Because It’s 2020

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Christopher D Drew

Blogging sort of died for me somewhere back in 2015. I’ve blamed it on a lot of things, time, a change of hobbies, family dynamics etc. Those are sort of true, but only sort of true. The real two reasons I stopped blogging was, 1- It became very clear that I was not going to become blogging famous. I wasn’t going to show up on ‘Top Daddy Blogs’ or ‘Must Read Blogs 2015’ or ‘Coolest People You’ve Never Heard Of Seriously Everybody Come And Read These Peoples Blogs And Give Them Lots of Attention and Money, Like Seriously’ And 2- I became a little obsessive looking at the blog stats. It just sort of sucked the fun out of it.

Anyway, I wrote a post back in 2016 to document a few life changes not the least of which was Meghan and her friend Adele launching Via Vita Academy and another post back in 2017 capturing the final day of Asher’s daycare marking the end of Drew’s going to daycare. I was pretty content to be done at that point. I felt like I had logged a particular chapter of our families lives the baby & toddler years.

In one part because of quarantine and in another part because Facebook keeps reminding us of previous things I had written Meghan suggested I should take blogging back up. Since all of my other hobbies are on hold that doesn’t sound like a crazy idea, beyond the fact that I don’t have a lot to say. It’s hard to imagine what very riveting writing is ahead of me;

Quarantine Log Day 60- I decided to change out of one set of pjs and put on a different set of pjs.

Quarantine Log Day 63- Today should be a good day, it is sunny. I think I will get some exercise, and maybe even go for a walk.

Quarantine Log Day 63b- Goodness I hate this I feel like the whole world is crashing down around me.

Quarantine Log Day 63c- Look I made cookies, they turned out pretty good since I just finished my three glass of wine!

I think you are really going to appreciate the read.

Well it’s probably worth doing a quick round up of the last three years. Hmmmm what are the highlights.

Ah I know!

Since 2017 we have all become award winning martial artists. It helps me that there are often only 3 or less people in my division so ‘award winning’ is technically true and has been reasonably easy to achieve. The kids have to work much harder to earn their hardware.

All kidding aside we have all take up Taekwon-Do and are doing fairly well. Meghan and I have our red belts, Sim has a red stripe, Ariella a blue belt and Asher his yellow belt. These photos were from our 2019 trip to Ontario.

In 2018 we drove across Canada and visit family in Alberta. Our plan was to fly out this summer…… but it’s 2020 so who knows at this point.

We have all been doing some running as well. This is April 2019 and my first timed 5k. I did pretty good and I look like I am enjoying myself more than I really was.

The shirt helped less than I had hoped it would.

The kids have been doing great at school. Via Vita has gone above and beyond to adapt to the stay at home orders and while it’s not ideal for anyone I am glad the kids will complete a full school year, and meet every requirement. They won’t have to catch up at all in the Fall.

That’s probably good for now. I suspect I’ll be back and update again. Maybe even before 2022 when we have finally been allowed to ventured into the streets again.

Stress, Guilt and Snowstorms

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Christopher D Drew

*** This Post sat as a draft since April 2018. It seemed like I should finish it and hit submit.***

With the two week forecast taking us into May, with many days into the positive double digits it seems like the possibility of a random April 60cm-90cm blizzard is pretty much impossible.

Because of that let me share a piece of stress and guilt I have been carrying around all winter. At the start of winter Asher asked if we would be able to build a snow cave like we did last year. This surprised me because Asher hadn’t ever really talked about ‘last year’ with me before, and I wanted to be able to provide this fun memory for him again.

But unlike the rest of Canada, Halifax has been pretty low on snow this year. We had just enough a few times to be able to sled or build a snowman but it never stuck around for very long, and most of it melted before the next snow fall. All this is so say is that at no time was the snow at the end of my driveway deep enough to build a cave.

Asher asked once or twice as the winter went on, not a lot but enough to know it was still on his winter todo list but he was never upset that we lacked the snow to built it.

However, I was upset. Every time I would check the weather I would hope that those snow forecasts would come true and they almost never did. And when they did, they never lasted. Because it didn’t snow I felt stressed and guilty for letting Asher down.

Now you might be thinking, ‘That’s crazy it’s not like you can control the weather.’ You of course are right, I can’t control the weather. In my better moments I would agree with you whole heartedly. But still the stress and guilt remained. I felt guilty over something I had absolutely no control over.

And I wonder if there are times when you feel that way too?

This photo is not from April 2018, but from March 2019. It took that long to finally give Asher his ‘Bear Cave’

The Closing Of A Chapter

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Christopher D Drew

Delicious Cake!

There are lots of good reasons to bake a cake. Birthdays, weddings, and the desire to eat cake to name a few. This cake was not made for one of those reasons. This cake is to say thank you to Tracey, our daycare provider for a wonderful year of childcare.

Tomorrow is Asher’s last day of daycare before the summer. It actually is his last day of daycare period. And by extension it is the final day of daycare for our household. I knew this was coming all year, and in September when Asher began his final year of daycare I was fully looking forward to its conclusion.

Daycare Day 1 September 2016

Now that it is here my attitude has shifted. I am excited for Asher. He has been asking to go to school more or less all year. Over the past few weeks I have noticed just how much he is growing up to be ready for school in September.

I am excited for him, but I am sad for me. Friday’s have been our day together all year and that too has come to an end. I am going to miss these one on one days. A lot of the time they were nothing special, a trip to the grocery store or some other chore. We’ve watched movies, played with cars, shopped for Christmas, taken trips to the playground, we’ve laughed, and fought, and cried. It has been special, he’s been my solo wing-man longer than either Simeon or Ariella had been before him and I am going to miss this chapter of our families story.

I know every thing we did together wasn’t fun. But I was glad to have you with me.

Daycare in some form or another has been part of our families lives for the better part of six years. But is has been a strange six years. Meghan and I have both gone through periods of unemployment, and parental leave. Our needs for care seemed to shift pretty radically from year to year. Because of this we never had that one long term daycare provider we imaged we would. But what we lacked in consistency we made up for with excellency.

So as this chapter in our families story comes to an end I want to say thank you to Tracey. I want to say thank you to April. I want to say thank you to Michelle. I want to say thank you to Donna. I want to say thank you to Yolanda. I want to say thank you to Danielle. I want to say thank you to Sandra (my mother). The care you gave to our children is worth more than words can express, and more than we could ever afford to pay you. You helped shape our children in ways we likely will never know. Simeon, Ariella and Asher are more ready to take on the world because of your care, and we couldn’t be more thankful.