After a year and half of writing this blog, I've decided to shut it down. Thank you so much for your readership. Continue reading

Dawn Whittaker of Cheekychops.ca is a well-known sleep consultant and family coach here in the Lower Mainland. Here's an awesome radio interview where she shares some of her best infant sleeping tips for parents. Continue reading

Since we have limited our TV viewing in the evening, it has made me want to watch TV when the little boy goes to sleep. Last year I got a great deal from our cable company for our TV/Internet/Phone Package which is going to expire in a couple months. As part of the deal, we also got a free HD PVR (DVR) rental for a year which is also due back even sooner. Now the possibility of losing the PVR (DVR) is making me ancy a little bit. How am I going to watch the Biggest Loser and Glee on... Continue reading

We're first to admit - my wife and I love our TV. This week, my wife and I decided, to spend more quality time with our son when we get home from work. How do we exactly spend more 'quality' time. We decided to tune-out. No TV when we get home from work and daycare. Just some quick observations: -It's quieter in the house. -Our son didn't actually want to watch TV after a day or two. -The evening actually went by slower even when our bedtime was earlier. What are we doing as a family that counts as 'quality-time'... Continue reading

Reading the paper on the way to work today, I came across a story of a 1 year old boy who died yesterday while at the care of residential daycare. I offer my condolonces to the family of this boy. I can't imagine dropping off my son at his daycare to later find out that something serious happened that led to his death. Everyday, I just pray that myself, my wife, and our son get home safe. It must also be immensely difficult for the family who runs this residential daycare. They've been running this daycare for 10 years with... Continue reading

Already a popular car in Europe, the Ford Grand C-Max will be introduced in North America this year. It will be a direct competitior to the Mazda 5 and the Kia Rondo. I was hoping that Mazda would introduce the latest Mazda 5 model with the same 5 + 2 seating capability as the Ford Grand C-Max. But Mazda decided to keep this configuration for international markets only. Let's face it minivans aren't really that mini anymore. This vehicle provides an alternative for families looking for a flexible vehicle that's fuel efficient and not as big as the 'minivans'. Let's... Continue reading

Feeling a sense of accomplishment certainly helps in keeping a positive attitude. Lists can help you feel a sense of accomplishment. The more things you cross out is a visual guide to how much you've accomplished. When it comes to parenting, there is an overriding checklist of things one goes through from the day the child is born. This list can get particularly overwhelming. We are besieged by choices that our parents didn't have when they were starting their families. On another note, my generation of parents are also besieged by pressures our parents didn't necessarily have to go through.... Continue reading

I must admit, my wife and I, are a bit stroller-obsessed. As we learned with our son, buying a stroller is like buying a car. So many models, so many option. We came across the new Bugaboo Donkey Stroller awhile ago. It's an interesting concept. See for yourself: bugaboo donkey from bugaboo on Vimeo. Continue reading

I mentioned to a friend that my new year's resolution is try to see things more with a 'the glass is half-full' attitude. It's been two days since I publicly announced this resolution on this blog. And I feel like what did I get myself into? Yesterday, it seemed like negativity reared its ugly head no matter where I looked. This morning, negativity reared its ugly head right from inside of me. I'll spare you the details but let's just say it wasn't a shining moment. I let my emotions dictate how I responded to a situation. So as the... Continue reading

As I write this blog, the whole city of Vancouver awaits for the 10-20 cms of snow forecasted to fall starting tonight through the morning. You never really know how the weather will pan out regardless of what the weather forecasters say. So as I pick up my son from daycare today, there was a sign on the door that says: "If the snow comes and schools are closed in the area, the daycare will be closed. Please call ahead in the morning." Hmm...what does a family with two working parents do when situations like this occur? We are lucky... Continue reading

On my first day of trying to see the world half-full, the world reminded me that negativity always shows its ugly head when you least expect it. On transit today, a man decided that his bag was more important that letting another human being occupy the seat next to him. I asked this man if he could move his bag. He refused since he said there was no room on the floor for him to put his bag. I suggested that he can put the bag on his lap. He just ignored my suggestion and slouched even more sprawled across... Continue reading

It's already the 10th of January and our Christmas Tree is still up. The holiday season just seems to stretch out further and further into January in terms of post-holiday holiday parties. Our last 'holiday' party is still this coming Saturday! Just goes to show how busy life gets when friends have to get together after Christmas to celebrate Christmas. I guess it's not so bad since the Eastern Christian tradition celebrates Christmas in January. And, how many of us still have Christmas presents to give out as February fast approaches? We know we have at least 1 more present... Continue reading

Hello Suburban Dad readers. A belated happy new year to all of you. Thank you for following me for the last year and a half on this blog. I must apologize as it has been awhile since my last post. Unfortunately, I have had a bad case of writer's block. As I write this post, it is 10: 30 p.m. on a Sunday night and my mind is racing a little bit. There are nights when I find it hard to turn off my brain. Maybe by blogging, I can empty it a little bit. December was a travel filled... Continue reading

Knock on wood that a we will never experience a fire in our home. It's a pretty scary situation. As one of the assigned floor wardens at work, I am required to attend a 2 hour emergency awareness seminar every year. I've attended this seminar 4 out of the last 5 years. After each seminar, I tell myself that I really need to get a three storey emergency escape ladder for our walk-up townhouse. In the event of a fire on our main floor, there would be no way to escape except through the upstairs windows. At the seminar, we... Continue reading

(photo courtesy of Whistler Blackcomb) My wife will tell you that one of the things that attracted her to me is because I snowboard. Apparently, there's something about 'snowboarders' that are (in her words) -- 'hot'. But I digress. Since she moved here from Toronto, one of my main goals is to make her a decent snowboarder. For several seasons now, snowboarding with my wife at Whistler entailed riding down one green run and only for a couple of runs. Near the end of last season, I challenged her to finally get out of that green run and explore the... Continue reading

This week is a new beginning for our little family. My wife starts a new job today. It's not just any other job but it is a 'dream job'. She's had butterflies about starting the new job all weekend. Last night, she sat down next to our son and says to him, "You don't care about mommy's new job huh....". Meanwhile, our son is simply enjoying the company of his mom and smiles at her. My wife then says, "You just want mommy to come home happy." In this brief but telling moment, it put in perspective everything that we... Continue reading

I apologize that it's been awhile since my last blog post. As most North American families experience, life can get a little bit too hectic at times. So for the past 5 Saturdays, we have been taking our son to Splitz Gymnastics' toddler class. In the picture above is the class getting prepped by the coach. In the 45 minute class, parents with child go through a series of apparatus focusing on a specific skill each week. Our son is so excited when he gets on the floor that it's bit challenging to keep his attention focused on the tasks... Continue reading

A couple of weeks ago, we took our son to Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! For those of you unfamiliar with the show, it's a retro-styled children's show that focuses on music to convey cute little messages to kids like eating a good meal, hugs, love, play. Several celebrities have been guests on the show such as Jack Black, Elijah Wood, and Solange. Back to the live show, it ran in an efficient 1 hour and 20 minutes with 15 minute intermission at the 45 minute mark. They paced the show really well and basically if you're a regular view of... Continue reading

In an earlier blog post, I mentioned that one of the things I had a hard time adjusting to since becoming a parent are the unexpected interruptions when dealing with a baby/toddler. Being on 'schedule' was a lot more challenging when you have a baby. Ironically enough, these unexpected interruptions are really to be expected. Some examples of interruptions we've experienced with our son: On occasion, just when we are ready to leave the house for daycare and work -- my wife goes -- wait - he just pooed. We were taking friends from out-of-town to Whistler and 30 minutes... Continue reading

We have one portable air-conditioner in our house. So this past summer, it seemed unfair for us to sleep our air-conditioned room while our son slept in his sauna of a room. So the last few months, our son's been sleeping with us in our bed. I certainly miss having the bed just to ourselves. But last night, our son actually was the one who wanted to sleep in his room. So my wife put him to sleep in his room. We were having a bit of a frustrating evening last night. The daily grind I think just wore us... Continue reading

the cheap parent: to be by Robert Willis Original Post: http://www.cheapcouver.com/the-cheap-parent-to-be-2/#more-144 I’m learning a new language. No, it’s not Spanish, Esperanto, HTML, or anything like that. This language is more subtle and is more than just words. It’s a language I’m learning more of every day as I approach full membership into this exclusive community of fluent speakers. I’m speaking of course about the language of the cheap parent. Since we found out we were going to be parents, we’ve been accumulating new things almost every week. As I discovered when I was learning the language of the cheap groom,... Continue reading

First of all congratulations to our newly married friends! We were honored when they asked our son to be the ring-bearer at their wedding. Getting him to walk down the aisle or carry the ring pillow was another story. Predictably, he refused to walk or carry the pillow. We expected that my wife and I would just carry him and one of us would be carrying the pillow. In essence, I became the tallest ring-bearer anyone could have. Most weddings happen at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., or 3 p.m. at our parish. Our friends got the 1 p.m. slot which... Continue reading

I am just putting this article out there and it does not reflect my personal views on the subject. I'm messed up enough to have the gall tell anyone that kids and mates are the ultimate key to happiness. I was on reading the paper today on my way to work and came across this article. I just thought I'd share because it raises some interesting points regardless of which side of the issue you side on. Key to Happiness is mates and Kids, UBC Professor Says By Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun August 27, 2010 9:29 AM A University of... Continue reading