Smells Like Teen Spirit In Here

Can you believe it has been 10 years since I first started this blog? 10 years since I started documenting my life as a Dad. Well it’s time I checked in on myself and what better time than when my oldest child just turned 13!

Yep, if the title didn’t give it away, I now have an official eye rolling and always ready to eat all the groceries teen. To be fair he doesn’t so much roll his eyes as he just puts up with my attempts at humour.

It’s a new chapter, or dare I say, a new book of parenting that I am writing/living IRL as they say. We survived the terrible twos. The actually more terrible threes. Whatever was in between five and seven was a blur and then the pre-teen angst that seemed so cute and easy to manage. You know, when your kid thinks they have it so bad. That’s when I was eye rolling a bit.

But now. The unknown for us. I think I would have more success understanding the Metaverse at this point.

All I have to go on is remembering what life was like when I was 13. Fire up the microfiche machine.

Now I would definitely say our 13 year old has a lot of similarities to me at that age. Like me he’s super tall, super hungry and super helpful. But that only gets me so far when understanding how to be the parent of a teen in 2022.

Kawhi’s ‘The Shot’ Feels like it was 5 Years ago

Kawhi's shot

As we slowly navigate 2021, any joyful memory of recent years can provide a small moment where you forget the present. That’s what the 2-year anniversary of Kawhi’s Leonard’s series-clinching buzzer beater did for me this week.

Oddly enough, on the day I took the most important ‘shot’ of my life, I was reminded that Wednesday, May 19th, would be two years since every basketball fan held their breath as a ball bounced around the rim four times.

Parents and Discord – What You Need to Know

parents and discord

As a parent, I knew the day would come that my kids would start talking about music, movies, celebs etc. that I would not know about.

It’s impossible to keep up. But one area I thought I would hold my own and be able to talk the talk, was with technology and online apps.

But that quickly vanished over the past few years and especially since our oldest son added a phone and Chromebook to his life. Now my brain checks out when the boys talk about Minecraft, Among Us and Roblox.

I tried to understand each by creating profiles and playing, but it just never caught on. For the record I am horrible at Among Us.

The latest and maybe the most unknown app to me is Discord. Have you heard of it? If you have young kids or teens, I know you have.

Do you know what it is? What it does? If it’s safe?

You really should because at least in our house it’s becoming the number one way our oldest son communicates with the online world (and us).

I know I am late to the party, but for those who don’t know about Discord, here is my explanation including what parents need to know.

Kyle Lowry, Walter White, March Madness and More

march 16 cover image

Well it’s Mid-March and we are officially a year into this mess known as the pandemic and now the media is pushing the arrival of the third wave. Cool.

Does anyone else feel like March 2020 and March 2021 have merged? Thank goodness I have an Instagram feed to remind me that the last 12 months existed. Seriously, if I close my eyes, I can instantly go back to this time last year and it feels like it is now. We were on the kid’s March Break, or March Broke as I was calling it, and trying to navigate staying busy with the boys.

It’s been a year since signing up for Disney +. It’s been a year since I started playing Red Dead Redemption. It’s been a year since I watched no March Madness.

Anyways, how are you? How is life going for you? Gotten your vaccine yet?

How about a brain dump?

I Can’t Believe it Has Been a Year!

COVID-19

As the 2021 calendar turned to March, the first thought I had was, we have been living the COVID-19 pandemic life for a year! Seriously, it has been 12 months of this shit. And while the vaccine rollout is happening (slowly), brighter days are finally ahead. But leaving February behind has been a mental kick in the gut if you take a moment to really reflect on the last 12 months.

For me my first memories of how it started was the daily tracking of the Diamond Princess. You remember? The floating coronavirus event that was really the first sign of what was to come. Reading in horror, all of the people trapped in their rooms literally. At the time, I doubt anyone felt that 12 months later we would all know the feeling. But it was on the other side of the planet. Everything was going to be okay and not reach Canada. Right?

4 Ways I Am Coping with Being Stuck at Home

Coping with being stuck at home

As we come up on one year of basically being stuck at home, I wanted to share four ways I am personally coping for the sake of my mental health.

We all have our own situation. Small businesses closed, others working from home, online school, no eating out, can’t see friends and family and the list goes on. Just walking outside feels like a luxury at this point.

I have written before on the benefits of us all being at home, but what about me? How am I personally getting my mind through the day? What small things are bringing me happiness?

Oh and to avoid anyone saying, what about your wife and kids bringing you joy, that of course should go without even being said. They get me through the down days and I do the same in return.

This post is about me and my solo time activities that take my mind off of vaccine roll outs, shots in arms (or lack of), daily pressers, washing hands and worrying about an unknown future.

It truly is a full-on battle for proper mental health and whatever you can find to bring you even 10 minutes of “normal”, I say go for it.

Here are just 4 of the ways I am coping with being stuck at home.