A Dad’s Life: Life Father Like Son

Originally posted on Urban Parent

Who is your favorite sports team? Do you have several?

Everyone seems to have at least one on some level.

The one team that gets our attention and brings us great join and even greater pain.

But how did you pick it? Was it recent or have you been a fan since your childhood?

For me, my dad was pretty new to Canada, so he did not have an allegiance yet. He loved English soccer for sure, but there was no connection with North American sport past knowing who the teams were.

So, for me as a boy, the world was wide open to pick the team I was going to love.

Growing up in SW Ontario, you would think I would have sided with a team from Toronto or Detroit. Nope, I was different.

My longest running bond with a pro sports team is with the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL. I have been a fan of them since I was 10.

Second longest would be my love of Michigan basketball, which started around the same time and makes more geographical sense.

It got me hooked on hoops to the point of playing it for the next several years.

That same University of Michigan team is where I am now seeing the next line of sports fans grow. My boys.

Modern Dads: We Feel The Time Crunch, Too

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Michael Cusden, a Halifax marketing manager and his two sons, Harrison, age four and Charlie, age one (scott munn for The Globe and Mail)

Full article can be seen in the Globe and Mail.

“In a lot of companies, guys will get that guilt. If you’re not doing overtime, you’ll be passed by the guy who is because he doesn’t have family obligations,” says Michael Cusden, a Halifax marketing manager.

Cusden, 39, says he got raised eyebrows for taking a six-month parental leave. “I drew my line in the sand,” said Cusden, who now makes it clear that his weeknights are reserved for family. Even so, his leisure time has dried up to a couple of hours on the weekend and he often combines his own errands with playground trips. Being overwhelmed, he says, is “not a mom thing any more. It’s a parent thing.”

Winter Just Won’t Go Away

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March 30th, 2014. Yes, technically it is spring. Yesterday we got a taste of it with warm weather. Today, back to cold rain and ice. It really is getting depressing.

There is so much waiting to be done outside. Gardening, cleaning out the garage, pumping up the bike tires and just getting more exercise.

Being stuck in the house needs to be over. The boys are ready to explode through the walls.

Recounting A #Snowday In #Halifax With Photos

Well I did it. I made it through a snow day with the boys. While my wife is away (flight cancelled), I had a fun day at home, hunkered down in the house for what was a pretty big storm. It is actually still going but luckily, the boys are not.

The house is now quiet, but because I know the day would speed by and I would forget a lot of the highlights, I had a camera with me all day and did my best to tell a story.

You will notice the many shots of the outside world to give you an idea of the snow we got.

This will also make it easier to describe our snow day once my wife does get home.

So enjoy this post as I recount a snow day in Halifax with photos.

Time To Dad Up For A Few Days

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So I am a lone wolf for a few days on the parenting front. My wife is out of town for work and that means it is just me and the monsters, I mean boys.

Am I worried? Not in the slightest. I am actually looking forward to it.

The key – rolling with whatever happens.

It’s just two days, but I will be happy when my partner in crime returns.

There are some variables already being thrown my way.

First, our little guy is riding the temperature train. Up and down, up and down. Will he stay at school? Won’t he? It is as dramatic as one of the buzzer beater games from the weekend of March Madness.

Second, our region is supposed to get the mother of all snow dumps tomorrow. Yay!

Guest Post: My Son’s Helping Hand to My Health

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This is a guest post by Jared Harris.

Last year, one of my buddies asked me if I would help him with the renovations on one of his several residential properties. Besides some volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity with some of my fraternity brothers, I had no real previous experience in anything home improvement-related. Still, I agreed to help.

In the process of installing a glass-paneled door, I tripped over a nail and lost the grip on my side of the door. My right hand went directly through the glass, slicing four of my tendons in the process. I panicked and there was blood everywhere. I had no idea what the extent of my injury was before we made it to the emergency room, but I knew that I had lost total control of both my index finger and thumb. During the car ride, I tried to make my brain tell my fingers to move, but nothing would happen.

How Do I Make the Most of My Paternity Leave?

Excellent post by Michael Roston from the New York Times on his upcoming parental leave.

It was called How do I make the most of my paternity leave?

Late last year, The New York Times Company announced that it would offer six weeks of paid parental leave for all employees. The timing couldn’t have been better for me, because late last year I became a father. I worked out some scheduling with my managers, and my wife, and in one week’s time I’ll start paternity leave with our 4-month-old daughter as my wife returns to work from her maternity leave.

On Sunday, my wife and I had a conversation about things that I should understand about being home with our daughter full time. After we discussed various particulars, she asked if there was anything else I wanted to know. There was. “Do you have any general advice on staying sane?”

Later in the post he asked these 3 questions.

Guest Post: Teaching Children About Violence in Video Games

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This is a guest post by Ken Myers.

While you may not allow your children to play violent video games, that does not mean they won’t be exposed to them. Here are some tips to help you teach your children about violence in video games and help them to grow in maturity and understanding:

Teach the Children Wisely – Teaching children about digital violence and how it doesn’t relate to the real world isn’t as difficult as some parents may think. Although I believe that certain ages really don’t need to be subjected to some forms of violence, I also believe that parents have a responsibility to discuss the difference between reality and fantasy with children. Even though you may not allow violent video games in the home, it doesn’t mean that his or her friends won’t have those games at their houses.