more relaxed and I have time to walk or ride bikes with them to school.

In the winter, it’s walking. And it’s just the simple things about walking to school that I absolutely adore. Like lingering at the recycling truck picking up bins with its automatic arms.

In the spring, with the nicer weather, we get to pull out the bikes. I’ll jog along with the boys while they race me down the sidewalk. It’s a fun time. We’re outdoors, the air is crisp, the sun is bright, we’re getting the heart up and pumping for a few minutes en route to the day’s activities. There’s no stress about parking, or hauling bags in and out of the car, it’s just a bike ride, or walk to school.

We talk about the day, invent stories and adventures, and just have some great one-on-one time in the morning.

Next year, because of the way schools are (not) built in this city, we won’t be able to walk to school anymore. His grade 1 class will be 5+ kilometres away, down steep hills and across highways. We bought our house for the short-term benefit of the private school with pre-school classes, now we have to deal with the bus culture of the public system. We will still get to walk to the bus stop in the mornings, 2 blocks instead of 4, there will still be the chance to chat and laugh.

But, with only 2 weeks left in school for the year, I’m taking every chance I can to enjoy, savour, and linger over the joy that is riding a bike to school with my son.

We spent $250 for my son and a dozen friends to have a movie birthday party this weekend. The costs included admission, popcorn, balloons, lunch, video games, and decorations. It didn’t include loot bags.

Let’s be real, birthday parties are ridiculous. Let’s do the math: 2 of our own birthdays at $250 a pop, plus at least 8 other birthdays with $20 gifts over the course of the school year and you’re looking at nearly $1000, or an $80/month bill, on child birthday parties alone.

Nonsense.

So when one of the kids at my son’s birthday party boldly asked “When do we get our loot bags?”, as the party wound down, we told him there weren’t any loot bags.

The news wasn’t well received.

Earlier this spring, Stephanie Wilder Tayler boldly asked “Is Your Child’s Birthday Party Pissing People Off?“, well, our lack of loot bags was obviously a pisser to at least one of the kids.

Read the rest of this post on Babble.com

Image via Kristopher Volkman

Now that we are deep into June, I think it’s safe enough to make an appointment to finally remove the snow tires. Oh, you laugh, but it has snowed every month of the calendar year in Calgary, so waiting until at least mid-May is a given. I called 2 weeks ago to make my snow tire appointment and the only available one was next week. So I’m not the only one who waits a little while before switching out the snowies.

Now that is done, here are 3 other easy ways to make sure your car is ready for summer:
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Handmade gifts are the best. There is time, there is care, there is inspiration, there is thought.

That sort of thing is not just for the Pinterest set, with digital tools we can all become great artists.

Casetagram is a groovy site that turns pictures and art into smartphone cases. I’d suggest you ask the family for one for Father’s Day or, better yet, you give yourself one as a Father’s Day gift.

I’ve gone in, picked my all-time favorite photos of the family, and collaged them together for a unique iPhone case (right) that will let me easily brag about how cute my kids are.

You can sync Facebook, Instagram, upload desktop photos, or shoot right from the Casetagram app to make a truly special piece of art.

Go ahead and try it out, then come back here, tell me how easy it was and enter to get yours for free.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Casetagram for supporting Team Diabetes in exchange for this sponsored content.

The milestones your kids reach as they grow are as varied as they are surprising.

It starts with the first roll over, moves to first steps, words, and beyond. Tonight I ran into a growth milestone I didn’t expect – the end of co-bathing.

For a few years now, bath time has been a team sport. Toss both boys in, they play with some toys, goof off, and then scrub up before bed. But the limitation on co-bathing apparently happens when the kids’ ages adds up to 9.

Zacharie turned 6 last week, Charlie is 3, and the bathtub in their bathroom is now too small.

Sure, they will still have swim parties in the big soaker tub in our master bath, but it appears now is the time for young Master Z to start showering up on his own.

They grow up so fast. #truth.