To Go, Or Not To Go? When The Sickness Strikes

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After a week like our family just had, the title above has so many meanings behind it. You see, our household was struck down with the sickness over the past several days. The sickness that hops from belly to belly and does not stop until everyone has had it.

It started last Friday night in the evening with Harry, then it moved to Charlie, then in moved to Katie, and finally it got to me. I did my best to avoid it, but when you are the one on cleanup detail, how are you supposed to hide?

That meant every day turned into, making the tough call on who was going to school and work and who wasn’t. It’s always hard for parents to make this choice. While on one hand, it’s your kids and if they are sick, they stay home. But then all the other factors weigh heavily on your brain. Can I work from home? What will I miss at work? But we were supposed to do thing A or thing B today. Will Harry fall behind on his Kumon? What the hell are we going to do all day sitting at home being miserable?

Monday we all toughed it out. This was where Katie and I thought we were going to miss out. The boys just had a quick weekend bug right? Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I got called Monday afternoon at work. Charlie was down for the count, just lying on the floor at daycare under a blanket. Okay, he made it almost all day, not bad.

Kumon Update: Seeing Good Progress After A Few Weeks

As you may know, Harry, our oldest, is going to Kumon twice a week to accelerate his reading skills. Through the blog, I was contacted by Kumon to give the program a try and to share my thoughts on the experience.

Well, we are a few weeks in and I would say we are seeing good progress so far. As I mentioned before, it’s all about structure, routine and repetition. You don’t spend a lot of time doing it, but you do daily for 10-20 minutes.

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Here is how our Kumon schedule works.

  • Sunday: Harry does a booklet in the afternoon.
  • Monday: Harry does a booklet after dinner.
  • Tuesday: We go the Kumon centre where Harry does 30 minutes, which includes a booklet with one of the instructors. Here is work from the week is reviewed. We are given new booklets.
  • Wednesday: Harry does a booklet after dinner.
  • Thursday: We go the Kumon centre where Harry does 30 minutes, which includes a booklet with one of the instructors. Here is work from the week is reviewed. We are given new booklets.
  • Friday: You guessed it. Harry does a booklet after dinner.
  • Saturday: Harry does a booklet in the afternoon.

Each booklet takes about 10 or 15 minutes depending on Harry’s energy level. Sometimes it is hard in the week, because we are all pretty tired by 7 pm. It is certainly one of the struggles, but so far there have been no issues.

Top Excuses Our Kids Say To Get Out Of Going To Bed

That time the Jays won and we wore the same pjs. #okbluejays

A photo posted by Like A Dad (@likeadad) on


Recently Netflix launched these new shorts to help parents fight the epidemic of kids trying to prolong bedtime. The whole concept is #5MoreMinutes, so they made 5 minute long TV shows featuring the Dinotrux.

That got me thinking of all the crazy and outlandish excuses our boys use to try to get out of bed time and extend their day just a little longer. Thanks to these Netflix shorts, when we say, just one more show, we now know it won’t cut into our heavenly parenting time where we pass out on the couch or sit in complete and spectacular silence.

Here are just some of the excuses we have heard in our house when it’s time for bed.

Choosing The Perfect Halloween Costume With The Help Of Cartoons

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Halloween. A time to be anyone or anything you want. A time to dress up, be different and to have fun. One of my memories of Halloween was how hard it was to decide what to be. We stuck to the classics because we did not have that many inspirations via the TV. Scooby Doo, GI Joe and Transformers were popular and of course Star Wars. Those are all still popular (classics) but thanks to the Internet and having on demand access to thousands of cartoons on Netflix, kids can really expand their characters.

Even last year when I took our boys out, the array of costumes was great. There were still a few ghosts and goblins, but there was A lot of Lego guys, Avengers and Frozen people. Ah yes, the marketing people understand Halloween don’t they.

Our oldest kept it simple. He was a black cat. Not a cat from a TV show or movie. Just a black cat. Cartoons have not taken over his mind yet I guess.

I figured this year as the Netflix viewing has expanded to a lot of new shows, that would jog his costume choices. Well I can report it did not. Although you could say there is a connection to his choice and a cartoon he watches.

Kumon, Kumon. It’s Time To Accelerate Your Kid’s Education

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Do you remember when you started to read? Or when you started to do basic math? I don’t. But as our family enters the wonderful world of public school, we are quickly learning, you are never too young to start learning about reading, writing and math. As soon as they hit JK, they are doing letters and numbers. I think it’s great.

Our oldest, Harry is in Grade 1 and he is so eager to be able to read, he gets angry that it can’t happen faster. What a great problem to have. That’s better than no interest at all.

We have been reading to him since day 1 and I am sure that is a big part of why he loves books. Even when he was in daycare, the staff always would comment at how he just loved books and would sit and look at them every chance he got.

That being said, once this guy knows how to read, look out. I look forward to his story telling, his imagination and his overall interest in the world, just exploding. As I remember, I was not that into reading until much later in life. I could never separate reading for school because you had to and reading for pleasure because you wanted to. Now, I love to read when I have time and I love to write and be creative if you could not tell.

So as parents, can we help speed up this process of Harry learning to read? Or do we just leave it to the schools and wait for it to happen?

Fortunately, in 2015, there are so many options at our disposal to supercharge our child’s learning. There is the standard home tutoring, there are computer courses and web apps and there of course is parental help.

How I Got My Baseball Groove Back

Baseball. It has been my best friend, my worst enemy, and everything in between. I used to love it. I used to hate it. But thanks to being a dad and those dang Toronto Blue Jays, as Jay Z would say, I think I got my swagger back.

Baseball has once again become a big part of my life. I even have my first glove since I was a teen.

For those who knew me as a kid, you would remember my sticker collections, building mini stadiums in my room, and of course knowing every single
baseball stat there was (BEFORE THE INTERNET).

I grew up as a Detroit Tigers fan and that meant despising the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, I f’in hated George Bell, Dave Stieb, and every dude associated with them.

I never played organized baseball, but I played and played often with neighbourhood buddies. I saw myself as the Canadian Mark McGwire before there was a Mark McGwire.

I dug the long ball before I even knew about the chicks.

Just sitting here now, if I really try hard, my first memory of watching MLB was the World Series when the Cardinals and Brewers squared off in 1982. I remember Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, and just have friggen fast those Cardinals were.

Have I proved to you how much I loved baseball yet?

Thanksgiving On The Grill

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Minimize activity in your kitchen by cooking your turkey dinner outdoors

BARRIE, Ont. — There are few dinners on the Canadian calendar as iconic as the Thanksgiving dinner, with a golden turkey at the centre of the table with all of the bounty of the fall harvest for fixings.

A lot of effort goes into getting the dinner prepared, and with a house full of family and friends it can create a chaotic scene in your kitchen. But by taking your cooking to your backyard grill, you can ease the activity in your kitchen and leave the house for socializing and enjoying your company.

“Your backyard grill is, essentially, an outdoor oven with a versatility you simply can’t replicate in your kitchen,” says Stephen Schroeter, Senior Vice President of Napoleon. “You can add new flavours and bring a whole new experience to your traditional Thanksgiving dinner by cooking the entire meal on your barbecue.”

Stephen offers these pointers for cooking your Thanksgiving dinner on your grill.