House Of Pokemon Cards

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Pokemon cards. Uh. Where do I begin. If you have little kids (boys in particular), I bet you find pokemon cards in your house like you find Christmas tree needles in July. They are everywhere and I swear they spawn. It is no wonder we can’t catch them all, we can’t even keep the cards in one single place.

Just like a house of cards, when dealing with pokemon cards, they can make other parts of your daily lives come crashing down in not careful.

Those little cards will brainwash and distract your kids from doing the simplest of things. They also will take their powers of annoyance outside of your house and infiltrate school, after school, friends houses and anywhere they sneak them in like contraband.

Can Our Kids Learn Anything From Netflix?

Raising one kid is challenging. Raising two, well it doubles the fun. We have two boys who are six and three. But the three years between them can be much closer or much further depending on the situation. Sometimes our youngest acts older to move towards his brother, sometimes our oldest reverts because he sees what can be gotten acting more toddler like. It’s a giant learning experience for us all.

So how does a very present aspect of our household (TV/Netflix) actually become a learning tool for the boys when they are at two very different ages? What conversations are sparked? Can they enjoy different shows as well as find common ground?

That was the question put forth for the #streamteam crew this month.

Some Months Really Kick You In The Parental Ass

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Hey April, happy to not see you again for another 51 weeks. You were a challenge to say the least. Let me enjoy your good friend May instead.

The month of April this year was a tiring one for me. So many ups and downs. So many things draining my energy mentally and physically. It has taken the first week of May to digest it all and actually write about it.

Yes it was only 30 days, but a lot was packed into the 720 hours available.

Before I go into each, here is just a taste of what happened.

  • Wife was away for 12 days. Lot’s of solo parenting.
  • Bank account was hacked.
  • Oldest kept hurting himself at school – ie. calls home.
  • Youngest had to go to doctor to be allowed back in daycare.
  • Had to take care of a really silly parking ticket.
  • Had to deal with an overdue bill from previous home owner.
  • My dad had a stroke, had to go home to Sarnia for five days.
  • Youngest wiped poop all over bathroom.
  • Had to find two different babysitters.
  • Snow. Yes, what the hell.
  • Sick kids crawling into your bed.
  • Holding in the desire to sell the boys when they pushed me to my limits.
  • All the usual things – school drop off/pick up, homework, dinners, cleaning etc. etc.
  • Screwing up Kraft Dinner.

I am sure I am even forgetting things because I blacked out now and then.

Making a list of it all does not really seem all that bad. But each took a lot of time, a lot of brain power and a lot of dad patience.

Kumon Made A Difference For Our Son

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It’s amazing when you can see a real change in your child. When they conquer something by bursting right through a wall that was frustrating them. That’s what our son Harry has done in the last few months with his reading and writing.

I am also happy to share with you that one of the contributing factors was Harry’s time spent at Kumon, an after school math and reading program. For those following the journey, you know that we were approached by Kumon to try out their service for six months in exchange for an honest review on the blog.

As I mentioned before, it was perfect timing because in October of last year, Harry was struggling and getting more and more frustrated by the day. He was falling behind in class and stressing himself out over it. Young kids should not be stressing about such things.

Before even starting Kumon, we met with Harry’s Grade One teacher and worked out a plan for him to get extra help at school and what we could do at home. TLC for reading and writing was coming from all fronts. That’s why it was perfect that Kumon came calling when it did.

100 Things To Do With Your Kids This Summer In Toronto

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Every year I secretly look forward to a list that Sarah over at Solo Mom Takes Flight does. Basically she plans out my summer for me when it comes to entertaining the kids. Well it dropped finally and I love it. But after reading it, I had a lot of my own suggestions that did not make her list, so, I figured, let’s go for 100.

Don’t get me wrong, so many of Sarah’s ideas are great and if you follow her on Instagram, you know she loves visiting every part of Toronto. I can only strive to do the same.

Every thing she suggested made me think of a few more. I started remembering when I had the kids all summer a few years ago and all the places we went. It’s exciting.

Toronto is such a great city, especially in the summer. You never have to leave. You can find something fun to do every day and in all price ranges.

So, thanks for the inspiration Sarah. Please visit her blog and read about where in the world she is with her kids.

100 Things To Do With Your Kids This Summer in Toronto

Looking Into The Mirrors That Are My Devices

Do you ever look into the mirror and not like what is looking back at you? I think whether we like to admit it or not, it’s true sometimes. But do you ignore it, or try and figure out what is bothering you? It’s always much deeper than the actual face you see.

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Lately, the metaphorical mirror has been either my phone or tablet and I have been taking stock on how I use each. Why I use each as much as I do and who it is affecting around me.

It was only seven years ago that I did not even have a device of any kind. Yes, I was a very late adopter to the smartphone world and I only got my first BlackBerry because Katie was pregnant.

Now, I seem to have a device in my hand or around me most of the day and God damn I just can’t leave them alone.

American Crime Scared the Parenting $#@% Out Of Me

Have you watched American Crime on ABC? The second season just wrapped up and while Season 1 was mostly entertainment for me, Season 2 scared the parenting shit out of me.

Why? Because it dealt with several real-life situations that ANY child and family could go through.

I don’t plan on giving spoilers away, and to be honest, there are no dramatic twists or who dunnit moments. Maybe that is why the show felt so real. It painted the picture that it could happen to anyone who is in the wrong place at the wrong time or let internal struggles get out of control. The show is much more hard-hitting that any family time movie or special from my childhood. There was no happy ending, just real life outcomes.