Funny, Daddy now available on YouTube

So a while ago, I recorded my solo show Funny, Daddy and offered it for sale, with partial proceeds going to Children's Wish Foundation. Some of you paid for the download. Thanks!
If you paid for it, but haven't watched it, I want to let you know that the Box.net link I sent will no longer be available (monthly fees for box.net are higher than gross all-time sales for this video, so being a math genius, I realized that wasn't worth it). instead, the video is now on Youtube. Which means that if you didn't buy it, you can still watch it. (if you paid for it, and it now being freely available is a problem, send me a message and I'll refund your money).
Actually, rather than free, I'm considering it "Pay What You Want" (PWYW). If you watch it, feel free to pay whatever you think it was worth using the PayPal link in the video description on YouTube. If you would prefer to watch for free, that's cool, too.
I won't hound you about this, I promise. i might send out a reminder or two, but I won't be as much of as pest as many of you have told me I was in the past. Promise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq-5y3QO1o4

The best part of being a stay-at-home Dad

The best part of being a stay-at-home dad is the wrestling. 

I mean, in what other job can you just wrestle at the drop of a hat? 

Even wrestlers have to wait for the bell. but a stay-at-home dad can just throw a kid on the 

floor anytime they want. And I can usually win, too. 

But when it isn’t looking good for me, I have my secret finishing move that works every time. 

interestingly enough, it was the same move that got me kicked off of my high school wrestling 

team. The raspberry kiss to the tummy. Always works. Apparently not allowed.

-Lloyd Ravn in Funny, Daddy (available at www.BayOfFunny.com)

Attention hitmen looking for me: Where to find me in August

If I owe you money, here are some places you can find me in August, hopefully earning some of the money I owe you:

Watch www.bayOfFunny.com for more details

August 1: Tyne Valley Oyster Festival in PEI with Francois Weber and Matt Stewart. Click here for info.

August 7: The Guild in Charlottetown with my solo show Funny, Daddy in support of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation who are an important part of the story I tell in this show.https://www.facebook.com/events/432061286891697/

August 9: Watermark Theatre in North Rustico, PEI with Funny, Daddy in support of QEH Foundation. https://www.facebook.com/events/109516929242807/

August 10: Souris Show Hall in Souris, PEI with Funny, Daddy in support of QEH Foundation. https://www.facebook.com/events/561331240570200/

August 17: MCing Shane Ogden Presents... Manolis Zontanos! the Three Mile in Saint John, NB. Contact Shane Ogden for $10 tickets! This is going to be a killer show!!!

August 21: Happinez Wine Bar in Saint John as part of the first Fundy Fringe Festival with my solo show Funny, Daddy. 8:45 PM. Tickets at the door only.

Augsut 22: Happinez again for Fundy Fringe. 10:15 PM

Augsut 23: Saint John Arts Centre for Fundy Fringe. 9 PM

August 24: Saint John Arts Centre again for Fundy Fringe. 9 PM

August 25: A Matinee presentation of Funny, Daddy at the Saint John Arts Centre for Fundy Fringe. 3:45 PM.

August 31: Atlantic Fringe in Halifax. 7 PM Venue TBA.

2 More Atlantic Fringe shows in September too! (September 1 and 8)

Attention New Brunswick Parents

Hey parents, do your kids kind of drive you crazy? I mean, I know you love them. Like, more than anything. But do they still drive you a little nuts?

Do they do things like 
pee on the floor? 
Obsess over their private parts? 
Beg you to let them stay up later every single night, even though you've said no for several hundred nights in a row? 
Fight with each other over one toy, even though there are four thousand other toys in the house?

Does your two-year-old say "why?" more times in an hour than the smurfs said "smurfy" in all the episodes of The Smurfs put together?

Are you exhausted? I'm talking about the kind of exhausted you realize you are when you've put your toddler in the tub, play with him, wash him from head to tummy, then realize he's still dressed from the waist down?

Does tidying your house go something like this?

1. put away the toys in one kid's room
2. put away the toys in the living room
3. put away the toys in another kid's room
4. put away the toys in the last kid's room
5. think "wow, I'm done tidying up"
6. put away the toys in the first kid's room again
7. put away the toys in the living room again
8. put away the toys in the second kid's room again
etc, for ever and ever and ever and ever....

Do you have to say things to your kids that any non-parent would never believe a human being would have to say to another human being? Things like "How many times have I told you to stop licking the floor?" or "Get your toe out of your brother's butt!"

Do your friends without kids just not get it?

Well, I get it. 

I've been a parent for 8 years, and performing stand-up comedy for 7 years in venues across Canada and in the US (including having been selected as a top-10 finalist out of 700+ entrants in Canada's Next Comic competition.) Maybe you've heard me on Sirius Satellite Radio, or on CBC Radio.

So come on out to my solo comedy show "Funny, Daddy" on Friday, April 19 in Saint John and hear some of the stories about how parenting has made me a little crazy, despite being the best job I've ever had.

It'll be like crazy parents anonymous. Except without the anonymous part, because that would be a terrible way to market a comedy show. And also you don't get to tell your stories like you would at a typical 12-step group meeting. Book your own show if that's what you're looking for.

The show is Friday night at St. Malachy's High School at 8:00 PM . Tickets are only $12 and are available at Backstreet Records on Germain Street in Saint John ($1 surcharge on tickets purchased here), or at BayOfFunny.com or by calling me at 506-434-3186.


I hope to see you at the show!

Llove,

Lloyd

Welcome to Holland, Bloorview

OK, today my blog is going to be uncharacteristically serious rather than the usual foolish (I originally typed "funny" and then realized that was a massive overstatement) blog post, because there was some news I thought was worth sharing. And that news reminded me of an essay I wanted to share for those of you who haven't seen it.  

Today was a big day at one of my favourite places in the world. If you know me at all, you probably know of my love for Bloorview Kids Rehab, Canada's largest pediatric rehabilitation centre for kids with disabilities. For those of you who have escaped my professions of love for Bloorview, either on Facebook, in person or at one of the "Laughs for Possibility" live comedy fundraisers I have organized and performed on, I'll give you a brief-ish outline of why I feel so strongly about the place.

My oldest son, Eric (5) started going to Bloorview for Occupational therapy through their Community Development Program (CDP) and to see a developmental pediatrician when he was 2, due to global developmental delay. He later began seeing a physiotherapist at Bloorview, went to the dentist there and attended the Bloorview Nursery School in Scarborough.

When Eric was 3, while on vacation in Prince Edward Island with his mother and brand new brother, Alex, he experienced a major stroke. After a month in hospital in the Maritimes, he was sent home to Toronto and was admitted as an inpatient to Bloorview's Brain Injury Rehab Team (BIRT) unit. After one month as an inpatient, he was followed by the BIRT Day Program in which he attended therapy at the hospital daily, from September to December of 2008.

After his recovery had progressed well enough that he could be discharged from the Day Program, Eric returned to the Bloorview Nursery School and to physio and O.T. through the CDP at Bloorview. Then, in May 2009, Eric suddenly experienced a second major stroke, followed by a third two weeks later. After a month at Sick Kids in Toronto, he found himself as an inpatient at Bloorview again, this time from June to October and in the Day Program until December. He started Junior Kindergarten in the resource program at the Bloorview School Authority. Upon discharge from the Day Program, he began being followed by the BIRT Outpatient program for physio, O.T. and speech therapy, and continues to be seen by this team today.

It is impossible to properly explain how much the people at Bloorview, over our nearly 4-year journey with them,  have impacted our family. Every single person we encounter in that amazing building and at the nursery school, is deeply dedicated to helping kids with disabilities move, as the Bloorview slogan says, "From Disability to Possibility." The wonderful doctors, nurses, therapists, therapy assistants, therapeutic clowns, teachers, volunteers, support staff, researchers and more at Bloorview go above and beyond on a daily basis to improve the lives of the unique children they serve.

Eric's first Bloorview therapist, an Occupational Therapist named Yvonne, made such an immediate and deep connection with this kid who, at age 2 had already begun to distrust adults in hospital-type environments, and helped him make significant developmental gains thanks to that connection, that I remember Jodi and I saying that she would forever go down as Eric's (and our) life-long hero.

We still feel that way about Yvonne, but what we didn't know at the time, is that as we continued to meet Bloorview staffers and volunteers, we would add literally dozens of names to our hero list. I'm not even going to attempt to name them all, but they know who they are. Every person we've dealt with at Bloorview, from the doctor who, hearing that Eric was having seizures one day during his time in the Day Program dropped everything in her busy schedule to sit with him for over an hour, watching him, comforting him (and me), to the Therapeutic Clowns who seemed to be able to read Eric's needs better than anyone else (including me) to the Nursery School teachers who set aside personal time to visit Eric during his hospital stays, to the ladies at the Tim Hortons coffee shop in the lobby who come out from behind the counter to give Eric and Alex a hug when they see them, and so on and so on, are heroes. I think their hiring policy begins with "all applicants, in order to be considered, must be able to perform miracles."

This week I've been thinking a lot about how much Bloorview means to us, since this is our second-last week at Bloorview. I know we will meet more heroes after we move to New Brunswick in a week-and-a-half, and will be closer to other heroes (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc), which is extremely exciting, but right now, the prospect of leaving Bloorview behind is often leaving me with a lump in my throat. In case I haven't made it clear, I love that place and the people in it and hate to imagine where we would be without having had them in our lives over the past few years.

So, I was interested to hear that effective today, Bloorview Kids Rehab is no more. Don't worry, all those heroes are still there, but the place changed its name today. After an incredible $20 Million donation from the Holland family, Bloorview Kids Rehab is now the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.

That $20 Million donation is on top of the $6.2 million that the Hollands have already donated to Bloorview. Bill and Suzanne Holland are dedicated to helping Bloorview... I mean Holland Bloorview, help kids with special needs meet their potential. They are parents themselves, but not parents of a Bloorview patient, as you might assume of someone who is so passionate about such a place. Bill Holland says “When my family and I toured Bloorview, I couldn’t decide which I found more compelling- the children who were dealing with disability in so many different ways or the professionals who were so dedicated in their work with them. I’ve seen many healthcare organizations up close and this is one I’m pleased to support because it works.” (quote taken from the Holland Bloorview website)

So this is a family who has more financial means than most of us will ever dream of, who could choose to support any cause, and indeed have chosen to support several not-for-profit organizations. There are a lot of great charities out there, some of which probably have a more direct connection to their family. But they decided to put their weight behind this place that I love so much. When I think about how much their support will mean for kids with special needs in Toronto, across Ontario, and (thanks to the ground-breaking research undertaken at Bloorview) around the world, I realize that we have two new heroes to add to our list. We've never met the Hollands, but we certainly appreciate them all the same. They have given kids like Eric an amazing gift: the gift of Possiblity. And we want to thank them for that.

Did I say "brief-ish"???

If you're still reading after my long love letter to Bloorview, you might as well stick around and read a bit more, because I have a link I want to share with you. I recently had an e-mail discussion with my sister about how one of the most important things that we can offer a kid with any kind of special need is understanding. So, I also wanted to suggest you read an essay written in 1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley about the way in which many parents of kids with special needs come to an understanding about the fact that their child has a disability. I think it's pretty amazing (even if it's a little sappy, but isn't that what parenting is all about?) Don't worry, it's much shorter than this blog entry!

Here's a link to the essay, called Welcome to Holland: http://www.our-kids.org/Archives/Holland.html

I think it's pretty apropriate for today, considering the Bloorview name change.

Ok, that's my love letter to Holland Bloorview, and my link for you. I promise my next blog entry will be much sillier, and much shorter.

Llove,

Lloyd

PS - if you want to read more about the Holland Bloorview name change, you can check out these links:

- here's a story from the Globe and Mail
- here a story from the National Post
- here's a piece from Holland Bloorview's just-released 2010 report to donors

What a way to make a living

So I'm back in the workforce finally. No more stay-at-home daddy life for me. I started on February 1, back at the company where I was working before I did the whole full-time parenting thing. Happy to be back, but I miss my days with my boy.

After two weeks back in the ofice, I have a few observations:

1. In two weeks, nobody has cried when it was time to change activities.
2. I have not been peed on once while in the office.
3. It is nice to have a reason to shave five days in a row for the first time in a year and a half.
4. I forgot what it was like to have multi-sylabic conversations all day long.

However,

5. Nobody has given me a random hug at any point in the day.
6. Nobody seems thrilled beyond belief when I walk into the room. (not that they aren't happy, but just not as happy as Eric often is when I walk into the room)
7. In the past two weeks, I have not once had an afternoon nap with a little boy asleep on top of me.


The office world would be a lot better if we could have afternoon naps with our kids. I think I would be much more productive.

Desperate?

As you know if you've been reading my blog, I’ve been a full time stay-at-home dad for the past year and a half. I’m often surprised to see how people react when they hear that I stay home with my son while my wife works. Men wonder if I’ve given up my masculinity, if simply doing the right thing for my family has made me less manly.

As shocked as I am by that reaction, I’m even more shocked to realize that they’re right. It's not just the white wine, or the Dido songs in the background, or even getting turned on by laundry equipment. It’s the change in TV-watching habits that’s done it.

I had convinced myself that I was just watching my wife’s favourite girly shows to allow myself a chance to sit down at the end of a long day. I wasn’t really watching the decorating shows, or oestrogen-heavy dramas. I was just sitting there, turning off my brain for a few minutes. Surely I wasn’t absorbing anything. Was I?

Apparently, I was!

I realized the chick shows were having more of an impact than I formerly believed when a favourite U2 song came on the radio and it wasn’t until it was over that I realized I had been singing the wrong lyrics. My version went “It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright. She moves in Wisteria Lane.”

I’ve been brainwashed!

Taking it to the next level

Copied from my MySpace blog. Originally posted September 19, 2006

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog thingy about getting too comfortable with my new stay-at-home father role.

Tonight, I took it to a whole new level of creepy.

We were watching TV, and an ad came on for some LG washing machines and dryers. They had a steam feature in the dryer to help get rid of wrinkles and stuff. A STEAM FEATURE!

I watched the ad and then said to my wife "that kicks ass!"

Then I realized that I had just gotten hard over a clothes dryer. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?

Taking it too far

Copied from my MySpace blog. Originally posted on August 31, 2006

I realised that I have taken this whole "stay-at-home father" thing too far when this evening, I was racing around to clean the house up before my wife got home. There I was, vaccuming the floor, after loading the dishwasher, with Dido playing in the background.

Drinking a glass of white wine.

I am practically castrated.