Ryan Burgess - Software Engineering Manager
"Anything can be unlearned"
Tell us a little about yourself and what you do.
I’m a Software Engineering Manager at Netflix, living in San Francisco. I’m originally from Canada. I’m the host of a popular engineering podcast called Front End Happy Hour. In my spare time, I spend a lot of time taking photos and time with my wife, and son.
How old are your kid(s)?
I currently have a 3-year-old son who’s almost 4 and we have a baby girl on the way!
Who is the primary caregiver in the household, and what is your and your partner’s parenting philosophy?
My wife and I both share the responsibility of primary caregiver. We also both work full time jobs in tech. Funny enough, we both work at Netflix. My parenting philosophy? Try my best not to mess up my kid.
What's your favourite moment in the day with your kid(s)?
Working full time doesn’t leave as much time as I’d like with my son. As much as I don’t like getting woken up so early, I think one of my favorite moments is talking with my son first thing in the morning. He always has the best stories then.
How do you keep yourself sane?
Wait, is that even possible as a parent? I try to stay sane by having a good balance of doing my own hobbies while being a parent and juggling work. I find that having a couple of hobbies allows me to disconnect from my daily responsibilities.
Best tech tip on parenting. This can be apps / hardware / gear you use, and how you use them.
I have lots. I’m a huge fan of using tech to make parenting easier. I use Wemo light switches to help dim the lights when it’s time for bed, but another favorite is using the Hatch Baby Rest to program a green light when it is ok to come wake me up in the morning.
Most helpful advice you've received as a parent.
The best advice I’ve received is that anything can be unlearned. When you’re raising a young child you deal with bad habits with sleeping, eating, or things like too much screen time. With a bit of investment, you can break bad habits that have formed.
What lessons do you not want your kid(s) to learn?
Hopefully none of my bad habits.
What was the best lesson you learned from your child?
Patience. Or at least I try.
What is your proudest dad moment?
When my son painted all over his arms and told me he had cool tattoos like Dad.
If you could ask anyone, dead or alive, for their best parenting tip, who and what would that be?
I live in San Francisco, and I could always stop by to talk with Danny Tanner. He always seemed to have good parenting advice on Full House.
How do you manage technology exposure for your child/children. For eg, thoughts on screen time etc.
I’m ok with a little screen time, but there was a point that he was constantly wanting to watch YouTube on an iPad. My wife changed YouTube to the kids version and he didn’t like the UI so he immediately stopped watching YouTube videos. He hasn’t been on the iPad since.
What hobbies do you and your children share?
I feel like there are a lot of things. My son is big into cars right now, which is something I’ve always been into. He’s also starting to show interest in taking photos, so I’m hoping I can eventually get him his own camera.
Finally, your best dad joke!
I’ll share one of the first jokes my son used to always tell. Why did Superman flush the toilet? Because it was his duty.