Up, up and away
Welcome to the adventures of DadMan. So, I suppose your first question is “Is that cape made of bacon?” and secondly, “Who is DadMan?”
That’s a secret. The bacon thing… not my identity. I don’t care if you know who I am and want to stalk me, just as long as you don’t go nibbling at my attire.
Speaking of which, when I’m not wearing women’s underwear (it’s an essential part of the costume, I swear), I go by the name of Ryan rather than DadMan. I’ve got a wife Nicola, two children – Cohen (3) and Jasmine (1), and a worm farm. Because we don’t have a cat or a dog, Cohen tells people that the worms are our pets. We don’t get visitors much.
Many moons ago I wrote a travel blog. Despite mainly yarning about getting on the booze in different countries and what I had for dinner, I managed to become Blogger of the Week and my posts would be published on the Travel Blog site’s front page. Not bad I guess considering there are well over 200,000 members.
When I found out that Nicola was pregnant, naturally my first thought was “I should write a Dad blog”, well after sheer and utter panic. However, due to a number of reasons including chronic nesting syndrome (it’s probably a thing) where I spent every spare moment DIYing the crap out of our house to get it ready for babies, the fact that a number of people we knew were struggling to get pregnant, and then exhaustion when the kids arrived, the blog idea went onto the back-burner.
A decade on from my travel blog days and nearly five years since I found out we were pregnant… I’m back! I’d say “…and better than ever”, but you guys can be the judge of that.
Upon hearing the news we were pregnant I was a little panicked, mainly because of the thought “Am I ready to raise a child when I can barely look after myself?”
Why am I writing this blog?
To make people laugh. As many of you will be aware, Christchurch has been through some difficult times over the past decade including earthquakes, the Port Hills fires, flooding and most recently the horrific mosque attack. In that instance, I was shocked and wrote the following article We are one to try and get my head around things. Now, with the benefit of time and the events not feeling so raw, I am strongly of the belief that humour helps. It won’t change the events or bring people back, but I believe it helps the healing process and says loudly to terrorists that we won’t let you get us down. As this TED video attests…
“HUMOUR IS BENEFICIAL. IT MAKES YOU HAPPY, AND HELPS YOU COPE WITH PAIN, STRESS AND ADVERSITY.”
By day, I write about beef and lamb products for ANZCO Foods so am looking for a creative outlet. It will also give me a chance to work on my graphic design and website skills. I created this site myself and build websites as a side hustle so if you are looking for a website then here’s my portfolio and feel free to contact me.
The main reason I am writing this blog is because my kids say and do some ridiculously funny things. For instance, Jasmine has just started licking the windows and Cohen upon hearing that Nicola had been diagnosed with shingles started singing “Shingle bells, shingle bells, shingles all the way”. It’d be rude not to share this with the world. (The funny things my kids do, that is… not the fact that my wife had shingles, I don’t think she’ll be laughing when she reads this).
Who is this blog for?
Everyone. Sure it might be more relevant for those with young kids or expecting their first, but it’s predominantly meant to be humorous observations that’ll hopefully provide all people with a laugh.
What do I hope to achieve with this blog?
To finally tick off “write a dad blog” from my to-do list. Next is “plant the two placentas in my freezer”. You can read more about that in Parenting 101: How to tell a placenta from a playcentre.
To impart a little bit of knowledge and let people into the mind of a sleep-deprived dad.
To get a few advertising dollars for projects. I’d love to write a children’s book or sell some DadMan merchandise. Keen to collaborate? Hit me up.
So, strap yourself in. Sign up for the DadMan social channels, and please interact by liking and commenting on my social media posts and website articles. I want to hear about the crazy sh!t your kids have been up to.
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