Why have I blogged for the last 19 years?

I’ve been asked why it is that I blogged for such a long time / have written so many posts, and my response has always been that I do this as a journal to keep memories where I can access them.

I think I’ll need to change that response, as my kids have grown up and I’ve found another great reason why it was a smart idea to have maintained this blog.

My response now would be, so that my kids can read stories about themselves, and learn the funny, clever and unique things that they did, when young, which were captured for posterity.

My daughter, for example, recently turned 13-years-old, and she had wanted to know what time she was born, in order to mark that moment. Unfortunately, by the time she arrived, the third child, we had gotten lazy and didn’t mark down anywhere the time of her birth. I knew I had it somewhere… But couldn’t remember where.

I looked everywhere… couldn’t find it.

Then one afternoon, her and I were scrolling through the blog looking for posts about her (her name on my blog was “Berry”, but became “Boo”) when we found a post, on her birthday, with the time of her birth. I apparently, had the time to jump on my computer and document this milestone for myself, and evidentially for her.

Damn.

Not only did we solve a problem, but we also read through a bunch of posts and laughed. Such great bonding moments.

My advice to new parents remains the same… Document everything while you can. Enjoy that process, take pictures, write stories, and document milestones. One day, your kids might just thank you!

Trip Down Memory Lane: Sharing Yearbooks with your Children

The other week, I found a box which had my yearbooks from all 4 years of my high school. I was on the yearbook staff for 3 of those 4 years, which meant that not only did I have a personalized yearbook, but each and every picture or article chosen for those years came across my eyes at some point in time, which made it feel that much more personal for me.

I opened up the front cover to see comments and notes written from my friends and classmates, which covered the entire front and back and many pages in between. Notes from people I still keep in touch with, and unfortunately notes from way too many people that I didn’t keep in touch with. Sadly there were notes from people who passed away way too soon.

There were some goofy notes, some general notes, and some quite meaningful and personal notes.

I left the yearbooks sitting on a table and my eldest came to hang out with his girlfriend (not girlfriend), and they decided it would be fun to look through the yearbook. So they sat down and immediately went through and found me in all my high school awkwardness and away they giggled.

They looked through the pictures and giggles some more.

Then they decided it would be fun to see what my friends wrote, and then match them up to the pictures, but…

They can’t read script.

This generation cannot read handwriting.

LLLLLooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllll.

I watch the excitement on their faces turn to disappointment.

Thankfully, the government in Ontario is going back to teaching handwriting. This is absolutely hilarious. Yet not funny at all.

Anyone else experience this, or anything similar that we could do but this generation can’t?

The Best Order to Watch Marvel Movies?

After watching the entire Star Wars saga from movies to cartoons to spin-off’s with my eldest child, my second in command child asked me to do the same with the Marvel series. We started with Iron Man, then watched Dr. Strange, and then Iron Man 2.

Not being familiar with the characters and having watched a bunch of them in random order with the kids, or on airplanes while travelling, I asked him if there was a specific order to watch them in…

We concluded there are 3 options. Chronological order, Release order, or by series. We though right away that by series would be a bad way to watch as other characters pop in and out, so that wouldn’t be the best viewing experience, so it came down to release vs chronological.

Here is the list in chronological order.

1. Captain America : The First Avenger.
2. Captain Marvel
3. Iron Man
4. Iron Man 2
5. The Incredible Hulk
6. Thor
7. The Avengers
8. Thor: The Dark World
9. Iron Man 3
10. Captain America: The Winter soldier
11. Guardians of the Galaxy
12. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
13. Avengers: Age of Ultron
14. Ant Man
15. Captain America: Civil War
16. Black Widow
17. Black Panther
18. Spiderman: Homecoming
19. Dr. Strange
20. Thor: Ragnarok
21. Ant Man and the Wasp
22. Avengers: Infinity War
23. Avengers: Endgame
24. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings
25. Spiderman: Far From Home
26. Eternals
27. Spiderman: No Way Home
28. Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness
29. Thor: Love and Thunder
30. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Here is the list of Marvel movies and TV shows in release order:

1. Iron Man
2. Incredible Hulk
3. Iron Man 2
4. Thor
5. Captain America: First Avenger
6. Avengers Assemble
7. Iron Man 3
8. Thor: Dark World
9. Captain America: Winter Soldier
10. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
12. Antman
13. Captain America: Civil War
14. Dr. Strange
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
16. Spiderman: Homecoming
17. Thor: Ragnarok
18. Black Panther
19. Avengers: Infinity War
20. Antman and Wasp
21. Captain Marvel
22. Avengers: End Game
23. Spiderman: Far From Home
24. WandaVision
25. Falcon and the Winter Soldier
26. Loki
27. Black Widow
28. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings
29. Eternals
30. Hawkeye
31. Spiderman: No Way Home
32. Moon Knight
33. Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness
34. Ms. Marvel
35. Thor: Love and Thunder
36. She Hulk
37. Werewolf By Night
38. Black Panther

After looking through these lists, we decided release order makes the most sense, so that’s the approach I’ll be taking.

Did I miss any? Are there any in there, either movies or TV shows which are unnecessary or out of order? I’m 3 movies in and would love some feedback, suggestions or recommendations!

Sometimes, “NO” is the only answer!

With all that is going on in the world these days, sometimes the best answer, or solution is just to say no! Then remember what prompted you to say no, and follow up and be heard.

For example;

Russia… You think it’s okay to invade Ukraine? NO. What about lying to the citizens? NO. Poisoning anyone who opposes you… NO NO NO.

Alabama removing bathrooms for transgendered kids… NO. No you are not. NO NO NO. Sorry, but not sorry. NO

Florida requires kids and teachers to out children who are gay… NO. NO. NO. NO. Then suggesting you would prosecute parents of trans kids… Heck NO.

Texas and their abortion ban… NO

Truckers honking all night and terrorizing citizens in Ottawa because they think they know what’s best for you and for me… NO

Siding with this fringe element saying they just want “freedom”… NO

Brining in the emergencies act because you want to be able to overreach and leave your legacy… NO

It’s time to say no, and mean it.

Giving a Nazi salute to a Jewish teacher… NO! Especially when the teacher comes from a family who survived the holocaust… Disgusting.

…and sadly the list goes on!

I think we’re entering the era of saying no and meaning it. Saying no to tyranny, stupidity, hate and intolerance. Hopefully we’re not just saying no in the moment and then letting something else distract us from following through on our “no” and getting these people out of office, off our media and get their antique ways gone forever!

Our futures should be about love, positivity and inclusion, and saying no is a good way to get there!

Being racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, or anything else where you are giving an opinion on how others live their lives… NO. As my mother used to say, when my sister or I chimed in on what someone else was eating at dinner or doing with their food, “look at your own plate!” Don’t concern yourself with what others are doing. Just take care of yourself.

Abusing transit officers, or anyone providing service to the public because you feel the need to comment your personal comments or concerns around anything, including mask mandates… NO.

Honestly… This list could be endless, but keep your opinion to yourself unless it’s kind, considerate and helpful. Just be nice!

The Urban Daddy is Back… Sort of.

Well after a fairly long period of inactivity and about 60 more drafts, I felt it was time to bring back some content to The Urban Daddy.

Here are the groundrules;

1. Since the kids are getting older, they don’t necessarily want me discussing any details about their personal lives, (“I’ll sue!” said one of them), so I’m going to go back to basics and discuss a bunch of random stuff which involve things Daddies do when their kids are getting older, like work, play and everything in between
2. I’m not an influencer. I appreciate the pitches, and offers, but only on some occasions would I go down that road. I don’t write posts for that reason, and if all I did was give away stuff, why would people come here??
3. I’m Canadian. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I’m not affiliated with Urbandaddy.com in the US, other than the fact that I was here before them, and I sold them my Pinterest account.
4. I’ve been busy. Some good, more not so good, but I’m still here. I’ve gotten a new career working for a company and filling a role that I absolutely love, so that’s good. COVID is still here, but I’m double vaccinated and I wear a mask where possible so I don’t pass along any germs to anyone. I’ve always wondered why sick people don’t wear masks to prevent spreading their colds. I learned this was a very kind thing when we were in Japan a couple of years ago and asked a local guide why there were people wearing masks outside. I thought it might be due to air pollution, but the guide explained that these people are not feeling well and didn’t want to make others sick… Take that, anti-maskers!
5. I took an online cooking class through George Brown College and their culinary area. It was an intro to cooking and it was vegan and the whole experience was amazing. I used to have a hang-up about cooking – had convinced myself that I was unable to just pick a recipe and follow it – but this course had me making tons of great stuff, like stocks, risotto, my own pasta, and my own tofu. I’m going to take another… Soon.
6. I’ve also managed to expand my volunteering and wound up with a board position on a local hockey league as their registrar… Not going to lie, but it’s a huge challenge, because I’ve been busy in my new paid role, and trying to find time for my volunteer role has posed a few challenges.
7. I had hurt myself quite badly at the beginning of the pandemic (not sure if I wrote about this or not), but I was walking on Yonge Street with my sister, and I stepped off the curb to avoid people, but the street was uneven so I rolled my ankle, and in the process did a crap-load of damage to myself, tearing muscles and ligaments off my right hip, right ankle, and I tore my left groin muscle, resulting in me passing out on Yonge Street, then a few days later in the hospital for a ton of tests and medication when I was unable to move because everything seized up. It took me about a year to be able to get everything moving pain-free and since that time, I’ve been walking about 5km/day where possible. I’d love to be able to lose that COVID weight, then the late-night snacking weight, followed by the baby-weight I gained when our now 16yo son was born.
8. I have a love/hate relationship with the Olympics, so I’ll hopefully have some more words to say about them shortly, other than to say that they always make me cry, and I’m so happy for all Canadian athletes who have won medals, or tried their best.
9. So, yeah… I guess we’ll see how long this lasts. 😉