(You are viewing the published version of this document.) (You must republish this document for viewers to see the latest version. Republish document.) The Daddy Daughter Duo: November 2006

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

We Have a Crawling Baby!

She did it today at about 4:45 and her mom got to see it!! And yes it was "proper crawling". I will be out to the store to get more child proofing supplies this evening. Stand by for pictures.

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Posted by CM2-NET at 17:03 | | Comments | links to this post  

Parenting Costs and Diapers

Check out this great post:

Vancouver Dad - Fatherhood in Vancouver, British Columbia

It inspired me to do some number crunching of my own. We try to use cloth diapers as much as possible and so I came up with this crude analysis of the costs. I used my memory of the costs that we shelled out about seven and a half months ago, so the numbers may not be precise, but they are in the ballpark.

I figured that we go through about (on average) 7 diapers a day. We bought equipment for 36 diapers. The numbers extrapolate the cost over 12 months. After 5.5 months or so the initial costs of cloth diapers are recouped as the average cost per diaper decreases over time, though the cost per disposable diaper is constant.

I think that the only variable I haven't accounted for is the power used by the washing and drying of the diapers. (If you were wondering the vinegar is used in the diaper pails... you know... odour).

Of course, one of the best reasons for going cloth is the environment. If you know how I can integrate the cost of the landfill and the pollution from the disposables into this let me know. Until then, shall we say the cost to the environment is incalculable?

Here's the information:
Please let me know what I've missed or if there are better prices that I could have used. The information is easily updated. If there is interest I will post the excel sheet.

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Posted by CM2-NET at 16:52 | | Comments | links to this post  

No Dads Allowed

Sigh, this is the time when dad's can really start to bond with their babies and it is an important time to learn about how to care for them.

globeandmail.com: Political correctness gone too far, ADQ Leader says
A Montreal community health clinic has come under fire for excluding men from their neonatal classes to accommodate the sensibilities of Muslim, Sihk and Hindu women.

A tip of the hat to Canadian Cerberus for the link.


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Posted by CM2-NET at 13:13 | | Comments | links to this post  

Friday, November 17, 2006

Starfish Files: Final Lesson and a Waterslide

Yesterday our little one graduated from the Starfish programme at the Beban Pool in Nanaimo. The final act of courage for your intrepid duo was a trip down the big water slide. To be honest, we (I) had been looking forward to this lesson for quite some time. I love water slides and the chance to take the little one down with me was very exciting. I am proud to say that we went down three times and enjoyed it each time. The instructor was great and encouraged everyone to go - and everyone did. Now we can go find some water-parks (and no, Vancouver doesn't count).

My thoughts on the whole Starfish programme are very positive. Both of the instructors that we had were very friendly and seemed to really enjoy teaching the littlest students. Most importantly it gave me an opportunity to discover what kind of limits and boundaries there are in taking a baby to the pool, and to my surprise those boundaries are further than I expected. So, it gave me confidence to do things in the water and the appreciation that my baby is tougher than I thought.

Photo by Hans Hillewaert. This starfish was sampled on the Belgian Continental Shelf in 2000.

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Posted by CM2-NET at 14:40 | | Comments | links to this post  

Staying at Home

I found a comment on this post at Daddy Dialectic who comments on it here:

Pieces of a Whole » Blog Archive » Stay at home dads

I am saddened by this post for a couple of reasons. If I can assume that this person is a member of the so called "Christian Evangelical Right" then how does this kind of an attitude "focus on the family". I would have thought that anything that would build good strong families would be welcome, especially ones that seem to reinforce the importance of males in the rearing of children. There are some that say that fathers are no longer essential for modern families. Oh well here are some thoughts on the post:

The post sets forth two arguments:

The first is an ideal of strict gender roles that are based on some conception of scriptural hermeneutics apparently from 3 Genesis.
There is a lot to be said against this kind of straight-jacketing. Few
fathers regardless of whether they stay at home or not would accept the
kind of gender roles for their daughters so why should they accept it
for themselves? So, unless you are willing to raise your daughter to
believe that they have one purpose in life that is predefined by her
gender then so might the fathers. But, I think most fathers are willing
to raise their daughters to believe that their daughters can play many
roles in life, and what better way to show that to them than as a
father who too is willing to have many roles.

The second
argument is one that is much easier to agree with: More fathers ought
to spend time with the kids even if that means taking a pay cut. My
problem is that by railing against stay at home dads the post is
removing the one option that might best achieve that aim. Parental
leave taken by fathers is one of the ways many men (including yours
truly) get the opportunity to stay at home. And here is the rub it
often comes with legal protections against job loss and discrimination
- unlike taking a 10% pay cut as the post suggests in order to work
less and play more.

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Posted by CM2-NET at 14:25 | | Comments | links to this post  

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Access & Hypocrisy in Nanaimo

Oh! the hypocrisy. Downtown Nanaimo is one of the most stroller unfriendly places. I went into the Royal Bank at the corner of Commercial and Bastion to use the automated teller. There are three entrances to the bank, all of which have stairs leading to it. There is also a sign that says to use the Commercial street entrance if you want to use the ATM. So, after circumnavigating the large bank I went to the Commercial street entrance where there were three steps a very small landing and a door. Once on the landing with the stroller it was next to impossible to get the door open while remaining on the landing.

Forget all of what I just said, the bank is actually very accessible, there was a handicap automatic door opener - complete with wheelchair icon. In addition there was a handicap icon on the ATM. Don't ask me how someone in a wheelchair could get up to press that button and then get to the teller! The hypocrisy!


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Posted by CM2-NET at 15:45 | | Comments | links to this post  

Monday, November 06, 2006

If you love me you'll buy me this c/o WalMart

I'm glad that I have a few years before this really becomes an issue. Maybe by then stores will have moved beyond this kind of marketing (unlikely), or maybe I and other parents will have come up with ways of dealing with this kind of nonsense.

Parents shocked at Wal-Mart's online wish list
As retailers begin to roll out holiday season marketing strategies, Wal-Mart has upped the ante with the launch of a new toyland website that encourages children to review a parade of toys presented by two animated elves, Wally and Marty. The retail giant offers 100 options some as pricey as the Fisher-Price Power Wheels Ford Mustang for $249 and children either discard them into a dump truck or send them to a rocket ship to be delivered electronically to their parents when the kids provide their addresses.
There are a couple of issues here. The first is the victimisation of parents by a corporation that is co-opting the love that parents have for their children in order to sell toys. Then there is the value that we put on and ecourage our children to give to toys and other distractions.

The first issue can, I think, be abbeted by showing corporations like wal mart that there wholesale disavowal of any ethical decency in the name of a banner Christmas sales season is revolting and could backfire.

As for a solution to the other issue, I will have to get back on you.


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Posted by CM2-NET at 14:17 | | Comments | links to this post  

Saturday, November 04, 2006

What to do in Nanaimo?

With the rainy season upon us (my rain-widget has recorded 7+cm of rain in the last 72hours), what is a new dad in a new town to do? It's pretty hard to get out and stroll about town with all the water coming down and I don't want to become a mall rat. The prospect of hibernation is not very attractive either. hmmm...


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Posted by CM2-NET at 11:45 | | Comments | links to this post  

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