Embarrassing your kid is practically a rite of passage This column was meant to be completely different. It was supposed to be a delightful and amusing narrative describing my son’s infatuation with spending his summers with his grandparents. Specifically, it […]
Dad’s Corner
Summer squeeze
Getting every last drop out of a fleeting season requires a complex formula There are few reasons why our son’s bedtime would be extended, even in the stretched sunny days of summer. Once the elusive bedtime routine is finally nailed […]
You’ll get there, champ
It took some tough love from his son to get this dad on the path to good health The world is often a place of harsh truths. Like many parents, I do my utmost to cushion the hard times in my […]
Dad bod
Fatherhood has both inspired and encouraged this dad’s very practical, very strategic fitness routine It was around Elgin Street when I gleefully realized my knees weren’t going to buckle after all. I had trudged three long downtown blocks on the […]
Gimme a break
March Break holds special charms for Chris Hunt. Here’s why it ranks over Christmas and New Year’s When I was a boy, I didn’t appreciate March Break for what it really was. Being your typical self-absorbed adolescent, I was grateful […]
A ‘wheelie’ good time
His son now at bike-riding age, our columnist considers the pros and cons of outsourcing this rite of passage I was walking with my wife and our son through the Glebe one morning when a small kid zipped past us […]
The ruins
Nudists, caterpillars and blisters, oh, my! It’s all in a day’s hike for this columnist When asked where my favourite place to hike around Ottawa is, I’ll usually lie and say Hogsback. Don’t get me wrong, I love Hogsback. There’s […]
New beginnings
Columnist Jon Willing recently traded a high-profile reporting career for one in academia. The biggest winners? His family A middle-age, late-career job change can be a gamble. You have built years of seniority and achieved a level of expertise […]
Calendar guy
Hello, junior kindergarten: As his son Miles begins school, Jon Willing enters a new scheduling nightmare The first year of school — and possibly the ensuing 13 — requires a proper hardcopy calendar. That was the first […]
It’s the little things
It doesn’t take much to teach kids how to give back My son Riley was kneeling in a sea of shredded Christmas paper and discarded ribbons. In front of him, a small mountain of toys loomed. Nestled around him was […]