Day 18: Cribs, Money And Chicken

day18-1You know the drill. This is where I tell you how the day went as I travel through time and space as a stay-at-home dad.

Today was an exciting day. It seemed much more official that the parental leave was on. My money hit my account. Employment Insurance is flowing. This dad was able to pay some bills.

As some may not know, in Canada, when on parental leave, we receive 55% of our salary. It will be tough sledding, but it is better than nothing.

So with cash in hand so-to-speak, today was also a transition day for Charlie.

Up until now, all his naps have been in his swing which is situated smack in the middle of our house. It works like a charm, but it pretty much shuts down everything around him. This includes my desk and computer. This makes it hard to get anything done.

So we decided since Charlie sleeps pretty well in his crib overnight, it was time to move all sleeping to the crib. Easier said than done. Our little baby boy loves his swing. Hell, we love that swing. It is auto-matic!

Day 17: Passport Photos And A Whole Lotta Pooh

passport

Good evening parental travelers, how are you? This is the part of the day when things get quiet and calm around the house. The boys are in bed and the grown ups make their way to the basement where TV and dozing happen. Sound exciting right? What do you want, it is Wednesday! We still our huge Survivor fans, so that is what is on the menu.

Today was a challenge, not because of the boys or anything to do with parenting. Nope, today was hard because of the horrible weather. There was a monsoon going on around our house for most of the day. No walking the dog, no getting the mail and certainly no outside time for the kiddies.

Luckily, we had a very important task to take care of. It was passport photo day for the men. We are heading on a few trips this year and Harry and I need new passports, while Charlie needs his first one ever.

With the weather, the only really logical choice was going to Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth. There was a Blacks there to get the job done.

So we packed up and headed out. Car rides are always fun for Harry thanks to his love (addiction?) to trucks. He knows them all by name and gets excited when one is speeding by us.

Day 16: The More I Sleep, The More Tired I am

day16-1It is a cold, rainy and depressing evening in Halifax tonight. It is almost May and the weather is still flirting with the freezing mark. What gives? The boys want to be outside playing, not sitting on the couch looking out the window.

Oh well, the forecast looks much better next week.

Today, even though I got to sleep in past 7 am, was a tiring day. You know the days, when your eyes are like gum and your brain just does not want to function.

Luckily for me, I just had Charlie and he loves to sleep. He is like a bear. As long as he gets to eat, he is quite happy to doze and nap and sleep as much as you let him.

The overall goal of the day was to try to get the house in order. I feel like I am slipping from the tidy standard that Katie set while she was home with the baby. She had a schedule and the house was for the most part a clean space for us men to mess up.

I did manage to get a few rooms done but there is a lot more. Maybe one day. At least the hair got sucked off the floor. Having pets can really add to the mess.

Why Do I Blog? My Brain Would Explode Otherwise

Recently in a Halifax blogger Facebook group that I am part of, someone asked why we blogged. Why did we spend so much time writing posts and sharing with everyone our thoughts. Was it for money, fame, to kill time, to be part of a group or even a way to avoid doing something else. Everyone has their reasons and I thought it was an interesting question to answer.

So I decided to air my thoughts on why I blog. Here goes.

Who Do I Blog?

Blogging has been a part of my daily life ever since I first started using MSN Spaces way back in the early 2000’s. Yeah, remember that archaic tool that let you fill in areas with content and drag them around? It all started because I had moved away from home and it was the easiest way to keep my mother updated on what I was up to.

This was before Twitter, Facebook and all the other social sites. MSN messenger was pretty big and 911 had to even happened yet.

It was great. I could update my mother on my life in Toronto, while not having to spend a lot of time on the phone. I have never been a fan of the phone.

That was where the “blogging” started. Of course that was only the beginning and I did not even know it was blogging to be honest. It was more of a daily newsletter that very few people read.

Over time I grew with the medium. I did blogger, the free WordPress site and finally in 2008, I made the jump to the self-hosted WordPress software.

Day 15: I Know The Treehouse Schedule Too Well

day15-4A new week, same old dad. Another day on the PL over here and all I can see is, I am becoming quiet comfortable with the stay-at-home life. Nothing has changed in terms of ease etc. but I have the daily routines down pretty good. The boys throw the occasional curve ball my way but mostly at night.

The weekend was a fun one with my wife’s birthday. That meant a lot of activities and good eating. It felt like it took an extra day just to digest and recover.

It did not get off to a great start for those who like sleep. Harry woke up just before 1am and wanted to get into bed with us. He stayed briefly before I put him back to bed but of course I was up waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Then the other shoe did drop and that meant an awake Charlie. He started fussing around 4:45am. I got to him pretty quick and he actually went back to sleep on me. Sadly, I could not convert on the transfer to the crib. He was having none of that.

So off to the basement we went because I was not feeding him.

Hasbro Invites Kids And Fans To Create New Transformers Character

newtransformers

One of the fun perks of doing the dad blogging thing is that you get contacted by companies who want your help as an influencer for their brand and products.

Recently I was asked to partner up with Hasbro to help them get the word out for their new toys. That means getting free products to try and review as well as inside information on upcoming releases.

Already I have been asked to review some Iron Man 3 products which will be reviewed in the coming weeks and there was this press release that came out at the end of last week.

Hasbro wants help from kids and us, to help them create a new transformer character.

Here is the official release:

Day 14: Manhunts, Baseball Hats And Hiding Veg

day14-1Whoa boy, this is going to be a short post to end the week. It has been a long day with the wife still out on the town. She went to a play with some friends, so it was a dad dinner and double bedtime night. All done.

Most of today was spent watching or listening to the news out of Boston. We have friends who live in Belmont, not that far from Watertown. So it was great to hear they were okay. Bored, but okay.

The story has been crazy to follow and as I write this post, it might be coming to an end. At least for “white cap” and his run from the law.

What have we really learned today?

24 hour news is painful. There are a lot of “experts” on TV today who clearly did not know shit. All they are doing is watching what we see, reading what we read and then speculating. It is bad, bad television.

The CBC guy basically was referring to movie scripts I think.

Other than that, pretty quiet day.