James Bosma, previously the director of marketing at Bullfrog Power, has three kids 6 and under. James has been blogging about life as an at-home dad since 2009 and is now preparing to launch Toyhuggers -- an online toystore.
What makes a great dad?
According to my 4 year old, it all boils down to hugs, kisses and snuggles and outings to the library, the park and the beach. I like my 2 year old’s answer even better. He just said “YOUUUU….” All of this reminds me that I need to finish this post fast [...]
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Because any post about a weight loss program wouldn’t be complete without some before and after pics, here’s your reward for reading the whole post. A few pictures from the pool. Sorry I’m not wearing the Speedo in these pics — I must have forgotten to do up the drawstring.
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I like clever ads. And I get the joke. Pepper’s upset because his constant companion, Salt, is missing. But are missing person/child photos really a suitable source of comic inspiration for a healthy soup ad?
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My plans for an online sustainable toy store are progressing, albeit slowly. I try to move a things a little further every week, but there’s still a lot to do. As you can see, I’ve got a name — Toyhuggers — and a logo.
My next step is to gather market information, which the bank will want to see before they fork over loads and loads of low interest startup cash. I’ve put together this brief survey and now I just need some people to fill it out. Hint. Hint.
Hint.
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With nothing but blue sky above, horse meadows around and open road ahead, I settled into my seat and savoured the moment. That’s when I saw him. He stepped out of the ditch at the shoulder waving both arms.
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Some call it co-sleeping and consider it a lifestyle choice. I call it aggravated sleep deprivation. We haven’t chosen it; our children have.
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Here’s an interesting article from the Globe a few days back. Even more interesting and encouraging are the comments — most of them anyway.
Mr. Moms get little respect – The Globe and Mail.
Here are a few of my responses:
- A first step in respecting at-home dads a little more might be to stop calling us [...]
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We moved into our current house last summer and inherited a vegetable garden on the sunny side. When I was a kid, my parents rented garden space out in the country. I recall many long Saturday afternoons helping to weed and pick vegetables.
That garden was at least an acre. Half [...]
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So, last week I had my dinner with Michael McCain, a few other folks from Maple Leaf Foods and Matchstick (a word-of-mouth marketing agency) and 22 of Southern Ontario’s best mom and dad bloggers.
I went wearing three hats. (Figuratively, of course. In actuality I was hatless.) I went as the at-home dad and head chef [...]
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Photo by Barry Gray at the Hamilton Spectator
My daughter was photographed by a Hamilton Spectator photographer on Sunday and ended up on the front page. Burlington’s Kite and Ice Cream Festival was a bit of a bust due to inclement weather, but we managed to have some fun anyway. (That’s me flying the kite.)
TheSpec.com – [...]
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If there’s one thing planting vegetables from seed will teach you, it’s patience. Beans, peas and cucumbers are great if you like instant gratification. And I’ve almost got a full pepper on my pinot noir pepper transplant. But the carrots, rutabagas and and lettuce have been teasing me for two weeks. Here are a [...]
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It’s been six months since I wrote about getting a speeding ticket (“Watch out for the fuzz”). Last week I finally had my day in court.
My ticket, for doing 101 km in a 70 zone, was for $230, and the cop that stopped me actually encouraged me to take it to court. Police [...]
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Okay, it’s not official yet, but I expect to be getting news of a recall soon to replace this clearly defective gas cap. I’m afraid it could blow at any time and they won’t be able to repair the leak.
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Image via Wikipedia
We returned this week from a 2-week vacation, and I’ve been taking some time to evaluate how I approach my work as an at-home dad.
I say we returned from vacation, but for the first week we didn’t actually go anywhere. We dropped the kids off at VBS in the mornings and spent some [...]
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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about electronic media in general and the act of blogging in particular.
I grew up watching a lot of TV, and still watch a fair bit, although having PVR (the Canadian version of Tivo) has changed my viewing habits considerably. In my working life, I was literally [...]
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My girls’ favourite past-time lately is to pretend they’re mermaids.
On a recent trip to the beach they took turns being buried in the sand as we created mermaid tails for them. And right now they’re playing in their kiddie pool, fighting over their mermaid names and making up mermaid songs. So, it’s with some sad [...]
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Dear Square Foot Garden Diary, I apologize for not keeping you up to date. It’s been 10 weeks since my last entry. There’s been relatively little to report, which is a good thing. No fertilizer. No pests. No weeding. A little watering. Lots of growth.
What I am proud to report is that I may have [...]
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Here’s a great op-ed piece from a stay-at-home dad/freelance writer in response to an article in Marie Claire magazine that calls at-home dads “the ultimate status symbol for successful professional women”.
I guess it does explain why my wife keeps buying me socks that match her purses. Which reminds me, time to renew my, um, I [...]
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Life is full. And good. But there’s really no way to fit all of this in without some planning. So, I’ve welcomed the routine that comes with the school year. In fact, I’ve welcomed it so much that I’ve decided to get hyperorganized — or as my wife cleverly called it — “chore-ganized”.
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Do you find it hard to buy toys for your kids? Do you wish you had a way to help grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends to find toys that are safer, healthier, sturdier and better for the environment?
Toy recalls for health and safety concerns are almost daily news these days. In fact, just a couple [...]
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Image by John Carleton via Flickr
I’m not typically one to give advice — or dadvice. But with just over a year as an at-home dad under my belt I feel like I’ve got a few nuggets to share. I’m also about to make the transition to work-at-home dad, so I figure it’s time for a [...]
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This summer a news story circulated about the fact that many young children now have some sort of online presence, as parents post photos of their kids on blogs and in Facebook profiles. As a dad blogger, I have mixed feelings about that. I’ve enjoyed sharing my life as a full-time dad with an online [...]
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I recently heard that something like 120 per cent of resolutions are broken before January even starts. Something like that, anyway. In spite of those discouraging statistics, my biggest resolution this year is to be more conscious of what I eat.
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