DadCAMP » Best Day Ever

Balancing Your Needs And Theirs

Buzz — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:00:46 +0000

Being a dad isn’t always about doing what you want to do. Actually, it rarely is. It’s about compromise.

I received a last minute invitation to see Mitch Joel and Gary Vaynerchuk speak today. The invite would mean I would heave the two boys on my wife to take to a busy doctor’s office and would skip an afternoon gymnastics class.

These are two of my favourite social media, marketing and branding guys. They get it. I see a lot of myself in the messages they preach and very often they speak or write about topics I myself have laid out in my media blog, cyberbuzz. I’ve even written about both of them on this site, as each is a father.

So you could say I’m a fanboy.

So I called my wife to start last minute negotiations. Quickly I realized I could juggle half the day, but wouldn’t be able to pull off the whole thing. I could see Mitch, but I would have to skip lunch watching the Italy / Paraguay soccer game and I’d definitely miss Gary’s talk as it was the exact same time as gymnastics.

So I saw Mitch, was inspired, bought his book, had a quick chat with him and ran off to take Zacharie to class – and it’s a good thing I did: today was the day they handed out the medals.

He takes his gymnastics at a venue home to a few Olympians. There are flags and awards adorning the lobby and so they take “graduation” seriously. A mini podium was set up and each student received a medal.

I didnt watch Gary Vee pump the crowd up and Crush It! I didn’t watch Italy claw back against Paraguay. I watched a 3 year old bounce on a trampoline and win gold.

That’s the best day ever.

The Miracle Of Childbirth

Buzz — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 02:22:30 +0000

My wife has been pregnant twice. We have two gorgeous healthy boys. We went 2 for 2. We were lucky.

For the third time I’ve had a friend witness the unbearable – a premature child that didn’t make it.

The fact that any baby makes it is astonishing to me. After Zacharie was born I was floored by the violence of childbirth. It’s like Quentin Tarantino had directed the scene in the delivery room. Shouting, cursing, a cast of dozens and blood. Lots of blood.

How Jennifer and Zacharie and Charles made it through those hours of pushing and squishing and screaming I will never fully appreciate or understand.

I’m a lucky sonofabitch to be the father of 2 perfect healthy boys. I don’t know how I managed to cash a winning lottery ticket twice, but I did.

You’re on this site and reading this post because you’re a parent and you understand – you’re one of the lucky ones. Hug your kids extra tight, kiss your wife extra long and thank whatever being you believe in. Every day with those kids in your life truly is the best day ever.

First Day At The Dentist

Buzz — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:48:30 +0000

My son hates getting his hair cut, but he loves going to the dentist.

I mean there’ a reason we keep his hair style as a toddler-ish perm, there’s no way we can get close enough to trim an actual style into his locks. The dentist, however, was a completely different story.

I mean he even let them FLOSS! Wow. Was so impressed by the kid.

We did, however, catch a bit of a scolding from the dentist and hygenist when it came to the soother.

We still let Z use it for night time and naps. It sometimes creeps into the living room in the midst of a tantrum. The reins are tight, but not tight enough.

The doc said it’s okay, not preferred, but okay when they still have their baby teeth. It’s when they turn 5/6 that the real problems can start if they continue to suck and pull their teeth forward.

It’s a fun time, transitioning to a big boy. What are your soother soothing tips?

Tractorland

Buzz — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:50 +0000

Can you think of a better name for a place to take a toddler?

When I first told some non-parent friends about Tractorland, they assumed it was an amusement park like Disneyland or Legoland. And it is – in the mind of a toddler.

Tractorland is a Kubota dealership just outside of Calgary. We passed it on the way in to town and I made a mental note to bring Zacharie back. After all, when we took him to Hastings Park in Vancouver, he was most excited about the tractors grooming the track in between races instead of the horses in the paddock.

My son loves tractors. His favourite episode of Mighty Machines is the farm episode. He can name them all: combine harvester, plow, spreader, tractor, backhoe, baler, etc.

So can you imagine the thrill he gets when he goes to a parking lot filled with tractors?

“Daddy, I wanna drive this one!” He would scream before spotting a different one across the lot and waving “Hi Tractor Tom!”

For 30 minutes he scurried from rig to rig. Waving, giggling, explaining, naming and having a blast. You can spend whatever to get in to an amusement park for a day, but the smile wouldn’t have been bigger than the one my son had for free at a tractor dealership.

Got a Mighty Machines thrilled toddler?

Take a weekend day trip to your city works yard to see all the garbage trucks parked in a row. Get outside the city and find your neighborhood “tractorland” where the farmers go to get their machines. Heck, just go to your local pickup truck dealer and let him point and drool. It’s free to look around, the propreitors are used to the toddler attention and are friendly and your son will swear it was the best day ever.

I’m Daniel. You’re Roberto.

Buzz — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:16:49 +0000

The one thing I rave about the most about being a dad is the ability to reimagine life by seeing it through the eyes of my children.

Having a toddler discovering everything for the first time resets your odometer and lets you relive the magic of bubbles, marshmallows and the moon.

Zacharie seriously jumps up and down if we’re out at night and he’s sees the moon.

“HI MOON!!” He’ll scream, waving wildly.

Recently Zacharie has taken to road hockey. As you can imagine, it was proud day in Canadiana when we took to the driveway with sticks in hand to pass an orange ball back and forth. Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers talks about the 10 000 hours it takes to master a skill. Z has about 9990 left before he makes the NHL.

My favourite part of these road hockey passing sessions are when we hovers of the ball before taking a shot and announces “I’m Daniel. You’re Roberto.”

The first 2 hockey posters he had were of Daniel Sedin and Roberto Luongo. His proclamation takes me back to the days when I would imagine myself as Ken Dryden, Richard Brodeur or Guy Lafleur.

He’s only 2 and a half and already his imagination is running wild to pretend to be the superstars he sees on the ice. He even lets his role playing run to The Backyardigans where he will announce he’s Tyrone, Jen is Uniqua and I’m Pablo.

A child’s enthusiasm for life and fresh perspective on the world and naked ambition to be anything in the world at anytime… it’s what I love about being a dad.

Lest We Forget

Buzz — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:24 +0000

Today is Remembrance Day.

Canadians are reminded of the impact of the day each time we spend $10. The poem, In Flanders Fields, is printed on the back of the bill. There are millions of quarters emblazoned with poppies to help remind us that this day is about sacrifice.

My grandfather (above) was a member of the Merchant Marines in WWII. He escorted ships between Halifax, and New York.

My great-grandfather (right) served in the Middle East in WWI and was part of the liberation forces that rolled through Jerusalem in 1917. There’s a famous photo in our family of him in uniform at the base of the Sphynx in Egypt.

Both of them survived their tours in the military, but so many young men and women didn’t. Too many never to experience the joys of fatherhood and the thrills of being a dad.

Without great-granddads and granddads there couldn’t be dads or sons.

Thank you Grumps and Pop for taking the risk then so that I may enjoy today. It’s the best day ever.

Sesame Street Turns 40

Buzz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:11:19 +0000

Before there was Elmo, there was Grover.

Before Abby Cadabby, there was Prairie Dawn.

Before Alan there was Mr Hooper.

Sesame Street turns 40 this week. I turn 40 in January. I’ve lived my entire life inside Jim Henson’s imagination and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Now while we try to keep Zacharie from watching too much tv, I am not afraid of mixing a little Sesame Street in the rotation. It taught me the difference between near and far, how to count to 12 and taught me songs to sing to drive my parents crazy.

I’m going to sound like an old man here, but Sesame Street just isn’t the same as it used to be. It’s not as good as I remember it. It’s not as fast moving, there aren’t as many muppets with great personalities and lessons to share.

Sure Snuffy and Big Bird pop up every now and again, but there’s little to no Kermit the Frog. Ernie and Bert are claymation characters instead of Odd Couple roommates.

Cookie Monster and Grover show up in classic routines often enough to bring some youthful memory goosebumps down Dad’s arm. Especially when the Grover waiter routine pops up.

The new edition still has great nods to popular culture with spoofs like Pre School Musical Mad Men alongside a list of guest stars bright enough to entertain the parents while the kids learn.

It all started with this pitch in 1968, now, 2 generations later, the idea continues to blossom.

Happy birthday Sesame Street.

DadCAMP on Urban Rush

Buzz — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:40:20 +0000

Momentum is building for DadCAMP as we took the father-and-son styled dog-and-pony show to the set of Urban Rush to chat with Fiona Forbes and Michael Eckford about what it means to be a Dad hanging out with other Dads.

Best part of the interview? Fiona asking about “Best Day Ever.” (And Z dive bombing in at the end.)

Best Day Ever

Buzz — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:39:27 +0000

Thanks to everyone who entered our Best Day Ever contest to win tickets for the Canucks and Stars on October 11. The entry was simple, tell us about the best day you spent as a Dad or with your Dad.

The contest was inspired by the extra time I’ve been given to spend with Zacharie as I search for work. I’m constantly rewarded with little gifts from him that make each of our “Daddy Daycare” outings the best day ever. I hope the time you spent thinking about being a Dad or the time you spent with your Dad gave you a reward too.

Our winner, as selected by my wife Jennifer, is Sherry Ells.

There were so many great days spent with my best friend My Dad that so many come to mind.

One day will forever stand out in my mind though.

My Dad used to take my son to the Burnaby Museum and ride the train every week as he was my sitter while I worked.

They would go so often that they became good friends with the Engineer.
A couple of years later my dad was given 6 months to live due to colon cancer but fought hard and lived 2 years.

On his last day of being well enough to leave the hospital for an “outing” we of course went to ride the train at the Burnaby Museum. Dad and my 6 year old son rode it over and over and over for hours. Of course knowing the Engineer so well and knowing what this day meant to us, the Engineer put his Engineer hat on Shane (my son) and he and my Dad drove the train for the next hour and we all smiled the biggest smiles of our lives.

I will NEVER forget that day.

My Dad died 2 weeks later at the age of 59.

THAT’S what it’s about gang. Time together. Every second we share with our Dad or as Dads with our kids is the best second ever and a part of the best day ever.

Thanks for sharing, Sherry – enjoy the game!

There are more contests in the future for DadCAMP. Our next prize will be given away at DadCAMP 2. Details coming soon.

Welcome Package

JP — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:10:22 +0000

One of the hardest things about running your own business is the travel that quite often comes with the gig. So when I was invited to Toronto this past weekend as a guest presenter to a group of retailers on the topic of how to use social media for business, I knew not only would I be gone for the weekend but gone in spirit due to the prep for the presentation in the week leading up to the conference. Well that would normally be ok with all my family but that prep also landed on the my son’s first week of school and on days that my wife was pulling some long hours on set. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able spend as much time with him as I could debriefing his first days in grade one.

I usually would have stayed after class and let him play with his friends and run out that mass of energy that 5 year olds have. The playtime was even more important due to the fact that he was re-bonding with his classmates after the long summer break from them. But it was not to be due to my workload and so without the slightest moan or protest he saddled up next to me for the walk home each day after school. It was not easy but he was a trooper about it.

The three of us have traveled quite a bit in the last year including a two month stint in Spain when Noah was just 4.5 years old. So now when I travel for business on my own I really miss my crew. I had booked a total of three days in T-Dot with the last one slated as a day off to catch up with friends and explore the city. The first two days where ok and I busied myself with the prep and presentation, but the third day I really missed my travel buddies. It somehow did not feel the same without them. So by the time I got to the airport for my 10:30pm flight I was more than ready to get back to home to my family.

The long and turbulent flight finally ended and I fell into a cab and pointed him in the direction of my downtown tower block. It was now 1am and I was completely exhausted partly due the time change and the anti-nauseant that I needed to take due to the turbulence. I was also quite peckish and thought meh I’m just too tired to make anything to eat. As I quietly made my way into the kitchen I found a carefully printed card in front of a spectacular fruit and cheese plate that said “I love you dad”. Well it looks like grade one is working out fine and that he does not begrudge me for being so busy with work.

It’s those little moments that make the long hours and time away worth it.