I’ve spent the last week with my daughters (they were on winter break from school), and I was off from teaching. It was a great chance to have some time together where we weren’t running from activity to activity. I started to think about how lucky I am to have the career that I have, and how it has impacted the relationships between my daughters and I.

Here are three things that I’ve learned from being a musician-dad. This is likely going to turn into a long list as they grow up, because I’m learning new things every day.

1. I have been able to be available to be a dad. When my daughters were born, I was able to be a present parent. My teaching schedule usually started around 3:30-4pm, and my day times were generally clear, so we had outings every day – from the library to the music store, to getting groceries, and all of the appointments in between. We have had many long drives to visit my parents, and they are great travellers. I’ve loved the bond that we have created by sharing experiences, and now I’m able to volunteer for class trips, and share in their lives that are becoming more social.
2. I have a “cool dad” job. As the kids have grown, it’s always been important to bring them to concerts, and music festivals. It’s amazing to have them back stage amongst the musicians, and on stage during sound check (with their cans on) to see what musician life is all about. There are pictures of them hanging out backstage at JazzFest and Bluesfest – great memories! They hear me practice (and curse occasionally) – it’s part of their everyday experience. Now that they are in school, they share those experiences with their community, and I’m regularly greeted with “you’re the musician”.
3. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes, I have to miss things. Sometimes, I have to scramble to make things work. Sometimes, there’s not enough work. Sometimes, I’m burnt out from too much work. Being able to have time to connect makes the tough times easier. We’ve spent the last few weeks with the Rainbow Loom, making friendship bracelets. I’ve learned more about Rainbow Loom over the last month than I ever thought that I would!

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been able to reflect on how fortunate I am to have chosen this career, which has afforded me the time to be a “musician-dad”.