Welcome to The Urban Daddy, Canadian Dad blog.
Some people call me “The Urban Daddy” because I’m a father to 3 incredible children and we live in Urban Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I chose the name because my wonderful wife of 17 years, who got me into blogging in 2004 was calling herself The Urban Mummy, so it only made sense.
I’m a brand-friendly blogger, however I don’t believe that being a blogger makes me qualified to hock products, so any brands that you see presented here are brands that I strongly believe in, use or support because they are new, Canadian, or have the right message (kindness, inclusion, respect… Stuff like that.)
The opinions contained in this blog are mine, and I started writing this in order to keep track of my kids, my parenting, and other events which shaped our lives and made us what we are today.
Our children are two boys and a girl. My oldest I refer to as “Linus” on my blog (because he used to carry around a security blanket and a white stuffed cat). My middle child is named “Stewie” on my blog (because we felt that as a baby, he was trying to kill us – like the character from Family Guy), and our third (and last child) is a girl whom I call “Boo”, the character from Disney’s Monsters Inc.
My oldest is a competitive swimmer, math whiz and throws a very hard and accurate fastball. My middle child has tried out for every sports team, and currently plays select hockey. He will either be a professional athlete or a hacker when he grows up, and my youngest declared herself the “funny one” when she was 3-years-old, and that she is! She also dances competitively, and is a synchronized swimmer.
About us:
As I mentioned, we live in mid-town Urban Toronto. We eat very healthy (my wife was a vegetarian for 12 years when I met and converted her – but she has gone towards the land of the vegan and is slowly taking all of us with her. She studied holistic nutrition, and is your typical math / science person who may or may not have an engineering degree.
We drive a hybrid vehicle, looking to get an electric car and we recycle all the time / every time.
We LOVE to travel with the children and as a result have been to many countries outside of North America.
Both my wife and I have Master’s degrees, her’s in education, mine a MBA, which we both completed with newborns in our house. Crazy, eh?
I love politics, especially Canadian, I work in the Canadian Taxation industry, and I have a fundamental belief that rules are meant to be followed.
I’m also a sports junkie, love playing ball hockey (22 years in organized league play), and watching it on TV.
My little blog took off after being mentioned by CBS news as a prominent “Daddy blogger”, featured in the Globe and Mail as one of the top 5 must read Daddy blogs and recently featured in the CBC Writer’s Series.
When I am not The Urban Daddy, I am a tax consultant, who after almost 11-years working in the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), have run my own business helping individuals and corporations navigate the CRA. My expertise lies in Collections and enforcement, where I use my many years of training staff at the CRA, and leading teams there, to negotiate arrangements, and help remove liens, assessments and director’s liabilities. Thus far I have saved clients upwards of $10 million dollars through my skills.
Everything here comes out of my head and this blog is meant to allow me to empty my head of thoughts and opinions and if you choose to read and like it or get offended let me know. Just nothing personal, racist or rude. I can and will delete them.
If you want an “expert” opinion, or a family opinion drop me an email at realurbandaddy@gmail.com I have a wide range of contacts who can assist too. I’m on twitter @urbandaddyblog and on Facebook. Find me! Subscribe.
The Urban Daddy® 
My husband found your hockey story. And that’s our kid, here in pembroke. But just at the stage of trying out. Thank you for 1) standing up for you kid and other kids. 2) writing this article. This let us know that we’re not parents who don’t understand, but not apart of the inner crowd. We thought we were doing something wrong. We’re not. Thank you for confirming that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Chantal. I really appreciate that you took some time to comment. It’s a huge relief knowing that in most cases it’s nothing personal, and it’s not a slight against you, or your child, but that there are many other factors which come into play.
That being said, there is a huge part of me that feels that kids who really want to be a part of the team should be given a chance over kids who are a part of the team but who are not that engaged anymore. Those are the kids who come late, don’t try as hard, are not big team-players and don’t contribute the enthusiasm that a new kid would.
In our case, my son went back to his original league and made the select team, and here we are in January, and he’s finally starting to develop some confidence that was ripped out of him last season. His current coach who is phenomenal – equal playing time – everybody improves, etc., sees that there is more in there and knows he’ll have to work to get it out.
We’ve also done some extra skating and skill sessions to make sure that when the next round of tryouts came up, one team would see him and hopefully want him, and that was the case.
Now that we’re part of the crowd, I’m trying to make sure that the parents and coaches understand what its like for those trying to get in, and to ensure that they keep that in mind when looking for players going forward.
I wish you and your family the best of luck going forward, and I hope everything works out!
Warren
LikeLike
Hi Warren,
I was reading your blog and enjoyed some of your posts- I’m a fellow coffee lover (going to try the Roasted Chestnut Frapp) and Torontonian. Also, I laughed when you mentioned your kids wouldn’t understand what a dial-up modem is…I’ve been quizzed on that one before.
I thought you might be interested in a campaign I’m working on with a P&G brand. If you’d like to learn more, please go to the following link to opt-in and contact me.
https://www.pg.com/onlineinfluencer/pg_online_influencers.jsp
Hope to hear from you!
LikeLike
Totally wish I saw this…
LikeLike
So you decided to join the small clan of Uncle Spike followers, sometimes known as The Spikey’s…. That makes me a happy blogger now – I really appreciate you making that special mouse click.
Hope you like my upcoming posts and if you get bored one day, maybe you’ll enjoy trawling through some of my older stuff too.
If you have any likes, dislikes or suggestions about my blog, just let me know, either through ‘comments’ or via email. Always welcome reader input 🙂
Have a great old day…
UNCLE SPIKE
uncle.spikes.adventures1@gmail.com
LikeLike
What a wonderful blog you have! I also believe that establishing healthy habits from a young age is important. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Cheers, Mom of Dragon Boy
LikeLike
We are a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
Your website offered us with helpful information to work on.
You have performed a formidable process and our whole group will probably be thankful to you.
LikeLike