We are excited to introduce BC Parents Chad and Chelsea Montgomery to our BC Parent Profiles. This lovely couple are helping to spread parenting advice through their new website – Parent Intel. We had an opportunity to ask Chad a few questions to get to know them better.
Tell us a little more about you?
We are high school sweethearts who grew up in Langley – going to school together from preschool to graduation. We are now the proud parents of three great boys who are 5, 3, and 2. Both of us now work full-time in the construction industry. In our spare time, we decided we would start Parent Intel, a blog site about what we love – parenting. We also love sports and the outdoors. We spend a lot of time riding bikes, playing street hockey and basketball and exploring trails around Alouette Lake.
Where is your hometown?
We grew up in Langley which is where we consider home but now live in Maple Ridge. We have been lower mainland nomads since high school. We’ve lived in Surrey, Abbotsford, and Cloverdale before settling here.
Describe your family:
We have been happily married 7 years now and together for 15 years. We have 3 boys: Mason (5), Jackson (3), and Carson (2). And yes, we do mix up the names sometimes but we liked the theme.
What is the most challenging part of being parents?
We both work full-time with hour long commutes to and from work. We now stagger start times so one can drop off the kids at daycare and the other picks up. We wish we had more time to spend with our kids. but the reality of the housing market here is that even with good jobs we aren’t able to do anything about that commute right now.
What do you love most about being parents?
We love the little moments. They are also oblivious to how honest they can be which makes you laugh at the things they say. Big family outings are great. But some of the best memories we have are little moments where they did something funny or that made us proud.
What is the best advice you received as parents?
How much sleep babies actually need. Our first son was a horrible sleeper. We ended up hiring a sleep consultant that helped us with getting him napping and going to bed on a consistent schedule. It absolutely changed our life. We have repeated the same process with our other two boys and we’ve had them napping 3 hours a day and sleeping 11 hours a night since 6-months-old.
What is your go-to family-friendly Lower Mainland activity?
We briefly mentioned it earlier but we love Alouette Lake. We actually talk about it in our things to do with kids in Vancouver article. It’s free to do as much as we like and there is something different to explore every time we go. In the summer the lake is great for cooling off and getting in the water. For the rest of the year or to get out of the summer sun the trails through Golden Ears Park are fantastic. The boys love climbing through the fallen trees and spotting new and exciting things. Finding a good walking stick is also mandatory.
What is your favourite rainy day activity?
Fort building and mini-hockey are the household favourites here. We have a long narrow entrance way to our townhouse which serves as the perfect indoor rink. We also build a lot of forts around the living room. We drape blankets between bookcases, chairs, and tables and they drag their toys inside. Bonus tip though: We stock up on dollar store activities to break out in emergencies as something new they haven’t seen before
