Dad Spotlight - Helping You Be The Best Dad, Father and Parent You Can!

Visiting A Comic Book Store With Your Kids With Trey Burley

This week in the Dads Toolbox Trey Burley of Daddy Mojo returns to share some tips for visiting a comic book store with your kids! We always love to have Trey Burley on the show and he always shares amazing resources for you. For many dads that have been comic book fans in the past you may have a picture in your mind about a comic book store and what they were like when you were a kid. Just because you stepped foot in a store 15-20  years ago does not mean that today’s comic book store is the same and that is what Trey Burley is helping you understand today. Trey Burley mentioned that when you go into comic book stores today you will find much more than just comic books. You will find toys, games and sometimes even inappropriate things for young eyes. You also will find back issues as well as new comic books as you enter a comic book store today. If you do not know where your closest comic book store is, use the Comic Shop Locator to find one near you! Odds are that you will find one within 15 miles of you! Depending on the store that you find, you may feel a connection to the store and to the employees. As Trey Burley mentioned, sometimes you will find a comic book store whose employees may not be very helpful and may be a bit too stand-offish and too “geeky”. Whether the staff are helpful or not most stores are similar.

What you will find in a typical comic book store

The Wall

* This is an area bfilled with new comic books.

* Note that Wednesdays are days when new comic books arrive.

* New comic books will be placed on the wall alphabetically every Wednesday.

* Usually Independent titles or comic houses will be placed together in a different area.

* The Wall is usually for the main comic book houses such as Marvel and DC

Inappropriate Material

* You will see violence and portrayal of women in situations that may not be appropriate for young eyes.

* It is important that parents help young kids to find the Kids Section within the comic book store.

Kids Section

* Most comic book stores will have kids sections that have comics, graphic novels and more that are age appropriate.

* Age appropriate comics are also known as all-age comics.

Things to Watch For

* Breakable statues that may be very expensive and more used as a collectible than as a toy.

* Some trading cards from companies like Playboy or other similar companies would also not be appropriate for children.

Though we share this comic book store ARE SAFE for kids! You simply have to follow a few rules.

Rules to Follow When Visiting a Comic Store With A Young Child

* As a father, lead your child to appropriate comic books.

* Avoid comic books that have dark reds or other dark colored comics as these tend to be dark in nature, bloody and violent. These are also more likely to have hyper-sexualized women.

* Be direct with staff and ask them for comics that would be appropriate for the age and gender of your child.

Many major book retailers are starting to carry some of the largest comic book titles and bringing out new issues weekly or as soon as they are released. Also, these same retailers may even be a better location for finding graphic novels. Finally, look online. Listen to Trey Burley’s The Daddy Mojo All Age Comic Books Podcast podcast where they look at new comic books every week. You can also look at site like

This week on the Dad Spotlight podcast we bring you Matt Miller to talk to you about creating streams of income for your family. Matt Miller spent the first 9 years of his career as an Air Force pilot, before entering the private sector to work in both the medical device and advertising industries. While a top performer in the corporate world, his long term desire was to be his own boss. He also wanted to create income streams that ould allow for his wife to stay home with their kids. A good friend one day mentioned the gum ball machines he and his young daughters owned, and that conversation began a 10 year business quest that has brought Matt’s company, School Spirit Vending, to the cutting edge of both the vending and school fundraising industries. Today, School Spirit Vending’s franchising program provides a proven and profitable business system for busy professionals and their families looking to develop secondary income streams with a limited time commitment. Matt Miller is giving you a copy of his free eBook: Live Your Dreams: Top 10 Reasons Why You Need to Start Your Own Vending Business. Want to learn more?   LinkedIn: mattmillertx Twitter: ssvbusiness Facebook: SSVBusiness   We want to hear from you! Give us a call at 877-323-3239 and leave us a message with your comments and questions.  Butcher Box is a company that gives you easy access to grass-fed beef, pork and chicken. Their goal is to make grass-fed beef, pork and chicken more accessible than ever before. We have tried this meat and it is simply amazing. Because of this we have partnered with them to offer you an amazing deal. If you make a ButcherBox order for your family you will get $10 OFF your order and some Ribeyes (2 x 10oz). Sound good? Order Today!

If you have not yet gotten your free guide: 15 Low Cost Ways To Engage With Your Kids – Pick it up today

As always, please swing by to visit us on iTunes and Stitcher to stay connected to the most up-to-date happenings with the podcast. Also, if you are on iTunes  and you are a listener, please leave us a review as this helps other people find us too!

This week in the Dads Toolbox we are bringing you Andrew Bentley of Father Figure to talk about Fashion for Dads and Making a Transition to change Your Life.

The idea of making a change in his life came after the birth of his child and taking a leave from working at Google. Listen to his son, soothe him and loved learning about how to care for him. He studied mindfulness to better be able to care for himself and his son.

He started to research and tried to think about how he would resign his own experience in being a dad. He looked at other dads through interviews and tried to see about how dads are and are not validated. As he was having these interviews he found that most of the parenting products for kids are geared toward mothers. He started to sketch clothes that felt good, but were also functional for working with kids.

He launched a Kickstarter in summer 2016 and found that if he made enough in the Kickstarter he would start the company. He raised $30,000 and went into production. In October he left Google to be full time caregiver for his son and he ran his company on the side.

The clothes from the Father Figure company is surrounded by comfort. You do not have to be hip to wear this. The materials are made to be comfortable and also is made to help you look good. The company also has accessories too that can do with the clothes and can look more masculine.

Andrew Bentley stated that when you are a new dad you do not have a lot of time to make decisions. Find some clothes that you love and that feel good. He recommends American made clothing as well as comfortable clothing. He says he is a loyalist so once he finds a brand, he will double down and get a few shirts, pants, etc in different colors. Think about the fabrics, colors, etc when purchasing as well.

Father Figure offers three products right now. Two shirts and bandana burp rags. This is for dads that have kids up to a year in age. The first shirt, the Lucca T-Shirt is a paternity T-Shirt and is not only comfortable and has a loose neck, but it has loops for toys or other items to carry with you but also a more padded area for the shoulder area where you will be carrying and soothing your child. The clothes in general have been created to aid dads in engaging and interacting with their children.

The goal with this line is to continuing building out clothes as kids get older. He asks himself, what do you need when you have a toddler or a school-age child. Andrew Bentley wants to build the first lifestyle brand for dads.In his founding documents he has made it legally bound to work to help dads to build and encourage the bond between father and child.

Learn more at:

Website – FatherFigure.co

Facebook – facebook.com/fatherfigure

Twitter – FatherFigure

 

We want to hear from you! Give us a call at 877-323-3239 and leave us a message with your comments and questions.  Butcher Box is a company that gives you easy access to grass-fed beef, pork and chicken. Their goal is to make grass-fed beef, pork and chicken more accessible than ever before. We have tried this meat and it is simply amazing. Because of this we have partnered with them to offer you an amazing deal. If you make a ButcherBox order for your family you will get $10 OFF your order and some Ribeyes (2 x 10oz). Sound good?

This week on the Dad Spotlight Podcast we are bringing you a special interview with Brad Finkeldei, a self-confidence coach and best-selling author of the book the Mindset Shift share’s his personal story today with us about his transformation from no confidence to confidence.

Like many dads Brad Finkeldei had to go through a journey to be able to find self-confidence in the role that he was playing as a father, a husband and as a man in general. Brad Finkeldei started his journey in 2013. He made a large move for work that he thought was right. He bought his dream house, had a good job, but something still was not right. He had everything that he should have to be happy but he was not happy. He reached out to a life coach and through this he found that he was not a confident person.

Through working with the life coach and other trainings he found that he needed to work on his self-confidence to be better in everything that he does. Meditation has allowed him to get into a better place in his mind. Brad Finkeldei also said that you have ask yourself the question, “what’s it like to be you” and get to better understand what it takes to be in your own shoes. By asking yourself this question and allowing others to also answer this question, you are opening yourself up to vulnerability.

At first some people, and even your family may not want to open up and be candid in their responses. To open them up be vulnerable with them too and this may open a door for them to share information that will help you be a better dad. Being vulnerable is not always an easy thing for men to do.

Brad Finkeldei said that he went to a speaker training and the main speaker left the audience with a tag line that said “If You’re Nervous, Go Into Service.” You have to think of others in all that you do and the more that you turn the conversation from you to others, the more you can become more confident and be a better dad.   Butcher Box is a company that gives you easy access to grass-fed beef, pork and chicken. Their goal is to make grass-fed beef, pork and chicken more accessible than ever before. We have tried this meat and it is simply amazing. Because of this we have partnered with them to offer you an amazing deal. If you make a ButcherBox order for your family you will get $10 OFF your order and some Ribeyes (2 x 10oz). Sound good? Order Today!

If you have not yet gotten your free guide: 15 Low Cost Ways To Engage With Your Kids – Pick it up today

As always, please swing by to visit us on iTunes and Stitcher to stay connected to the most up-to-date happenings with the podcast. Also, if you are on iTunes  and you are a listener, please leave us a review as this helps other people find us too!

Today on the Dads Toolbox we are bringing you an interview that we had with two young actors, Francesca Capaldi and Zane Austin from the brand new movie, MAX 2: White House Hero. It was great having both these young actors on and in speaking to them we asked them a few questions about the movie and what it was like to take part in such a fun film. What was your favorite part about being in Max 2: White House Hero?

Francesca Capaldi –  Doing your own stunts, such as being in the rapids and being swept down the river. Also, being kidnapped and having to fight off my kidnapper. I also loved being in Vancouver!

Zane Austin – Being thrown in the Freezer during the movie was probably the best part of the film for me – never had this happen before and did not know what it would be like. I also loved Vancouver. It was a beautiful city and the people were so nice! Some people say that they love working with animals in movies and others say that it is very challenging, what was your experience?

Zane Austin– Challenging and fun. The dog trainer Matilda told me “Don’t think about I am there” and that really helped me.

Francesca Capaldi – She loves dogs and loves working with animals too. She has a lot of experience working with dogs from her past experiences on Dog with a Blog. There were 4 dogs used during the filming of this movie. Carlos, Jagger, Dude and Jax. Dude was the stunt dog and did all of the scenes where Max was jumping off cliffs, down from heights, etc. Carlos was the looks dog. Jagger did all did all of the running. Being this was one of the first full length movies that you both were in on screen,  do you love movie work, television or some other medium?

Francesca Capaldi – She was in the Peanuts movie as a voice actor and loved that and of course she loved her time on Dog with a Blog. Overall she loves all aspects of acting and hopes to continue in the future. As she said “It’s just awesome.”

Zane Austin – Unremarkable short film and on a podcast – Scary Ride. Zane loved doing the movie as you get to hang out with amazing people and go to amazing new places. The movie took about 6 months to film so they both got to explore a new area and truly loved the experience. You had great chemistry in Max 2: White House Hero, how did you make that chemistry a reality?

Zane Austin – His dad and he met Francesca in the Hotel. They spent the rest of the night playing ping pong and swimming and that was the start of the relationship and chemistry that they had on film.

 

Many kids have dreams and parents help kids to be able to achieve these dreams. What would you suggest to other parents to help them to support the dreams of their kids?

Zane Austin – Let your kids play sports what they want. Zane loves playing Centerfield. He was pursuaded to act from his brother. His parents supported

Francesca Capaldi – If your kids have a dream, you have to put in the time just like your child has to. Go for it and give them the encouragement.

 

What’s next for you both?

Francesca Capaldi – Modeling and auditioning. Singing whenever I can and school of course.

Zane Austin –  Has been doing a ton of auditions and commercials and school. He said he has loved creating the commercials and hopes to continue to act in the future.

About MAX 2: White House Hero

Your all-time favorite canine hero is back in an all new feature length movie!  Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings you MAX 2: White House Hero on DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack on May 23, 2017. The Digital HD will be available on May 9, 2017. The original film,

This week on the Dad Spotlight we are bringing you Matt Mickelson who created a star wars movie with his daughters that was just amazing. A couple of years ago he made a blade runner video and recently his kids were bored and said they wanted to make a movie with their dad. He had a green screen so he decided to have some fun and make a star wars video using the green screen. When he made a trailer he had a huge amount of people that watched this so he decided to break the movie into three parts. As more people saw this, they found more people that had very cool costumes that they had created that also wanted to be a part of the movie. Matt mentioned that his favorite character to make was recreating the Han Solo character for himself. Matt Mickelson mentioned that he hopes to continue to be able to make amazing videos in the future and also continue to create videos with his daughters, encouraging and supporting them in their own growth.  

You can See More of Matt Mickelson’s videos on his youtube page and you can learn more about him on his own website. Butcher Box is a company that gives you easy access to grass-fed beef, pork and chicken. Their goal is to make grass-fed beef, pork and chicken more accessible than ever before. We have tried this meat and it is simply amazing. Because of this we have partnered with them to offer you an amazing deal. If you make a ButcherBox order for your family you will get $10 OFF your order and some Ribeyes (2 x 10oz). Sound good? Order Today!

If you have not yet gotten your free guide: 15 Low Cost Ways To Engage With Your Kids – Pick it up today

As always, please swing by to visit us on iTunes and Stitcher to stay connected to the most up-to-date happenings with the podcast. Also, if you are on iTunes  and you are a listener, please leave us a review as this helps other people find us too!

This week in the Dads Toolbox we have Sheri Gazitt of Teen Wise, a website and resource for all parents working to better with our teens. Today we are talking about strategies to make yourself heard and communicating with your teen!

Sometimes it may seem like you are talking to a different species when it comes to teens

3 part formula to talking to your teenListen

Listen

Digest

Respond

Listen – really listen. Listen to what they are saying. Are they comfortable with the conversation? Sometimes you cannot drop everything. Say to them, give me 5 minutes and I want to talk to you about this. Sometimes we forget to do this, but we can learn so much through this.

Digest – think about their perspective. I want to go to the movie, and I want to go without you. Your gut reaction might be – no way! You have to think about their perspective as they may really be asking – do you see me as responsible.

Respond – This is not the same as reacting. Usually reactions are based on emotions. We have to be calm in our responses. What do we want them to learn? It is about the wording that we choose. In the end you want your kids to feel respected.

Techniques We Can Use

Take deep breaths and pause before responding

Change your thoughts about what these conversations are about. It is not always about the information that you have to impart, but instead who they are and who they want to be.

If you feel that you do not have a strong foundation to have conversations. Start talking to your teenager about what they are interested in and get to know them in this.

For some people you have to do some homework on what your kids like so you can have conversations about their interests.

You start small for the conversations that you want to have and work into the more important conversations.

Some parents want to be their best friend and this tends to backfire. You are going to have disagreements and not worry if your kids like you or not. This is because you are your childs’ rock.

When your child gets into middle and high school your child needs you even more to be there for them.

If you safeguard your kids all of the time you are making it that your kids will not be prepared for failures that may come.

Want to learn more about Sheri Gazitt or about Teen Wise?

* WEBSITE

* FREE PARENT CONSULTATION

* FREE VIDEO TRAINING

Butcher Box is a company that gives you easy access to grass-fed beef, pork and chicken. Their goal is to make grass-fed beef, pork and chicken more accessible than ever before. We have tried this meat and it is simply amazing. Because of this we have partnered with them to offer you an amazing deal. If you make a ButcherBox order for your family you will get $10 OFF your order and some Ribeyes (2 x 10oz). Sound good? Order Today!

If you have not yet gotten your free guide: 15 Low Cost Ways To Engage With Your Kids – Pick it up today

As always, please swing by to visit us on iTunes and Stitcher to stay connected to the most up-to-date happenings with th...

This week on the Dad Spotlight podcast we are bringing you Colin Gray, The Podcast Host. We talk about balancing life and he stated that this took him some time to be able to get to a point where he has been able to let things go and stay present in his life. He definitely has had to work on this everyday and it is a struggle.

To be able to let things go, Colin Gray said that he started to play around with mindfulness and meditation and this was something that really helped him. It was at the time that he had his first child and he found himself that he was quite angry and difficult. He was not able to be as nice or as supportive as he wanted to be too. By practicing mindfulness he found that he is able to reconnect and find that he can be more in the moment with his family. While he was skeptical at first, he has found that this really helps.

We also talked about activities that Colin Gray has been able to do to be able to sustain himself. Colin Gray mentioned that for him podcasting was something that allows him to have a release and it actually has become his full time job. Prior to having his own podcast, he found that podcasts were his professional development and the place that he turned to for learning on almost any topic that he needed. He also made sure that he had 3-4 hours every weekend to be able to spend time with the kids, but also time to spend with his wife as this allowed them to feel more connected and made the entire family happier too. He also would carve out time for himself too.

Colin Gray has also been experimenting by taking some courses in areas that he had an interest within. Lately, he took classes on acting as he found that this would allow him to be able to work on his own public speaking skills. He pushes himself to do things that he may hate, but that he also knows will help him to learn and grow.

Butcher Box is a company that gives you easy access to grass-fed beef, pork and chicken. Their goal is to make grass-fed beef, pork and chicken more accessible than ever before. We have tried this meat and it is simply amazing. Because of this we have partnered with them to offer you an amazing deal. If you make a ButcherBox order for your family you will get $10 OFF your order and some Ribeyes (2 x 10oz). Sound good? Order Today!

If you have not yet gotten your free guide: 15 Low Cost Ways To Engage With Your Kids – Pick it up today

As always, please swing by to visit us on iTunes and Stitcher to stay connected to the most up-to-date happenings with the podcast. Also, if you are on iTunes  and you are a listener, please leave us a review as this helps other people find us too!

This week in the Dads Toolbox we have Casey O’Roarty who is a Positive Discipline Trainer, Parent Coach at Joyful Courage. Joyful Courage is about showing up, grateful for the opportunity to practice being our best self, even when it is hard to do.  My mission is to work with parents in a way that broadens their perspective on parenting, behavior and this life long journey we are all walking together…  To offer a space for parents to clarify and explore what it means to move and love from their center.

Mom of two. Joyful courage came about because of being trained in positive discipline. At the time she was reading a lot of Brene Brown’s works and connected to the ideas of courage. In her evolution as a parent she found that it took a lot of courage to say that as a mom she did not have everything figured out.

Taking our lens and turning it inward and unpacking almost everything, recognizing that while our kids are seeing the world in new ways we are as well. If we are willing to be courageous, we can learn and grow with.

* Raising our children by growing ourselves.

* Joyful is light and parenting can feel heavy at time. What does it look like when we come from a place of lightness.

* Letting go of How and dreaming big. Instead of As soon as my kids then I can ________. Instead just do!

How do you do this

If you know that you have some self internal work to do you have to get used to your patterns that show up when you are stressed or angry in areas such as:

* thoughts

* physical

* emotional

By getting to know myself I can start to make changes. If you can change the experience of your body you can give yourself room to change.

Casey O’Roarty has alarms on her phone that reminds her to check in on her body as this gets her more attuned to her body so that it becomes familiar.

The other thing revolves around positive discipline.

The most powerful thing that we have to influence behavior is the relationship that we have with our kids. So spending special time with your children can make large scale differences.

Resources

* Positive Discipline – Dr. Jane Nelson

* Positive Discipline: The Classic Guide to Helping Children Develop Self-Discipline, Responsibility, Cooperation, and Problem-Solving Skills

* Positive Discipline Association

Find out More!

* Joyful Courage Website

* Joyful Courage Podcast

We want to hear from you! Give us a call at 877-323-3239 and leave us a message with your comments and questions.  Butcher Box is a company that gives you easy access to grass-fed beef, pork and chicken. Their goal is to make grass-fed beef, pork and chicken more accessible than ever before. We have tried this meat and it is simply amazing. Because of this we have partnered with them to offer you an amazing deal. If you make a ButcherBox order for your family you will get $10 OFF your order and some Ribeyes (2 x 10oz). Sound good? Order Today!

This week on the Dad Spotlight podcast we have Roger Thurow, author of The First 1000 Days, a book exploring global hunger and also how fathers can do to help end global hunger. In early 2000 Roger Thurow started to look at humanitarian issues. He started to look at hunger in the 21st century and how could this happen. As he looked at this he found that even though we have all of these great advances in many ways, the world was having huge shortages in food and greater issues of hunger across the globe.

 

In The First Thousand Days, Roger Thurow found that the first 1000 days in life are so critical for the development of infants. He started to look at families impacted by hunger. He looked at farmers that had malnourished kids. Through this research, he found that the first 1000 days, which started from the beginning of the pregnancy were critical for the long-term health of the child. The farmers that he looked would have to make choices on whether the family would have food or medicine, or food or clothes. Roger Thurow‘s heart was hurting from the families as he could not step in as a researcher or it would have altered the actual outcome of the research that he was conducting. Roger Thurow also found that there was a crucial role for a father in the life of a child too. It is not just the mother, that makes a difference, but the father is vastly important in regards to In the book he follows some families through their 1000 days in India, Guatemala and Chicago. In the book you will see the important to access to nutrition, clean water, food and more. You also will see the parallels between the areas around the world as well as the differences too. You will also see some of the main cultural differences too that will allow you see the challenges the each of the families, fathers and mothers have with their families. We want to hear from you! Give us a call at 877-323-3239 and leave us a message with your comments and questions.  Butcher Box is a company that gives you easy access to grass-fed beef, pork and chicken. Their goal is to make grass-fed beef, pork and chicken more accessible than ever before. We have tried this meat and it is simply amazing. Because of this we have partnered with them to offer you an amazing deal. If you make a ButcherBox order for your family you will get $10 OFF your order and some Ribeyes (2 x 10oz). Sound good? Order Today!

If you have not yet gotten your free guide: 15 Low Cost Ways To Engage With Your Kids – Pick it up today

As always, please swing by to visit us on iTunes and Stitcher to stay connected to the most up-to-date happenings with the podcast. Also, if you are on iTunes  and you are a listener, please leave us a review as this helps other people find us too!