Back to School With Netflix and Snacks on Snacks on Snacks

As October starts to creep into the picture, it’s hard to believe that school has been going full force for almost a month. For our boys, the days are long, but they are fun and busy. How do they unwind after a day of learning, playing and being busy – they come home, turn on the Netflix and zone out with a snack.

From roughly 5:45pm to 6:30pm most weekdays, our two are in front of the TV enjoying one of their fave shows and having a small snack before dinner. Their brains are mush, so it’s good to keep it light. Their tummies are grumbly, so it’s all about priming them for a good dinner.

This time is also great for mom and dad to actually talk about the day without being interrupted. All is great for 45 minutes. It is a peaceful time for everyone to change into comfy clothes and silently enjoy each other’s company.

Time, Where Is It Going?

You know in movies when they want to make you feel like time is quickly passing by speeding everything up? Kind of like fast forward on the PVR. That is how life is moving lately.

Nothing makes me feel this way more than watching the boys grow up in every way possible. It’s amazing and sad all at the same time. They will never be the way they were yesterday and that happens every single day.

I really love the ages that we have right now. Harry is almost seven and Charlie is almost four. It seems perfect on so many levels. They are boys. Not toddlers or whatever you want to call a three-year old. They are full on boys that have many moments of love, hate and everything in between.

It’s all going too fast. Summer was a blur. Back to school came out of nowhere it seemed.

via GIPHY

A September to Remember

As we continue to roll down the hill known as summertime, all I can see at the bottom is busy. Most of it is a good busy, but it’s going to be busy nonetheless. September is a crazy time in general. Everyone is getting back into normal mode once Labour Day passes. Vacations are mostly over, kids are back to school, new TV shows start to pop up on screens and everyone is tired of the Olympics.

It’s a time of new everywhere and that is what is stoking most of the fires for our month.

Here are just a few of the events happening in September and even a few in October because, well it will all be a blur by then.

Tired of my crying yet?

In Our House It’s All About The Blue Jays #OurMoment

blue jays family

Dad did the Jays win last night?

Did Joshie hit a home run?

Did Pillar make a crazy catch??

Can we go to another game?

These are all daily questions in our house. From April until October, the Toronto Blue Jays take over the chatter in our family and it was a perfect storm of events that got us to that point.

First, our boys are of the age where baseball becomes fun and interesting. Harry (6) went to his first game two years ago and has been hooked ever since.

Charlie (3) just wants to do and like what his big brother likes, so it was easy for him to become a Junior Jay.

They play in the backyard. Harry has entered the world of organized teeball and baseball. Their Nana has been doing her best to promote her Jays fandom for years. It was bound to stick at some point.

Second, we moved back to Toronto in 2014. That meant hearing about the Jays in the news more. That meant actually being able to go to the games. That meant getting caught up in the hype very easily.

Third, that hype. The Jays are good. They are really good. That makes everyone excited to the point where we watch almost every game on TV now. I certainly did not do that a few years ago. Forget House of Cards, my wife and I end up watching Buck and Pat.

So you combine seeing the game through the eyes of your kids, being close to the action and the team challenging for a World Series and that is how it all went down.

Thank You Howard

harry at howard wall

There are so many variables that go into the makeup of who your kid becomes. As much as you try to control the narrative, manipulate each path taken and add your two cents to each decision, there are aspects you just can’t control.

One such variable that shapes a kid and sets them on a path is where they start school. I am not talking daycare or preschool or babysitting, I am talking full day, school. Where your kid starts going to school can have a huge impact on their love of school, how they learn, how they develop and who they become. It is the starting point for who their friends are, what types of teachers they like/dislike, the start of real stress and worry and really, the start of them becoming an individual person.

All Dads & Grads Need A JumPack When On The Road

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cobra for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have a confession to make. I am not a car guy. I have never been that interested in cars other than driving them from point A to point B. There I said it.

I have never changed a tire or tricked out my ride in any way. When something breaks, I call someone to fix it. I did change a few light bulbs before, but that’s it.

That is why when I am driving, or my wife is out with the car, I always have a the tiniest worry of something going wrong and being stuck somewhere.

Stuck without a phone, without power or without the tools needed to get the car going again. I am the guy who chooses not to have jumper cables in the car because then one day it would be proven I don’t know to use them.

But in the age of modern technology it seems silly to have such worry.