What’s worse than being misidentified as a former patient of a mental health facility? Having it happen on the first day of college. Our Memoirs of a New Dad columnist skips down memory lane My very first day of college […]
Dad’s Corner
Jonny be good
More than two decades later, a professor’s life advice still lives rent-free in the Dad’s Dispatch columnist’s mind The best advice I’ve heard came from an instructor in journalism school at Western University. “Don’t be a jerk,” the instructor […]
Side splitter
Before journalism, before becoming a dad — this humour columnist was already making people laugh Stand-up comedy is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about diversions in Ottawa. That’s a shame, because the capital […]
Glove at first sight
Like parents, like son — what happens when a young boy takes up the sport where mom and dad first met? It was inevitable. At some point in the first seven summers of his life, Miles would be on a […]
Health scare
A negative test led me to make some positive changes The tumour snuck up on me. I didn’t notice it until discomfort woke me in the middle of the night. It wasn’t pain exactly, more a profound numbness […]
Morning magic
The weekend warriors can keep their laundry lists of elaborate plans. Our Dad’s Dispatch columnist prefers to ease into his days off I admire families that can leave their homes before 9 a.m. on the weekend. As I look out my […]
History, repeated
It’s easy to overstuff yourself at the buffet of Ottawa’s museum offerings Never forget we live in the capital of the country. What a ridiculous statement, right? How can we possibly forget? Federal buildings are plastered with the government’s official […]
High on the Hog
For columnist Chris Hunt, there’s no city like Ottawa — and no place like Hog’s Back Falls Boring. Pompous. Elitest. Bland. I’ve lived in the Ottawa area my entire life and people’s opinion of it seems to run the […]
Storybooks in seconds
Artificial intelligence can create personalized tales with the click of a button. Our Dad’s Dispatch columnist discovers it’s no substitute for the real thing It felt icky the first night I turned storytime over to the robot. Shelves […]
Love connection
Our Memoirs of a New Dad columnist reflects on his childhood relationship with books I’ve been infatuated with the written word for as long as I can remember. Growing up, every second Friday was pizza day at the Hunt […]