Hopping On The Magic School Bus With My Kids

Earlier this month I wrote about all the cartoons I want to share with my kids one day. They included a lot of classics like Transformers, He-Man and Scooby Doo. Those cartoons were listed in a Netflix survey of dads around the world.

Another Netflix reboot I have already shared with my kids is one I remember as a kid. The Magic School Bus. It was one of the first cartoons I remember as being “schooly” or educational. It was like the movie Innerspace. The kids shrink and go on a Magic School bus to solve a scientific mystery. They travel into the digestive system and back in time to see the Dinosaurs.

How Dads Are Changing The Way They Parent

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Photo is not with article, I just like it. Taken by Scott Munn.

This is an article I was featured in recently in Parents Canada Magazine for Father’s Day.

A few decades ago, most talk of fathers’ roles had a straight-up Don Draper-style emphasis on breadwinning. Toronto dad Michael Cusden remembers his dad “just kind of came home from work, had dinner and read the paper and then we went to bed. That’s what dad was to us.” A much more hands-on father, Michael is a digital marketing professional and creator of a blog called Like A Dad. He says the upside with today’s model is, “I know my kids way better. I know what they like. I know their personalities. I know how their day was.” While Michael admits that balancing it all can be stressful, he says, “My dad says he kind of wished he lived in a generation where he got to do it.”

We thought it was time to ask dads what is life like for them today. What are their new struggles, joys and expectations? Here’s what we learned.

Today, leagues of engaged modern dads like Michael are slowly refashioning what fatherhood looks like. For example, 2011 Statistics Canada figures found that 30 percent of eligible fathers filed for parental leave benefits in 2010 – a nine-fold increase over the previous six years. StatsCan also reported in 2011 that the number of stay-at-home dads had tripled over 30 years; and that the number of families headed by single dads is rising.

The New Normal For What Family Is

No matter the size, location, relationship or meaning, we all have a family. A home family, a work family, a school family and so on. A family does not have to be blood related, it’s more about who is special to us.

The typical family consisting of a mom, dad, kids etc. is becoming less and less normal. I bet most of us know families that have two moms, or three parents, or step-dads or family members from different cultures. The modern family has become a melting  pot to the point that when you think of the Cosby’s or the Cleaver’s, they seem to be the odd group.

My personal family still remains very traditional, but new people keep getting added which  brings a new dynamic and view of the world. I say as long as they are true to who they are and care about the family, they can stay.

Why am I going on about the not-so-normal family dynamic? Well, because, this month on Netflix, they are featuring a wide range of families that don’t fit under the “normal” umbrella.

Cooking Eggs On Big Green Egg

As Tom Haverford would probably say, that’s eggs on eggs on eggs.

Yes, the Big Green Egg is just not for grilling and smoking meat. You can do vegetables like corn on the cob, baked beans and you can even do breakfast.

I had never done breakfast on the Egg until now. On Mother’s Day I wanted to make something different for breakfast. The mom of the house (my wife) enjoys a good plate of eggs and a side of meat. So I thought, why not try out something I saw done on my day with the people from La Grille.

Cooking eggs on toast.

The Brotherhood Of The Shrinking Pants

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When you see your kids every day, it’s really hard to notice their changes and overall growth. But for those who don’t see them very often, it is crystal clear.

Looking at older photos helps, you catch a glimpse of a new face or longer hair, but it’s hard to keep track just by staring your sons or daughters in the eye.

For me, I keep track of their growth in particular by the length of their pants. And for both our boys, they are stars in their own movie called The Brotherhood of the Shrinking Pants.

We can’t keep up. We have two legitimate weeds growing in our house. Weeds that I will never pull.

Harrison is the leader. He is going on six and is a tall drink of water. He is a clone of myself for sure. I was 6’5 at the age of 12. He is going to beat that.