Author Archives: Joe Cummings

About Joe Cummings

Aquarius. Traveler. Gamer. Writer. A New Parent. 4 of these things are easy. One is not. But the journey is that much better for the new people in my life. A life I want to share with others, to help them, maybe, to make them feel less alone, sure, to connect with the greater world, absolutely.

Tournament Trials – Playoffs – Part 6

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Joe Cummings

After 3 games, the boys should have been near catatonic exhaustion. I know I was. But no, they were full of excited energy. Hell, they’d just won 3 games in a row and were going to the finals. Top 4 … Continue reading →

Posted in Hockey, Hockey Life, Parenting, Sports | Tagged goalie, langley minor hockey association, Minor Hockey, nanaimo, oceanside, step-dad, stepdad, stepdaddy, stepdaddying, the youngest, Traveling with children, Traveling with kids, victoria | Leave a comment

Tournament Trials – The Games – Part 5

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Joe Cummings

Normally, getting the Youngest out of bed is like prying a clam out of its shell, but not on this day, the day of the tournament. I won’t say he leapt out of bed, cuz, you know, that would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Hockey, Hockey Life, Parenting, Sports | Tagged hockey games, humor, humour, langley, Minor Hockey, MVP, playoffs, step-dad, stepdad, stepdaddy, stepdaddying, the youngest, Traveling with kids | Leave a comment

Tournament Trials – The War is Lost – Part 4

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Joe Cummings

At some point in WW2, the Germans knew the gig was up. They knew they’d lost. The smart ones knew after Stalingrad. Others waited until Berlin was a smoking ruin. I kind of suspect I was in the Berlin camp … Continue reading →

Posted in Parenting | Tagged 70's show, good choices, hockey tournament, red, ssundee, you tube | Leave a comment

Tournament Trials – Pools and Parties – pt 3

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Joe Cummings

Imagine if you condensed the sound of screaming monkeys in a hothouse jungle and put that in a can, then, when you were sick with a cold, exhausted from a traumatic ferry ride, and pretty much ready for bed, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Stepdad, writing | Tagged hockey, hockey tournament, mini hockey, pool, swimming | Leave a comment

Tournament Trials – Part 2 – The Ferry

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Joe Cummings

To survive the ferry ride, I put aside my writer brain as best as I could. I brought a book so I wouldn’t just sit there in the seat and wonder if The Youngest had been eaten by killer whales … Continue reading →

Posted in Hockey Life, Parenting, Stepdad | Tagged humor, humour, step-dad, stepdad, stepdaddy, stepdaddying, the youngest | Leave a comment

The Tournament Trials – Part 1

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Joe Cummings

Christmas had come and gone. So had New Years. So what better way to start off 2016 than with a hockey tournament in Nanaimo? 2 days of hockey. A day of travel to and from the tournament. With 16 kids. … Continue reading →

Posted in Hockey Life, Parenting | Tagged BC Ferries, goalie, hockey, hockey tournaments, hogan, hogan's heroes, humor, humour, kids, langley, Minor Hockey, nanaimo, sergeant shultz, step-dad, stepdad, stepdaddy, stepdaddying, the youngest | Leave a comment

Model Child

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Joe Cummings

Long ago, when there were no such things as cell phones, video game consoles or electricity, we had to find ways to entertain ourselves. Sure, I tried whacking my brother with a stick. I tried shop-carting down a hill. I even … Continue reading →

Posted in Parenting | Tagged building models, building tanks, churchill, churchill VII, humor, humour, modeling, models, step-dad, stepdad, stepdaddy, stepdaddying, tamiya, tank tracks, tanks, the youngest, world of tanks, wot | Leave a comment

Where to See Lights In Langley

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Joe Cummings

One of the things l used to love to do as a kid, hell as an adult, was go on a tour of all the Christmas lights. When I was young, we’d stuff ourselves into our Austin 1800, a car … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas | Tagged bieber, christmas, christmas lights, griswold, humor, humour, langley times, light tours, prettiest girl in the world, step-dad, stepdad, stepdaddy, stepdaddying, the oldest, the prettiest-girl-in-the-world, the youngest, times colonist | 1 Comment

One of The Great Secrets of Surviving Parenting

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Joe Cummings

I have recently uncovered one of the parenting secrets. Or should I say, secrets-to-not-completely-losing-your-mind (while balancing lunches and hockey games and getting the kids to bed on time and remembering things that they might forget and… well, you get the … Continue reading →

Posted in Parenting, Stepdad | Tagged catz, humor, humour, parenting, prettiest girl in the world, secrets, step-dad, stepdad, stepdaddy, stepdaddying, the prettiest-girl-in-the-world, toilet, xbox | Leave a comment

How Do You Survive A Kid’s Party Part 2

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Joe Cummings

So, we had 5 kids coming over for a birthday party. An even number would have been better. Odd numbers leave a team lopsided. It becomes 3 vs 2. My first solution was to dis-invite someone, but that didn’t go anywhere. … Continue reading →

Posted in Parenting | Tagged food fights, humor, humour, Jurassic world, kid's party, nerf, nerf wars, OCD, party, pizza, prettiest girl in the world, sleepover, the prettiest-girl-in-the-world, the youngest, wrestling, WWE, xbox | Leave a comment