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4 Comments Posted on October 28, 2015 funny, Nostalgia, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

The Only Time I Got Paddled (Spanked) in Public School: Gym Class, 8th Grade, May 1995

While I’m definitely in the minority (20% of Americans) in that I don’t believe in spanking my own child as an efficient form of discipline, I think it has become a collectively weird thought for us as American parents to consider that not that long ago, students were still being spanked (with paddles!) in the public school system.

I managed to make it all the way through 13 years of public school (that includes Kindergarten, obviously) with only getting one paddling.

I had just turned 14; it was at the end of my 8^th grade year, 20 years ago: May 1995.

It was a Friday at the end of gym class, during a “free play” day. A bunch of my friends were running towards the wall, then jumping as high as they could, to see how high they could press our feet on the wall.

The wall was built of concrete cinder blocks, so we could easily measure how high we jumped by the grout in between them, using the grout lines to measure the height of where our feet hit the wall.

Turns out, I jumped the highest that day. However, no one bothered to tell me that the gym coach had just warned the other guys that the next person he saw jumping on the wall would be paddled…

So the male gym coach took me to the locker room and paddled me 3 times with a wooden paddle, while the girls’ coach witnessed it.

I could sense she felt awkward being there; knowing I was “the good kid” who was playing the scapegoat that day.

When I emerged from the locker room, having just been hit by a wooden plank on my “bum”, all my friends were lined up waiting to give me a high five and cheer me on.

I suppose it was a perfect way to score some “cool points” just in time to prepare for high school.

The paddling was obviously not effective; especially since I wasn’t aware I was breaking the recently established rule until it was too late.

All it really did was make my friends think I was cool. It was like part of an initiation process, apparently.

Isn’t it bizarre to imagine that paddling (spanking) in the public schools was still going on in our lifetime?

These days, something like that could easily be perceived as harassment or abuse. Right?

2 Comments Posted on October 28, 2015October 28, 2015 Health, parenting, Pregnancy, Uncategorized

Family Friendly (Mommy) Blog: Jill Shell on Pregnancy Hunger Cravings

People often ask me what type of cravings I am having now that I am pregnant.

This used to be a funny question to me because when I was pregnant with Jack, I felt like I had virtually no cravings at all.

Actually, aside from the horrendous leg cramps that crept up in the middle of the night throughout the second trimester, I felt like I had very few “normal” pregnancy symptoms throughout the duration of it.

Well, I can tell you for a fact, I have cravings now!

It’s not the old fashioned “pickles with ice cream in the middle of the night” cravings; it’s the “you name it, I want it” type of cravings. For example, I was talking to a co-worker one day (who also happens to be preggers, too) and she mentioned how she stopped at Panera to grab a breakfast sandwich on the way to work.

Now, I am vegetarian not a vegan (because I don’t have the will power to say no to ice cream and things of that nature at all times), but because Nick is vegan, I often eat more of the vegan fare, which means we stay away from foods with animal products (no beef, no chicken, no fish, no dairy and definitely, no eggs).

Just a few months ago, I think I had even convinced myself that I was allergic to eggs. But wouldn’t you know, as soon as my friend began talking about that breakfast sandwich, the brain in my stomach started churning and demanding some eggs.

When I got home that night, nothing sounded good to me, but an egg and cheese sandwich, and I barely ate my dinner. Hours later as I laid myself down to sleep, I made my plan to get up just a few minutes early to make it into the Panera closest to work.

When my alarm rang, I got up without even so much as a hitch in my step and was out the door 10 minutes sooner than I had been in weeks. I was second in line in Panera and couldn’t wait to get my hands on that egg and cheese sandwich. And, even though my mouth suffered a few burns from eating it so quickly, it was just as every bit of delicious that I had needed it to be.

Please do not ask me how many times I have been back to Panera to get this same sandwich . . . it’s a little embarrassing just how much this little baby wonder in me is causing me to crave things I wouldn’t normally care about.

And, don’t even get me started on meat (blackened salmon and steak have never sounded so tempting) . . .

Leave a comment Posted on October 26, 2015 Uncategorized

Max (Best Friend, Hero, Marine): Family Friendly Movie Review

This weekend my son and I watched Max on DVD. My synopsis of the plot line is this: A bike riding, Texan teenage boy takes care of his deceased brother’s military dog, and then he depends on the canine to help him to sniff out illegal arms dealers who are tied to Mexican drug cartel.

I like to keep my movie reviews simple. I basically just ask two questions:

1) Did my nearly 5 year-old son enjoy it?

2) Was it “family friendly” enough to be appropriate for him to watch with me?

To answer my first question, yes, my son definitely enjoyed it.

There were constant bike chases through the woods and a crime fighting dog. To my son, that’s awesome.

The whole movie is a fast-paced, adventure thriller. In other words, there’s no wise cracking CGI dog to have to tolerate for 90 minutes. It’s a real dog.

I’ll segue into my second question now: Was it family friendly enough for my nearly 5 year-old son?

Yes; for my son specifically, who is accustomed to the swashbuckling violence of Power Rangers, and to the use of guns which never actually kill anyone or even draw blood on the show.

I would equate Max’s content with a tamer version of E.T., in that Max contains hardly any harsh words; definitely less than E.T does which is also rated PG.

Max is not a kids’ movie, but it’s one that I enjoyed watching with my son. After all, I’ll be taking him to see the new Star Wars movie in a couple of months; as I also took him to see Ant-Man this summer.

He’s old enough to appreciate more mature movies at his age; which I appreciate.

Official press release:

MAX

ARRIVES ONTO BLU-RAY COMBO PACK, DVD and DIGITAL HD FROM

METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES AND

WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Blu-ray Combo Pack debuts on October 27

Own it early on Digital HD on October 13

Burbank, CA, August 11, 2015 – Discover a friendship that is one of a kind when Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures’ (MGM) family-action adventure “Max” arrives onto Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD on October 27. “Max,” an incredible journey about the unbreakable bond between one kid and his heroic best friend, stars Josh Wiggins (“Hellion”) as Justin Wincott, with Lauren Graham (TV’s “Parenthood”) as his mom, Pamela, and Oscar® nominee Thomas Haden Church (“Sideways”) as his dad, Ray. The film will be available early on Digital HD on October 13.

BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS

“Max” Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following special features:

Working with Max: Meet the dogs that play “Max” and see inside tricks of the trade!

· Hero Dogs: A Journey – Get a behind-the-scenes look at amazing military trained K9s.

“Max” Standard Definition DVD contains the following special features:

Working with Max: Meet the dogs that play “Max” and see inside tricks of the trade!

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION ELEMENTS

On October 13, “Max” will be available for streaming and download to watch anywhere in high definition and standard definition on their favorite devices from select digital retailers including Amazon, CinemaNow, Flixster, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others. “Max” will also be available digitally on Video On Demand services from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.

BASICS

PRODUCT SRP

Blu-ray Combo Pack $35.99

DVD Amaray (WS) $28.98

Standard Street Date: October 27, 2015

Digital HD Street Date: October 13, 2015

4 Comments Posted on October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

The Amount You Mature After You Turn 30

This week I turned 34 and a half. I’m now just 6 months away from turning 35, which will officially toss me out of that targeted demographic which has traditionally been the coveted marketing demographic: age 18-34.

I’m also only 6 months away from the birth of my 2^nd child; who I think is a girl.

Turning a year older is not something I fear or hide. I celebrate getting older. That’s mainly because I’m so grateful for the amount of maturity, emotional intelligence, and life experience I gain each year I’m alive.

I definitely don’t wish I was 30 again, or 27, or 25, or 23… I’m perfectly happy and proud to be 34 and a half.

And research shows the same thing; that the age people report being the happiest is 34.

By now, I’m married, I have kid(s), I’m out of debt, I have money in the bank, I “own” a home, and I’m stable in my career.

Additionally, I have (hopefully) already made my dumbest mistakes and learned my hardest lessons in life.

If I simply apply what I’ve already learned from life so far, I should be alright. In theory, I should be on auto-pilot, from here on out, to some degree.

I feel that while I’ll constantly be learning something new every day, my “life’s biggest learning curve” is complete. In other words, now I know what to do, it’s just a matter of testing that knowledge and experience for the rest of my life to see what else I can make of it.

When I turned 30, I knew I was hitting a major milestone. But in hindsight, I now realize that the reason it was a major milestone for me is because I have learned some of life’s biggest and most crucial lessons since then, during these past 4 and a half years.

My son was born just a few months before I turned 30. Obviously, raising him has taught me a whole lot about life.

Plus, I made some wrong financial and career decisions around that time as well; which ultimately led my wife and I to become the strict Dave Ramsey followers we now are.

Not to mention, I was hired as Parents.com’s official daddy blogger right after I turned 30, which ultimately meant for 3 years, I had to do a blog post daily; being encouraged to be controversial by my editors.

Therefore, I can see in retrospect that I sporadically said plenty of immature and/or now embarrassing things in my blog posts during that time in attempts to “better engage my audience.” I learned a lot from that experience and I’m completely grateful for those 3 years.

On top of all that, I’ve learned the hard way what not to post on Facebook, since turning 30.

But now, I’ve lived through all that.

And I’ve been married for over 7 years now. It would be an understatement to say that marriage, in addition to raising a child, has made me a more mature, less selfish, better balanced human being.

The first day of the rest of my life began the day I turned 30. I can only imagine how much more enlightened I will feel and be by the time I turn 40.

Leave a comment Posted on October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 Jack-Man, Storytelling, Uncategorized, Writing

My Blog Readers are Female, but My YouTube Watchers are Male

I am very aware of the importance of knowing my audience, so that I can better create content for what people want to be entertained by while they’re trying to kill time on smart phones.

Thanks to the analytics screen for my Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog, and thanks to the analytics screen for my YouTube channel, I have recently learned a paradox about my audience:

They don’t have a lot in common… They are segregated by gender demographics.

Most of the people reading Family Friendly Daddy Blog are women…

Women

72%

Men

27%

While most of the people watching my videos on YouTube are men:

MALE

83%

FEMALE

17%

For my Jack-Man series, I spend a minimum of 6 hours per video (writing, filming, producing music, editing, publishing) and there are currently 22 Jack-Man videos. When you do the math, that’s a minimum of 132 hours (or 5.5 straight days) of work for that series; and I only started the series 5 months ago.

However, I’m lucky to get 100 views on any of my Jack-Man videos. All that creativity mainly goes unwatched.

Meanwhile, I’ve carelessly thrown together a few unedited and unscripted videos on receding hairlines on my YouTube channel.

Those are the videos that easily get more than 100 views every day.

That’s because it’s mainly men are watching my YouTube channel, not as many women.

And mainly women are reading my blog, not as many men.

So now, behind the scenes, I am sketching out the best ways to blend my blog posts with my videos.

Ultimately, I guess it means that I’ll be publishing more blog posts about receding hairlines to feature my receding hairline videos, and making more videos about parenting to feature my usual daddy blog material.

I am attempting to use my blog to promote my videos and my videos to promote my blog.

So when you see me doing blog posts on seemingly irrelevant material, just know it’s for the other half of my demographics: men.

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