I love reading. I’ve always been reading. As long as I can remember I’ve been reading! My penchant for stories defined me from my earliest days—I devoured tales faster than my Mom could get ’em from the Mississauga Library! I don’t even know what my life would look like if it weren’t for reading—it’s part of just about everything I do. Business case writing. Blogging. Even the spelling bees I’d win when I was eight. Reading’s proved essential to my growth, and I have no plans for my children to do without it, either.
But I should count us lucky. There’re thousands of Canadian kids growing up without a reading culture in their lives. And I get it—parents are too busy. Too tired. And it definitely doesn’t help that thousands of Canadian children don’t even have a book in their homes! Reading’s key to unlocking a child’s potential—if you rob them of reading, who knows what opportunities they’ll miss?
Knowing it’s far better to be part of the solution since being part of the problem hurts us all, McDonald’s Canada introduced an excellent way to get books into the hands of children who might not have them otherwise!
So—things are about to get real over here at Casey Palmer, Canadian Dad. We’ve been through a lot together:
Daily Man Lessons
Years of resolution lists 100 tasks deep
…everything the brand’s stood for’s grown exponentially with every passing year, but it’s never been anything like this.
It’s a good time to be Canadian—this July, we celebrate our nation’s 150th birthday, and that’s not something we’re taking lightly! With all too many of those years spent trapped in America’s shadow, it’s only recently that the world’s seen Canada stand on its own two, and it’s up to the 35 million of us north of the 49th parallel to keep reminding them we’ve got our own thing going on.
Which is why I thought, “What better time than now to showcase what makes Canada the amazing country it is?”
February 1st is 150 days before Canada Day—July 1st, marking our nation’s independence without blatantly calling it “Independence Day”1. And what better way to celebrate everything that being Canadian-born and -bred’s done for me than to put 150 pieces out about our country and everything it means to us in 2017.
#Chronicle150 & Tales from the 2.9 — Two Projects Setting the Tone in 2017!
I know what you’re thinking—”150 pieces of content?! Casey, you barely survived putting 29 out last year!” But seldom am I one to step down from a challenge. 150 posts may seem like a lot, but what I think would be worse is to treat 2017 like it was just any other year.
We didn’t even have an internet for our last milestone birthday! For Canada’s 125th back in 1992, as an 8-year old Mississaugan, all I could do was make a nifty school project. 25 years later, there’s so much we can do, but too many of my ilk feel satisfied with a blog post here and a tweet or two there.
But me? I don’t want to look back at 2017 feeling like I missed out on something great because I chose to do the bare minimum.
I’ll launch Tales more formally tomorrow, but know this—I’ve put a lot of work into making a memorable series, and I hope that shines through as you check it out each day! One thing I learned from last year is that there’re plenty of stories to be told if you bother to sit down, listen, and become willing to share them with others.
And with that, I say so long January and thanks for the prep time—the real work is yet to come!
See you tomorrow, everyone!
Until then, I remain,
1 Just kidding, America—we love you. Really, we do!
Tell your wife, tell your kids, tell your husbands:
