Halloween and Mediocrity

September 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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Halloween and Mediocrity EpisodeWhat do we do on Halloween instead of trick-or-treat, festivals, or costume parties? Our family enjoys each others’ company like we do many other nights throughout the year because in our family we believe that Halloween is Optional.

Ericka over at Large Families on Purpose asks if you are going to have a “Happy” Halloween? Her birthday falls on October 31 and that seems to make people think that she is an expert on the traditions of Halloween. And given her blog post and the number of positive responses, I would say that she is more than an expert than most on this subject.

Family Travel Adventures

Check out our Daddy Life Facebook Fan Page to see us kissing the yard of bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We were traveling with our son Caden who has servere medical special needs related to 22q11.2 (DiGeorge Syndrome).

Mysterious backyard sound – What or who is that Owl talking to?

TECH TIME

Amazon Kindle store does not filter adult explicit and erotic book results from searches.

 

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Filed Under: Family Fun, Parenting, Podcast, Special Needs, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kindle Free Time – Parents Need More

September 21, 2012 By 3 Comments


Kindle Store Search Results for American GirlSetting time limits offered in the new Kindle Fire Free Time parental controls is easy, but in my opinion it is all just window dressing for a much deeper problem with putting eReaders in the hands of kids. Sherry and I are debating whether or not to give my old Kindle (2nd Generation E Ink) to Riley as a 10th birthday present. This kids reads like no one I have ever met and we believe he would love the high tech way of accessing his favorite series.

So what’s the big deal?

A couple of months ago a parent asked me how to control search results when browsing the Kindle Store. And by the way, this question applies to all Kindle devies, eRaders for other devices like the iPad, or just searching within a computer browser. Her 11 yr old had saved money to buy her own Kindle Fire and was freely browsing for her favorite children’s books.  When searching the Kindle store for “American Girl” which is a popular book series 11 yr old girls, the mom was shocked by some of the results her daughter was exposed to. As shown in the photo above, as of today the 12th result in the Kindle store for the search term “American Girl” is a very explicit/erotic eBook by the same name. It is certainly not appropriate for an 11 yr old by the standards of any parent that I know. So if the above image and the sub-title of “A Carnal Story” don’t give you a hint as to why, then I can assure you that the description Kindle Fire would remove all doubt. I recommend that you spare yourself the trouble of looking this up and just trust me on this one. My answer to the parent was that she would most likely have to manage Kindle Store access if she wanted to protect her 11 yr old from being exposed to this type of content. And even doing that is near impossible on older devices and free Kindle readers like used on desktops and smart phones. The challenge that parents face with the Kindle Store is that there is no “safe search” feature or filtering by age. Many books including some of the American Girl books are not categorized by age even though it is widely known in parenting circles familiar with these books that they are targeted at early readers (3rd grade and up).

Initial reviews of Amazon’s Kindle Fire Free Time Parental Controls are pointing to a less than stellar answer to the above mentioned challenge. Parents should be careful with simply handing over any model of Kindle to a child without first giving careful consideration to how they will supervision the shopping for books in the Kindle Store.

Filed Under: Education, Parenting, Safety, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Traveling with a Medically Special Needs Child

September 19, 2012 By 1 Comment


Caden

We have been home from our vacation for over a week now. This year’s road trip included six of us in a minivan for about 1600 miles of driving over a period of seven days. From a medical supply perspective, during the seven day trip Caden went through more than a dozen oxygen tanks,  received nearly two dozen tube feedings, and he spent a total of almost 5 hours on The Vest®.

Now before I go into more details, I want to give a disclaimer. I am not complaining about excitement created by missing oxygen tanks or all the gear required for Caden when traveling. I am trying to educate folks on the complexities associated with moving a medically special needs child around even though he does not “look special” to many people as seen above with the first fish he caught. One of our very dearest friends mentioned that we should not have that much to pack for this trip since Levi does not need a pack-n-play any longer. That last part is true, but most folks forget or don’t realize just how much gear goes along with being exclusively tube fed and having to be treated daily to prevent pneumonia and micro-aspiration due to the lack fo swallowing ability. Caden’s care is not as simple as grabbing a box of tissues and a suction machine like most folks see us do when we are out and about around town.

Medically Special Needs Child Travel Supplies

The medical equipment required for any over-night trip with Caden requires:

  • Tube Feeding Supplies* (Formula, feeding pump bags, a feeding pump with charger)
  • A spare G-Tube button
  • Extra feeding tube extensions
  • Syringes
  • A suction machine and charger
  • Oxygen Supply (1.5 liters during sleep hours)
  • Tissues
  • Bed pads
  • Spare linens
  • The Vest®
  • A jogging stroller (Caden does not have the stamina to walk for long, especially in the heat.)

The picture above may help put things into context. This picture includes most of the items listed above (minus three days worth of oxygen). This stuff took up the entire back storage area of our Kia Sedona van plus the floor space under Caden and Levi’s feet and the stroller when on the roof. The picture does not include any clothes or toys for Caden or anyone else in the family.  The basketball was added to the picture for scale.

Now that the trip is over I realize that we might have been able to carry enough oxygen to last the full week on the road. However, it would have been a tight fit. The fear of the unknown and the thought of a possible pneumonia while on the road made me very nervous about how we might get additional oxygen for Caden while 750 miles away from our home supply (over three dozen tanks in our garage) if needed. That is where the real story of the week came in.

I went ahead called the medical supply company that we use about three weeks before our trip. They are a national company and I arranged to have enough oxygen delivered to the Twin Lakes Camp and Conference Center in Hillsboro, IN to last us through the Labor Day weekend. We arrived on the Friday before Labor Day at approximately 3:30pm. I immediately checked in with the camp director to see if the oxygen had arrived. It had not. Caden uses about two standard E bottles (one shown in picture above) of oxygen per night when a concentrator/generator is not available.  I knew we did not have enough oxygen tanks to make it through until Tuesday when the medical supply offices opened back up for business. As I mentioned earlier, we could not comfortably transport enough for an entire week while traveling and so we only had a little in reserve after one night in a hotel already. I  realized that it was late in the day on a Friday of a holiday weekend and I tried to contact the office in Lafayette, IN where the oxygen was supposed to come from. I got nothing but a busy signal after about seven attempts within a 30 minute period. At this point it was a few minutes before 4 PM and I was about to start driving to Lafayette to pick up the oxygen tanks myself when I decided to make one last attempt to contact the medical supply company via their toll-free service. I was transferred to a lady at the Kokomo, IN office which was about 20 miles further away than Lafayette. The lady calmed my nerves and assured me that she would get oxygen delivered even if it had to be done the next day on Saturday…which was fine with me since we had enough to make it through one more night. She even gave me her cell number in the event we had trouble getting what we needed. Come to find out the lady had a delivery truck in Crawfordsville which was only about 15 miles away from our location at Twin Lakes and they had the tanks on their truck that we needed. She diverted them to Twin Lakes on Friday evening (arriving after 5pm) and they gave us the tanks we needed. The two guys on the truck were super nice and seemed genuine in their efforts to help in getting the supplies we needed.

JJ playing OctaballSo the weekend started off on a positive note even though we had a little scare. We ended up having an outstanding time visiting with friends from all over the country for the weekend. In addition to a variety of planned activities coordinated by our friends Joey and Carla Link the boys fished and played Octaball.

We continued our vacation with a tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) and then spent two nights in the Cincinnati area so that we could visit the Creation Museum. These two stops rate a blog post each so I will save that for another day. The boys loved kissing the Yard of Bricks at IMS and we we all enjoyed our fourth visit to the creation museum where we got to meet Dr. Georgia Purdom and Buddy Davis.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Family Fun, Parenting, Special Needs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Public Education

September 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This post is intended to help Daddy Life readers relate to the processes of school choice when the result is public school. Yes, Sherry and I homeschool, but a majority of the population does not. I think that regardless of the education method you use, you should follow a process that includes research and a leading of the Lord. My guest for this post shares her family’s descition process that I think will help you in evaluating education options for your children.

Enjoy! Hank O

 

by Valerie Plowman

Choosing where and how to educate your children is not easy. Do you have the time and patience for homeschool? Can you afford private school? Is a charter school up to standards educationally? Will public school ruin your child forever?

There are many stereotypes associated with the various education choices. Sometimes stereotypes exist because there is truth to them. Sometimes stereotypes really only apply to extreme cases and don’t fairly represent a group. I think often times when it comes to education, the stereotypes associated fall into the latter. You know the stereotypes–homeschooled kids are “weird.” Private school kids are “snobs.” Public school kids are “out of control.”

So how do you look past the stereotypes and find what is best for your family? The best way is to observe classes and talk to other families who follow what you are considering. An important thing to realize is that while my public school might be fantastic, yours might not be where you want to send your child. While one charter school might not be meeting educational standards, another might be far and above those standards. And even if each choice before you looks great on paper, what is right for your family will vary from what is right for my family.

WHY PUBLIC?
So what made our family choose public education? The bottom line is prayer led us there, but of course we needed to educate ourselves before we went to the Lord with our decision. We spent time observing classrooms and in the end, our public school was what felt right for us.

Proximity
There are a few highlights that on paper worked for me. I like how close our school is to us. Currently, through 7th grade, our schools are in walking distance from our home. You do, of course, need to worry only about where the school is that you will be attending now. Our high school is a 10-15 minute drive (not bad), but in all likelihood, by the time my children are in high school, there will be a new high school built and we might attend a different school.

Why was proximity important to me? One reason is so I can quickly pick up and drop off my children. One is that it makes running to the school to volunteer or even drop something off it just that much easier. I can walk or ride bikes with my kids to and from school, which adds physical benefit. Another benefit is that I can make these trips in less time, which means less of a disruption to my younger children. Our charter school is a 30 minute round trip distance from my home. Doing that twice a day (or three times when you have an older child plus a kindergartener) is very likely to cut into a younger sibling’s nap time somewhere. I wouldn’t base our educational choices solely on driving time, but if all things are equal and I can either spend 1 hour a day driving or 10 minutes a day driving, the 10 minutes easily wins out for me.

Community
Our public school consists of the children at our church and in our little town. The charter school has children from all over the valley. I like feeling more connected to the people in our town and having that sense of community. I get to know people from the other side of town I would otherwise maybe never meet.

Fun Environment
While there are good expectations for good behavior in class, there is still a lot of fun that happens at the public school. I want school to be more than just learning concepts–I want learning in other areas also, and I think the fun of what our school offers allows for that learning to take place.

Social Learning Ground
This is really huge for me. I think school is a great place to learn and practice social skills. The unique social challenges faced in a school setting help with everything from conflict resolution to teaching compassion. Can it happen alone? Absolutely not. I think parents are a huge key to this. You need to have taught and continually be teaching your children these social skills. It starts at home and is reinforced at home.

WHAT ABOUT THE STEREOTYPES?
Like I said, there are stereotypes associated with any schooling choice you choose, including public schooling. So how do you deal with these?

Outside Influence
I think this is one big reason a lot of people homeschool. What about the influence of the teachers and students at school? This is really child-specific and school environment specific. Our school happens to be quite conservative in its values. As a family, we are conservative in our values. I know there are places in the country I would not feel comfortable sending my young children. At our school, however, I know my values are what are taught at school. Our school even has a character training program where they stress heavily trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

There also are children who are better at maintaining home standards when away from home than others. You definitely want to be sure your individual child is capable of handling the freedom away from home before you send him/her off to school.

Lack of Home Influence
This is closely tied with outside influence. People worry about their child not having so much influence from home. This is a valid concern. We mitigate this by make sure we are spending time as a family when school is not in session. For as many hours as are spent at school each week, many more are spent at home. Make the time count at home–and make the years leading up to school count. I talk more about this concept in Fine Balance in Protecting Children.

A big thing you can do as a parent is to volunteer at the school. Help in your child’s class. Be involved in organizations at the school so you can influence what kinds of activities go on at the school. When I help in class, I get to see how my child behaves and I get the low-down from my child’s teacher. I also get to observe my child’s peers.

Mean Kids
I find mean kids to be one of the most difficult facets of sending your child to a room full of children the same age. My oldest has only just started second grade, and to this point, children are all still nice. The teachers have a huge influence and really stress that everyone is a friend. We have some great teachers at our school who have a real talent at united a class room.

It seems that often the age when children really can get mean is fourth grade, which is 9-10 year olds. This is an age when your child is really tested–on both sides. Will she be a mean kid? Or how will she respond if  mean kid picks on her? Or if a mean kid picks on her neighbor? These are moments character is tested.

My neighbor’s son went through fourth grade last year. It was a difficult year for him. He is one who stands up for what is right, which is a quality “mean kids” don’t appreciate so much. So he ended up getting picked on. He had some hard moments. But he also learned a lot, and this year is quite content. He has learned how to deal with the mean kids and is happy with who he is.

I have a friend who was picked on as a child because she was heavier. She commented to me that because of the teasing she had as a child, she learned compassion. She is very aware of others around her and works to make sure everyone feels included and valued. And she really does. I can’t think of a person who is better at welcoming and including others than she is.

When your child encounters difficult situations, no matter where it is, try to calm down your “mama bear” or “papa bear” inside of you and help your child learn how to work through the situation. These are teaching moments that will help your child in the future.

BRIGHT SIDE
Yes, there are difficult moments your child faces in school. But there are also rewarding moments. My son experienced a positive teaching moment at the end of school last year. He got sick and had to miss the last four days of school. He was sad to not get to say good-bye to his classmates before summer break. When his teacher told his class he wouldn’t be able to come back, they all decided to give him the end of the year prize–forfeiting any chance of getting it themselves. His teacher was in tears over how sweet it was, and so was I! So yes, you can encounter mean kids, but you can also encounter the sweetest side of humanity. We also had a student with a heart transplant last year, and it was amazing to watch his peers rally around him.

You can really build a great support network. If your school upholds your values, then the teachers act as a great partner for enforcing values you teach at home.

If you feel public education is right for your family, move forward with courage! You can most definitely make it work for you.

You can see more of my thoughts on public schooling here.

Valerie is a mother of four and blogs at www.babywisemom.com. 

Filed Under: Education, Parenting Tagged With: , , ,

Lying to our Kids

August 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

someecards.com - My parents accused me of lying today. Then I said,
When it is okay to lie to our kids? The answer to this question is often rooted in the definition of what a lie is. You may see little white lies as innocent. Things like Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and Santa are said to be imaginary fun. I might be able to buy that if the child used their own imagination to dream up these characters, but that’s not how it gets started is it? And then as parents we have to get creative to keep the fair tale going and keep the kids engaged in the “fun”.

I wrote a guest post titled 50 Shades of Lying on The Graceful Mom blog a few weeks ago. I shared some tips to help us model honesty so that we don’t get tagged as a hypocrite with or kids. This post was written as part of an ongoing guest blogging effort between a few Babywise-Friendly Network blogs. I wanted to challenge parents to think about the example they are setting for their kids. What happens when you catch your child in a lie and then they pull the hypocrite card? Is  it do as a I say and not as I do in your family? Do you try to justify your lying while punishing their lies, or do you come clean and ask your kids to forgive you for lying to them?

How good of an example do you set in the areas of honesty and truthfulness?

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Happy Birthday JJ

August 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

JosiahToday our favorite rising kindergartner turns 5 years old. Josiah is an extremely intelligent and charismatic little boy. Even though he has carried the nickname Tinker since shortly after birth I have recently added the nicknamed him Kool-aide. I got the idea from a co-worker who caries the same nickname. JJ and my co-worker both seem to command attention when they enter the room simply by being there. It’s sort of like the character from the old Kool-Aide commercials where the guy burst through the wall and days “Oh Yea!” JJ also seems to have the right thing to say at the right time. He is especially aware of his surroundings and often compliments people on their clothing or accessories…that he genuinely likes. He is a great story teller and an all around fun kid. Please join me in wishing JJ and very Happy Birthday.

Filed Under: Family Fun Tagged With: ,

What Moms Want Dads to Know

August 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Mom and Dad

Photo source: churchleadergazette.com

By Maureen Monfore, http://www.ChildwiseChat.com

A couple weeks ago, Hank blessed us with a blog post about what dads want moms to know. I figured I would offer dads the same courtesy, unlocking the mystery behind every mom’s (or wife’s) approach to marriage and parenting.

Sometimes we just want to complain

It’s common knowledge that women like to vent and men like to fix. If we vent to you about our day, don’t offer solutions. Just listen. Even throw in a few lines like “I can’t believe he did that,” or “That’s crazy; how in the world did you cope?” Show some sympathy and commiserate with us. For a few pointers on how to listen well, eavesdrop on our conversations with other women. It might sound like a foreign language to you, but jot a few lines down and you’ll be fine.

Don’t take our lack of affection personally

Yes, this is something many moms need to work on. But dads need to know that our occasional lack of desire for physical touch has nothing to do with you. Those of us at home all day with our kids get enough physical touch by the time you get home. Our kids climb on us, sit on our laps while reading, play with our hair, follow us to the bathroom, and even ask us to open the peanut butter jar while we’re in the shower. (I speak from experience.)

What can you do? Give us a few minutes to ourselves. Force us to take some time away; we might not always think we need it. But some well-deserved alone time will help us recharge our batteries. Call it room time for moms!

We need reminders if life gets a little too child-centered

Dads have a very different perspective on the world than we do. You get out in the world and have real adult conversations with real adults. When we’re at home with a two-year-old who’s in the throes of potty training or a four-year-old who complains about his boo-boos, we forget what that’s like.

We are all too aware of the dangers of child-centered parenting (thanks to the Ezzos), but knowing and doing are two different things. And rather than flat-out telling us, schedule some adult time for us. Hire a sitter. Call up some friends. Make dinner reservations. Get us out of the house!

We might get a little bossy sometimes

Face it, we moms boss our kids around. It’s as it should be. Our lives would be complete chaos if we didn’t. But sometimes, after doing it for 10-12 hours on end, we get in the habit of being bossy. If we’re working on first-time obedience training, we might even wait for a “yes, mommy” and eye contact when we call your name. (Not really, well, maybe.) A simple “snap out of it” should suffice if you recognize our bossy tone. Or turn on the humor, and reply with “yes, mommy.”

Encourage us to get some sleep

The parenting experts tell us to sleep when our baby sleeps. But how in the world would we get anything done?! Whether we’re up all night with a newborn or physically exhausted from a day chasing after toddlers, we need our sleep. And for many of us, a lack of sleep affects our mood and our patience.

So if you see that we’re up past midnight, tell us to go to bed. Or if you see that we’re physically exhausted, tell us to go rest in bed for an hour. If that doesn’t work (because not many of us want to waste 2 hours napping while there’s so much to do), tell us to have some room time.

By the same token, make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Nobody wants to deal with a tired, grumpy you.

Give some thought to your body and your health

If we’re going to stop being bossy, you can’t rely on us to tell you to eat your vegetables or to cut back on the cookies. This came up on a Babywise moms message board recently. We want you to care about your health. If you think something is wrong, go to the doctor. If the doctor tells you to cut back on your salt intake, drink more water, or to exercise more, listen to him (or her)! No mom wants to be a young widow. We are nothing without our health. Take it seriously.

On a related note, think about how you present yourselves to us. Yes, you are allowed to relax when you get home. But that image of you lounging on the couch in your sweats with a package of Oreos does nothing to improve our desire for physical touch. If you notice that we brushed our hair and put on a little lip gloss before you got home, think twice before putting on your pajamas at 6pm.

Limit your screen time

Yes, this is something we say to our kids. There’s a reason we don’t let them watch TV or play video games for hours on end. But we adults need to follow the same advice. Smartphones, TVs and computers have taken over our lives. If you wonder why you don’t feel connected to your family, think about turning off the TV or putting the phone away. Even if you do nothing beyond that, a little eye contact does wonders for the relationship.

And if your relationship with your kids is centered on screen time (whether you’re playing a video game together or they’re looking over your shoulder while you’re on your phone), that’s all the more reason to limit your screen time. Turn it off and go outside! Play catch with your son or teach your daughter how to ride a bike. Those are the things that memories are made of!

Help out

If you come home from work and the house is a mess, take that as your cue that you need to pitch in. If we seem stressed out about it, don’t ask us what needs to be done. That will only make us think—and stress—about it all. If the dishwasher is full, unload it. If hampers are overflowing, sort laundry. Or just grab a broom and start sweeping. Make this your motto: don’t ask; just do.

After you read this, chat with your wife about it. You may think that none of it applies to your family, but I bet at least a small portion does. If you are the one to bring it up, your wife will be honest with you. This is where it’s okay to ask. Open up those lines of communication and you’ll do wonders to improve your relationship with your wife and with your kids.

Live in Harmony with First-Time ObedienceMaureen Monfore is a mother of two young boys, a freelance writer, and the author of ChildwiseChat.com and the eBook, Live in Harmony with First-Time Obedience. A loyal follower of the teachings of Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo, she is passionate about teaching children to obey to pave the way for fun, love, learning, and essential moral development.

Filed Under: Marriage, Parenting Tagged With: , , , , ,

Pneumonia Fighting Machine

July 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Caden using The Vest by Hill-Rom to fight pneumonia

It appears that Caden is wearing some sort of NASA space suite or maybe part of one fo those G-Suits that fighter pilots wear. No. Caden is not going to be the next person to walk on the moon. At least not at this point in his life. The machine that Caden is attached to is called The VEST® by Hill-Rom. Caden was diagnosed with Bronchiectasis a while back and The VEST was prescribed to help Caden keep his airway clear. Bronchiectasis is one of the conditions that The VEST.

This machine sends pulses of air into the inflatable vest and that creates a vibration on Caden’s torso to help break up potentially infectious mucus in his airway and lungs. Caden uses The VEST about 40 minutes per day when he is well and even more on days when he is battling a diagnosis of pneumonia like he has had this past week.

Caden is doing better in recent days but the fevers and need for oxygen seems to come and go. Caden takes it all in stride. He has got accustom to the pain that his little body has to endure on a regular basis as a result of medical complications caused by 22q11.2 (DiGeorge Syndrome).

This is just one of many pieces of medical equipment that Caden uses regularly.  When we travel and stay over night somewhere we have a special additional list for Caden. In addition to clothes, shoes, toiletries, and The Skunk, Caden’s list of medical gear includes:

– Feeding Pump
– Feeding Pump Bags (1 new bag per day plus a few spares)
– Formula (6 – 8 oz cans per day)
– Syringes for giving water and medication
– The actual medication (some require refrigeration)
– Suction Machine
– Oxygen Tanks and/or Oxygen concentrator/generator machine
– Oxygen canula and mask
– Pulse Oximeter
– Thermometer
– Spare G-Tube button
– Braces for his feet
– Bed pads
– Chargers for everything electrical

If we fly then things get even more complicated. We have a trip planned in a couple of months and we are going to have to arrange for empty oxygen tanks to be replaced with full ones while we are on the road. We can only take so many in the car and still have room for our family of six and all the luggage that goes with a crew that size plus the list above.

Do you have a special need child? what unique equipment does your child require?

Filed Under: Family Fun, Parenting, Special Needs, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Daddy Life is a Winner

July 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

DaddyLife.net is a winner

The vision behind Daddy Life has won a contest. DaddyLife.net is more than a blog and a podcast. It is a business tool for me that will help fullfil my goals. I have shared my long-term goals with close friends and family, but I have not aired it all out here on DaddyLife.net. You see, even with a very healthy salary and a Cadillac health care plan form the federal government, I am still not doing full-time what I love most. What I love most is helping people while spending time with my family. Specifically I like helping parents to strengthen their marriages and raise biblically responsible and God honoring children.

Late last week I read an email from Sandi Krakowski. Sandi creates million dollar businesses. She is an Internet marking guru who has built a business around helping other people refine and execute their plans for online business. I follow a handful of successful online business people who have turned their passion into a full-time career. Sandi’s email newsletter came to me dangling a carrot last week. She offered a 12 hour window for her community members to submit answers to three questions on her Facebook Page.

1: WHY? 2: WHY now? 3: What will your business do in the world in 3 years?

Now I had no problem answering the first question right off the top of my head. I am a big fan of the elevator pitch. That is what I would say if I had to explain the what/why of my business in 15 seconds or less. The other questions were easy also, but required a little more thought to come up with just the right words. Below is how I responded and the bold portion of the response is my 15 second elevator pitch:

Hi Sandi,

Thanks for all your wisdom and encouragement. I appreciate the opportunity to win some valuable resources from you that will help me on my journey.

I am building a business as a speaker, writer, and coach for parents (Dads in particular) to rise above the level of mediocrity in marriage and parenting. I am doing this so that I can get paid to do what I love while I share more time with my family in the process.

I am building my business now because I have been inspired over the past year by people like you and Dan Miller (Author of 48 Days to the Work You Love). Why put off until tomorrow what I can do today?

There is no greater calling for a man than that of being a husband and then a father. Dad has a responsibility to love, protect, and provide for the family. I will help dads fulfill those responsibilities and more. The choices a dad makes directly affects the future of the family, the community, the nation, and the world. Over the next three years dads will be encouraged, equipped, and challenged to be the leaders of their families, lovers of their wives, and examples to their children. Parents around the world will rise above the level of mediocrity in the marriage and parenting. “Encourage one another and build each other up.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Thanks again for this awesome giveaway and opportunity to share my story!

Hank Osborne
http://DaddyLife.net

This response landed me in one of six winning spots out of over 500 entries. And the winners were hand picked by Sandi and her crew. I think it is important to add that I have never paid Sandi a single dime for anything. I have been a quite observer of her awesome free resources that are available through her blog, newsletter, and Facebook timeline. The loot from  winning this contest gets me a 1 hr CD containing business coaching, a one month membership to Sandi’s Inner Circle Membership, and an autographed copy of her book Read Their Mind: How To Hear What The Marketplace Wants And Build A Huge Business. (Amazon affiliate link)

As for how I will execute my plan, I am already producing podcast to help encourage, equip, and challenge me to rise above mediocrity in marriage and parenting. I do plan on offering free presentations on the subject of Internet and Technology safety for parents in the Charleston, SC area over the next six months.  Local audiences will be my guinea pigs and resume builders as I prepare to get into parenting and home school conferences in 2013. I am alos working on some products that I plan to make available for sale on this site, at conferences, and via other methods.

Do you like my vision? If so then click one of the “Share the Love” icons below to help spread the word to your friends on your favorite social media site.

Filed Under: Marriage, Parenting Tagged With: ,

Babywise Friendly – Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip

July 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Mint Chocolate Chip

NO! I have not gone vegan on you. I like the taste of most all animals I’ve tried and will continue to eat them. Regardless of the fact that this is a vegan dish, you have to admit that it does look good.

The post I am linking to over at Happy Healthy Mama is written by a food blogger who happens to be a Babywise fan. As part of the Babywise Networked-Blog week we all decided to give a little link love to a blogger who is a fan of Babywise, but does not necessarily bog about parenting. My blogging friend Valerie over at Chronicles of a Babywise Mom contacted Maryea over at Happy Healthy Mama and this is what she shared with us.

 

Filed Under: Family Fun, Parenting Tagged With: , ,
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