It inevitably happens immediately after we introduce our son to someone new.
"This is Zacharie," we say.
"Hey, Zach! Give me five!" they immediately respond.
I'm sure we're not the only ones who cringe at the shortening of our son's name by someone trying to sound friendly and hip with our son. We introduce him as Zacharie, we identify his name as Zacharie and it becomes Zach. It's nails on a chalkboard for my wife.
My almost 2-year-old uses a soother just for bed time. You can ask him and he'll pull the plug and hand it to you, no worries. My dentist is pleased (although he would like us to pull the binky permanently).
If you're obliging them with an iPod Touch or the family iPad, don't just give them the box to open on Christmas morning. Pre-load it with a few apps, so there's something to do.
The devices come built in with stock charts, email, and a camera, but that doesn't cut it on Christmas Day
I was reading an advice column in my newspaper this week where a mom was upset that at a sleepover her daughter ended up riding in the cargo hold of the family's SUV.
Minimum wage in Alberta is $9.40 an hour. We have a live-in nanny that makes $9.61, when we have a babysitter, she charges us $10 an hour.
Our nanny picks up our son from school, entertains both our boys all day and does some light housework. We also make deductions for room, board and taxes, so her actual take home money is closer to $7 or $8 an hour. We don't do any of that for our 16-year-old-soccer player from around the corner, it's all cash under the table for her.
I play with the iPhone at the park. I will excuse myself at dinner to go to the bathroom (check my messages). I am guilty of being plugged in to the borg when I should be experiencing the wonder of my children.
I'm an iPhone user. I've been smug today at my BlackBerry friends having twitches as they stroke their keyboarded devices begging for some sort of love to be returned. But nothing is happening. And that's a good thing.
This BlackBerryout is teaching us the power of unplugging. It's teaching us to look up and see the wonderful world around us.
I am a modern man, it seems. A dad who enjoys spending time with his kids instead of sitting on the couch on a Sunday. A dad who does the groceries and makes dinner. A dad who can't hang a curtain rod.
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