The Eco Dad

I know I haven't been around in a while. I've been pretty busy dadding and whatnot. Things I've managed to do: blow out my left knee, acquire achilles tendonitis and, if all that wasn't bad enough, I just ran a 10k race today and picked myself up two new blisters. Given the lower body ailments, I haven't exactly been on top of my cardio, so of course I thought I was going to die. "Beautiful, scenic hills," is code for death trap. Need to induce a heart attack? Hills. Bit of a masochist, are ya? Hills. Why do this? Because the cause was one close to my heart - SickKids Hospital. My cousin has cerebral palsy and spent some time at that hospital and throughout his various stays there I saw, first hand, the amazing things the staff do there. My two boys had a 50/50 chance of being affected by hemophilia, but as fate would have it, they were born completely healthy and I'm thankful for that every day. Had either of them been affected, we'd have been o...

Just a quick post to say happy Father's Day to all the dads out there and moms pulling double duty. I had a great day (predominantly great day) with the family. We spent the morning at Canada's Wonderland and capped off the evening with an after dinner walk. For Father's Day my boys each donated $50 to my run to raise $1000 for SickKids Hospital. It's been a great day. The younger of the two boys had a real dad attachment today. It was awesome! I have to say, the best gift is time with the boys. Sure, they drive me crazy sometimes, but when they're good (or just not in a dumpy mood) it's great! It's the reason I go to Wonderland something like 8 times per year and only get on about half a dozen rides. It's all for them. So far, I've been there twice and the adult ride count stands at 0. Coco out.

Ah, Mother's Day. A day to celebrate the mothers in our lives. I happen to have three - my mother, my aunt (Godmother) and my wife (mother of our two rug rats). What do you get the women in your life that have raised you and now raise your children? I'll tell you what I got them: nothing. Sounds a little harsh when I put it that way, but none of them need anything - certainly nothing within my budget. There are, however, mothers, and their families, who could use gifts within my budget. Instead of giving the women in my life stuff, I opted to give meaningful gifts to women I'll never meet and never know. My boys had a 50/50 chance of being affected by hemophilia, which would have likely resulted in many trips to SickKids Hospital. My own cousin has spent time at SickKids for his cerebral palsy, so I've seen first hand how amazing the staff at this hospital are. It might be something to consider for upcoming birthdays or other holidays that usually have gifts give...