u/MainSea3985

Hey everyone.

We're a group of 7-8 guys (dads) who try to meet up every Friday afternoon for a pint or 2. So far, we've been to Copper Key and the Town Brewery both in Whitby. Looking for a similar spot in either Whitby or Brooklin.

Quick Google search landed on 3 options: 1.) Beertown Whitby 2.) 5 Paddles in Whitby 3.) Banter & Co. in Brooklin.

Any suggestions/recommendations are welcome. Thank you!

ETA: Thank you for all the responses! For this time, we're going with Beertown in Whitby, but look forward to trying out all the other suggestions in the weeks ahead!

We're thinking about getting our first dog sometime next year and honestly don't really know where to start.

Our daughter will be 5 by then and we live in a townhouse. We've been thinking about a beagle, but we're definitely not set on a breed yet. We're also trying to figure out whether a puppy makes sense for us or if we'd be better off with a slightly older dog.

We're not sure yet whether we'd go through a breeder or a rescue, so would love to hear people's experiences with both, especially with young kids in the house.

For anyone in Durham who's gone through this recently, are there any local rescues, breeders, trainers, etc. you'd recommend? And anything you wish you'd known before getting your first dog?

We've got plenty of time so mostly just trying to figure out what we should be researching now.

Thank you!

Pretty much what the title says.

We live in Oshawa and are going to Quebec City Nov 7-10. I wanted to drive on the 7th, spend 8th and 9th there, and drive back on the 10th but my wife thinks it will be too much of a drive, especially with our 4 year-old child.

So she wants to break the journey and stay the night in Montreal on the way there, and another place on the way back, extending the trip to the 11th.

It doesn't look too daunting tbh, 7.5 hours + maybe another hour or 2 with stops but still only 9-10 hours of travel time. I would much rather do it in one go.

My wife, our 4-year-old daughter and I were in London for 6 days back in April. I've always wanted to visit the UK, so this was a trip I'd been looking forward to for a long time.

At the time, I was so absorbed in everything, and we'd packed our schedule to see as much as we could, that I don't think I fully appreciated the trip while we were actually there.

But over the past few weeks in particular, I've found myself thinking about it a lot. Different parts of the trip randomly come back to me and make me smile. I loved your city so, so much and can't wait to be back.

I also feel like we only scratched the surface. There are so many neighbourhoods we didn't explore, so much we didn't get to eat, and so many things we still didn't see. I'd love to explore outside London as well, and hopefully see much more of the UK someday. I honestly feel like I need about a year to see everything I want to.

Anyway, I know London gets quite a bit of bad press depending on where you look, but this Canadian tourist absolutely fell in love with your city and really hopes he can be back very soon.

Hey everyone!

If you're a dad in Durham looking to get out, meet some other local dads and have a fun night before September hits, come join us for Brews & Braids next Saturday, August 29!

📍 Tilted Glass Brewing Co., Bowmanville
📅 Saturday, August 29, 6–9 PM
🎟️ $50 + HST per dad

Brews & Braids is basically a dads' night out with a chance to learn something new. We'll have professional hairstylists teaching us some basic hairstyling skills, with mannequins to practice on, while also enjoying some food and hanging out with other local dads.

Your ticket includes catered food, hairstyling instruction and practice, games and prizes, and a chance to hang out and meet other dads from around Durham.

We've already got a great group of dads coming out. Whether you're a girl dad, boy dad or just want an excuse to get out for the evening, you're welcome!

The event is hosted by Mommy Connections Durham in collaboration with Durham Dads Club.

We're hoping to get most of our registrations in this weekend, so if you'd like to come out, you can grab a ticket here:

https://mommyconnections.ca/durham/product/dads-night-out-brews-braids-saturday-august-29-6pm-9pm-tilted-brewing-co/

Hope to see some of you there! 🍻

My wife and I have a 4-year-old daughter and we've decided we're not going to have another child. There are a few reasons, but ultimately we know that one child is what we can manage and what is right for our family.

Neither of us are only children ourselves. We both have siblings, although interestingly neither of us is particularly close with them, so we're very aware that having a sibling doesn't automatically mean having a lifelong best friend. Still, every once in a while I wonder about our daughter.

Today was one of those days. It was raining, my wife and I were exhausted, and our daughter really wanted someone to play with. She seemed bored, and I found myself thinking about how different that moment might have been if she had a sibling around.

She has friends and plenty of opportunities to socialize, so I'm not worried about her growing up without other kids around.

If you grew up as an only child, did you wish you'd had a sibling? Did you ever resent your parents for not having another child? And now that you're an adult, how do you feel about being an only child?

I was by the Wendy's in North Oshawa and noticed this "We're hiring" notice on their door. Unfortunately, there are no details on how to apply, but maybe just walking in with a resume will work? Wanted to post this regardless since I know it might help someone looking for work.

It's in the same plaza as Canadian Brewhouse - 2640 Simcoe Street North.

https://preview.redd.it/qg9v8uyfk7ih1.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e55aec964a0317c3f108c52563ce12d231d867f

If you're a dad in Durham and want to come out to a playground + splash pad meetup with your kid(s) this Sunday morning, a few of us are meeting at Folkstone Park in Whitby at 9:30am.

This is our second playground meetup after our first one back in June. We had 5 dads come out to that one, and hopefully a few more this time.

If you're free, come by and say hi!

Hi everyone,

I'm a complete car noob, so I'd really appreciate some advice.

I have a 2021 Toyota RAV4 with about 80,000 km on it. I took it to the Toyota dealership for routine service today, and they recommended replacing all four brakes. The inspection report says the front brakes are at 3 mm and the rear are at 2 mm, and they quoted me $1,417 CAD + tax.

A few questions:

• Does the recommendation sound reasonable based on the measurements?
• Is $1,417 + tax a fair price, or is that typical dealership pricing?
• What would you expect an independent shop to charge for the same work?

I'm planning to get a couple of quotes from local mechanics, but I wanted to get some opinions first.

Thanks!

EDIT: Added pic of report for more context

https://preview.redd.it/b3xbz71mlshh1.jpg?width=493&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f9c0ce3144cd5f1ee6c83234c3ba4c1642b7d48

I love those songs. My favourites are Martha my Dear and Honey Pie.

Hi everyone.

I want to start swimming again and am looking for options. I looked up pools in community centers but it looks like there are only specific times you can swim there, so I'm leaning towards getting a gym membership and just using the pool.

Are there any gyms you'd recommend for this, or are they all pretty much the same? I live in North Oshawa, so preferably looking for something in Oshawa or Whitby. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

My wife and I didn't grow up in Canada, so we're not really sure what the norm is here.

Our daughter is 4 and will be starting Junior Kindergarten in September. Every couple of years we travel back to our home country during the winter to visit her grandparents and the rest of our family. This time, though, going in February would mean she'd miss almost a full month of school.

Would that generally be considered a big issue? I'm wondering both from the school's perspective and whether missing that much JK could affect her development or make it harder for her socially or academically.

For parents who've been through JK, what would you recommend?

Hi everyone and happy Sunday!

As some of you know, I run Durham Dads Club, a community for dads across Durham Region. We've hosted a mix of dads-only events and dad & kid meetups over the past few months.

I wanted to let you all know that Brews & Braids is back on Saturday, August 29 (6:00–9:00 PM) at Tilted Glass Brewing Co. in Bowmanville, hosted in collaboration with Mommy Connections Durham!

The idea is simple: get a bunch of dads together in a relaxed setting, have a beer, meet other local dads, and learn some basic hairstyling skills on mannequins. Whether you're a girl dad or a boy dad, everyone's welcome. 🙂

Your ticket includes:

• 🍽️ Catered food
• 💇 Hands-on hairstyling instruction from professional stylists
• 👨‍👧 Practice on mannequins
• 🍻 A fun evening with other local dads

We had 40 dads at the first event in May, and we're hoping to see some familiar faces along with plenty of new ones. We also took feedback from the first event, so this time we've booked a private venue and will have more mannequins so everyone gets more hands-on practice.

Link to register is here, I'm happy to answer any questions! https://mommyconnections.ca/durham/product/dads-night-out-brews-braids-saturday-august-29-6pm-9pm-tilted-brewing-co/

If you'd like to follow us on Instagram, you can do that here https://www.instagram.com/durhamdadsclub/

Hi everyone! Looks like Country Collective Market in Courtice is hiring Community Ambassadors (ages 14+).

I'm not affiliated with them in any way, but I know there are quite a few local teens (and parents of teens) in this community, so I thought I'd share in case it's helpful.

More details here https://www.instagram.com/p/DbeUiiExOio/

Hi everyone,

I dislocated my shoulder about 6 months ago and did physio for a few weeks, but stopped once I started feeling better. I’d now like to get back into it since I stopped too quickly in hindsight.

I’m a bit embarrassed to return to the same physiotherapist after disappearing, so I’m looking for recommendations for someone in Oshawa or Whitby. Would really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm a dad to a 4 year-old girl in Oshawa, and I started Durham Dads Club about two months ago as a way for local fathers to connect through things like playground meetups, coffee, family-friendly activities, and social activities just for dads around Durham.

My wife is part of a couple of mom groups, and I always wondered why there wasn’t something similar for dads, so I decided to start it myself.

There has been some early interest. We have a WhatsApp group with around 40 people and an Instagram account with around 200 followers. We also ran a Brews and Braids event in late May, which was a hairstyling session for dads inspired by the Pints and Ponytails event in the UK. I’m also planning a playground meetup this Saturday at McKinney Park, and there is an indoor soccer event for dads and kids in the works for mid-July with Mini Mavericks in Pickering.

The part I’m finding harder is building consistent momentum and getting more dads actively involved. I’m good at coming up with ideas, organizing, planning, and getting things started, but I think this would work better with another local dad helping shape it because I’ve realized I’m not the strongest person for every part of it.

I’m especially looking for someone who is stronger on the people side of things. Someone who enjoys promoting events, talking to people, getting people interested, helping run events with me, and making it feel easier for other dads to show up and get involved.

Just to be clear, this is not a business and I am not trying to make money from it. I just think it would be good to have a simple way for local dads to connect.

If you’re a dad in Durham and this sounds interesting, send me a message or comment here and I can reach out.