Travel tactics: Mastering the family vacation when you have teens

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Embarking on a family vacation with teenagers can sometimes feel like navigating a maze blindfolded. As a parent, you’re torn between excitement for the journey ahead and the inevitable eye rolls and sighs that may accompany your well-intentioned plans.

As we all start to plan our summer vacations, fear not, as I am going to try and lend a helping hand. With a dash of humour, a sprinkle of dad wisdom, and a pinch of patience, you can turn your family vacation into an unforgettable adventure for all.

High school exams

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I can’t think of something that worried me more. High school exams. Even today I get anxiety thinking about it. The studying. The stress. The worry. Sure, there was a lot of success, but I don’t envy those who are going through it now or have to in the future.

Why are high school exams of all things on my mind today? Well I have a kid taking his first official high school exam today – math.

First, woof. I have a kid old enough to be taking his first high school exam. That hits hard no matter how you look at it.

Dad’s musical odyssey: Navigating the tunes of parenthood

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Hey there, rockstar parents. We need to talk about a topic as crucial as the perfectly executed diaper change, the unparalleled joy of finding a lost toy in the couch cushions, or the tactical brilliance required to sneak vegetables into mac ‘n’ cheese. Brace yourselves – we’re diving into the world of dad’s musical tastes. You know, those tunes that keep us groovin’ through the chaos of parenting.

So, picture this: you’re driving the minivan with kids in tow, and suddenly, “Baby Shark” starts playing on the car radio. You clench the steering wheel, contemplating if it’s too early for a mid-life crisis. Fear not, fellow parent. Your musical taste hasn’t vanished; it’s just taking a detour through the realm of children’s tunes.

The new year ahead

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Welcome to 2024 everyone. It’s day 2 and I have aleady fallen behind on something I wanted to try out. That would be to try and write at least 500 words every day. Not focusing on clicks, or topics that will get clicks, or creating conversation or engagement. Just writing for the fun of writing. Like I did many years ago. Funny enough, writing for just fun pushed me into a career where it was about engagement, clicks and trying to stratigize what Google wanted to see. I think that is what kind of killed the buzz.

It really was about a daily journal to cut down on phone calls as I did not really like phone calls with family and friends. Posting about what I was up to was much easier. It was also before it was a thing to share everything on social media. Just like the boomerang of writing, to not writing, to writing again, social media is starting to go away from oversharing (at least that’s what I think). Sure there are endless amounts of influencers on Tik Tok and Instagram showing off their literal boring days and what they are cooking, but if you look at Facebook for example, your parents, aunts, highschool friends etc. are not sharing much anymore. Or at least what it was like several years ago.

Smells Like Teen Spirit In Here

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Can you believe it has been 10 years since I first started this blog? 10 years since I started documenting my life as a Dad. Well it’s time I checked in on myself and what better time than when my oldest child just turned 13!

Yep, if the title didn’t give it away, I now have an official eye rolling and always ready to eat all the groceries teen. To be fair he doesn’t so much roll his eyes as he just puts up with my attempts at humour.

It’s a new chapter, or dare I say, a new book of parenting that I am writing/living IRL as they say. We survived the terrible twos. The actually more terrible threes. Whatever was in between five and seven was a blur and then the pre-teen angst that seemed so cute and easy to manage. You know, when your kid thinks they have it so bad. That’s when I was eye rolling a bit.

But now. The unknown for us. I think I would have more success understanding the Metaverse at this point.

All I have to go on is remembering what life was like when I was 13. Fire up the microfiche machine.

Now I would definitely say our 13 year old has a lot of similarities to me at that age. Like me he’s super tall, super hungry and super helpful. But that only gets me so far when understanding how to be the parent of a teen in 2022.

Potty Training Boys in only 3 Days – Tips, Tales and Takes

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potty training

At this stage of parenting, I did not think I would ever think about potty training ever again. But recently I did.

I had one of those moments when you look at your kids and wonder when it all happened? When did they grow so big? When did they grow into a young adult?

It happens right in front of your eyes and yet, it’s still a shock to the system.

One minute they are small enough to carry in a pouch, the next they are tall enough to almost stare you in the eyes.

Last week I was ordering new underwear online for our oldest boy. Medium briefs!? No superheroes, no trucks, just plain-coloured, boring underwear. It seems like yesterday I was buying a bulk pack of size three Spider-Man undies.

Then even before the confirmation email from Amazon hit my inbox, I was taken back to the days of why we needed those tiny undies in the first place.

The long weekend that I was potty training our first child using a three day bootcamp friends had shared with us.