Dad Goes Round

Women Are Not Property

We Don’t Own Women

Many of you will read this headline and think – of course we don’t own women. We’ve settled all that and women are equal under the law. Sure we know there is sexism and some women are harassed and we’ve heard all about the glass ceiling, but women aren’t property.

Except of course that in North America there are many examples where women are treated as property of men or of…

Dad Guide: How to find a job

Dad Guide: How to Find a Job

As a parent, you are responsible for keeping your kids fed, clothed and housed. In some families there is more than one income-earning parent and in others there is a single or primary earner. Being able to provide for kids adds an additional consideration when job searching.

In an ideal world you would only ever be looking for a new job while you are currently…

Unemployed Life

It has been a little over two weeks since I lost my job.

So far it has been a bit like being on vacation without having to worry about how many emails are building up in my absence. This is so far a very different experience from the first time I was unemployed 13 years ago. That time I had to rely on employment insurance and whatever money I could make through temp jobs and…

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Snow Joe Ultra SJ623E Snow Thrower Review

This fall I bought a Snow Joe Snow Thrower. My father-in-law had given us a snow thrower of another brand several years ago and a couple of years ago a part broke on it that I was too lazy to replace. I had planned on getting that sorted out in advance of this winter, but then I saw this Snow Joe Ultra SJ623E 18-Inch…

I Got Fired…

Surprise you don’t have a job anymore!

Have you ever walked into a meeting only to have your brain suggest that it is not the meeting you expected it to be?

That is what happened to me this week. I went to a meeting that was supposed to be about communications outreach. Instead I walked into a room with my boss and two people from HR waiting for me. I knew what was happening before my boss…

Like many men, the #MeToo movement has got me thinking a lot more about harassment and sexual consent these days. Many of the stories making the news have been about powerful men doing whatever they feel like to women. In some cases the stories have been about powerful men assaulting other men.

Recently a story was published about the actor/comedian Aziz Ansari and his apparent inability to…

Finding Patience

I am generally a pretty calm, even-keeled person. I don’t get too worked up about many things in life. Except of course when my kids push my buttons. At a very young age they have found and acted on things that frustrate me and challenge my patience.

I am continually working on better managing my frustrations and anger. I want to be more patient with my kids. I’m sure I’m not…

Capturing Life

I’ve been thinking about photographic representations of life lately. My daughter has been asking my partner and I to tell her and her sisters stories from our respective childhoods. I have discovered that I don’t have a lot of stories that are top of mind that I can easily recall. I’m not sure why since I’ve only been an adult for 10 years or so. It could be slightly more, but it…

It’s a new year!

Apparently it is 2018 now.

Getting back on the horse

I haven’t written much over the past few months. Life has been busy and once you are out of the habit of writing it becomes a harder thing to do. This is my 2018 ice breaker so I can get some words on paper as it were and put my writing muscles to work.

A life update

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Disclosure: We received two free meals from Supperworks in exchange for this blog post

Date Night Making Food at Supperworks

As parents it is always a challenge to find time to focus on relationship and each other without the kids being present. We try to do at least one date night per month, although not always successfully. Often we end up going out for dinner or drinks and we don’t always…

Get your windshield fixed at home by The Glassmobile

*I received a discounted windshield replacement from The Glassmobile in exchange for this post.

A couple of months ago we got a stone chip in our windshield that rapidly turned into a crack that spread across our windshield. Actually I’m lying. It was more like five or six months months ago. We were just too lazy to get it fixed. It is a hassle…

ZOOOM Children’s Zone at the Museum of Science and Technology

ZOOOM Children’s Innovation Zone

This kids and I had the opportunity this weekend to participate in the sneak preview for media of the new ZOOOM Children’s Innovation Zone at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. We were very excited to go and check out at least part of the newly renovated museum. We live down the street from the museum and before it’s closure three years ago we were regular…

As the Father of Daughters…

Being a Father of Daughters

I am a father of daughters, three of them in fact. They are all awesome in their own ways. Amazingly none of the ways in which they are each awesome has nothing to do with the fact that they are daughters. It has everything to do with the humans they are and the people they are growing into.

When I became a father of a daughter and then more daughters, my perceptions…

Public Performance of Grief

This past weekend would have been my late father’s birthday. I took time in the morning to flip through photos of him while I drank my tea. I talked with my oldest daughter about him a little bit. For the rest of the day I was busy and didn’t really think about him much.

The exception to that was all the time I spent thinking about how I should post a photo of him on Facebook, write a blog post…

Mopify Review

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Kids are sticky

We have three kids and as such you can presume our house is a mess, pretty much all of the time. Just like any parents, 75% of our waking hours are spent picking things up, wiping up spilled drinks and sweeping under the table. Another 20% is dedicated to investigating why everything is so sticky. The remaining 5% of our time is spent…

Etsy Made-In-Canada 2017

As regular readers know, I have a small woodworking business that I set up almost four years ago. This year I will again be participating in the Etsy Made-in-Canada show as a vendor along with another 150 local makers. It is a tremendous opportunity to buy handmade products directly from the makers.

This show takes place in communities across the country the weekend of…

5 Lessons From The First Week Of School

 5 Lessons

The resumption of school is a time of excitement and learning. Education is an important thing in our family.

I remember coming across a quotation when I was in high school that was attributed to Mark Twain – never let schooling get in the way of your education. It seems the notion is more properly attributed to Grant Allen. Regardless, it is in the spirit of the idea that not all…