Like many expectant fathers, the first item my husband Charlie purchased when we found out we were pregnant, was a video camera. This was in his mind the most important parenting tool around. I was not so sure that it needed to be number one on the list but I will say that I’m happy he got one. That camera has caught everything and I mean everything, from crib assembly to babymoon holiday to that first essential cry the day our daughter was born. And in the two and a half years since it came home, it is never far from the action. We have hours…no days of video captured on tapes, discs and on our hard-drives. Monumental amounts of sweet memories; smiles, songs, sunny afternoons and quiet story moments. Now if only we had the time to sort it; time is a very precious commodity around here, perhaps the most precious. I’d wager a hefty portion of our mortgage payment that most parents would do just about anything for a little extra time. Not just any old time, not commuting time, not making dinner time and not even time to spend playing with our kids (although that would be glorious); most of us need “organizing” time, to really get at the stuff in the corners of our lives that waits for a rainy day. With a charming toddler and both of us working full-time outside the home, we were experiencing a veritable drought of time. Charlie agonized over how to find that elusive 25th hour so that he could edit our videos. The few that he did edit are gems and when he posted them on YouTube the praise flooded in.

One night he asked me if I would be okay with him using his editing skills to start his own company. He explained that his creativity needed an outlet and he wanted to offer a service to parents that would help them with one of their “to dos”. He was going to become a “Dad-preneur” and throw himself full time into this amazing venture of taking raw digital video footage and compiling DVDs for families. This concept would include leaving his full-time job as a Development Officer and working from home so that he could nurture this innovative plan, while being home to share the burden of childcare and homecare that had until then been mostly my domain. I must admit my selfish first thoughts had nothing to do with allowing him to revisit his considerable creative side; my only thoughts were relief that he’d be helping me more around the house and with our daughter. I was ready to sign on but was a little afraid of the unknowns, not the least of which were our monthly costs. Luckily I got some sage advice that said “a calculated risk in a long life is nothing to fear” and I had no doubt that he’d work himself senseless to make this a success.

Clients can send him their files by loading them onto his FTP site, or by sending him files on a USB memory stick. He spends hours watching other families home movies so that he can distill all the best moments together and burn them on a disc. He sets them up like feature films with chapters, music and great graphics so that watching is a pleasure and navigation throughout the disc is quick and easy. The DVDs are the perfect gift for proud grandparents and Charlie can create an iPod version of the DVDs for “mobile” sharing.

Now that Daddy’s Digital Media (www.daddysdigitalmedia.ca) is launched and happy clients are spreading the word like wildfire, he is busy again and the homecare is shifting back to me; not part of the bargain but a great indicator of success so I can’t really complain. I'm really proud because he has gone one step further than most early start-ups; he is maintaining the philanthropy that he espoused in his previous career as a fundraiser. He gives a donation to the Children's Breakfast Club with the sale of each DVD so that kids from less fortunate families can start their days off right and make memories of their own. A great side effect of the work he has done with our home videos is that our daughter loves to watch them; she actually requests them by name and will sit still to watch herself on TV. The best part is that the videos include us, her grandparents, friends and other family members so that she sees them all on a regular basis.

Daddy's Digital Media is doing its best to give parents two very precious gifts; DVDs that allow them to revisit the memories and moments that pass by so quickly, and a chance to cross one thing off that very long "to-do" list.