Here’s the topic of the day: Do your kids get allowance? Do they have to earn it? Money is on everyone’s mind these days and it was a spirited topic during a recent Thursday evening Tweet Chat that I host, called #DadChat**. Tweet Chats are growing as different communities band together for an hour or so and chat with each other using a name and hashtag (the # symbol).
As many of you know, my family and I have become friends with a girl’s school in Agona Swedru, Ghana. I’ve gotten to know Pastor Frank Bennin and his children, and his extended family of young girls called the Alolites Unto Such (the link is to their Facebook Page). My son, Aaron, “chats” with them on Facebook and you can see his Archie comics among the box of book and things they just received, plus other books of his he chose to send to them.
I’ve written extensively about them, how we got to know each other, and the value of giving in various columns and articles such as these (more can be found in the blog section):
A Story of Giving – You ALWAYS Get More When You Give!
Tweets during my June 16, 2011 “talk” at the 140conf, New York
The following 81 tweets, pasted exactly as they were tweeted, occurred in the 35 minutes during and after my 10-minute “talk.” 54 took place during the 10 minutes I spoke! The time-stamp is PST, so they all took place 3-hours later in New York time. Read my personal review of the conference and my trip to New York with my son, too. While these tweet links appear “live,” they all seem to go back to my home page on Hootsuite, fyi:
View from the Observatory at the Empire State Building
My “talk” at the #140conf – Dads Are Parents, Too – Video taken by Aaron Sallan
Everyone in the world of Social Media understands the value of networking, the tools of the Internet, the various places to “travel” along the web, and occasionally the value of leaving the comfort of your laptop. There are many major conferences held annually in the U.S. and internationally, but my recent attendance at the June 15-16, 2011 140conf in New York combined it all to offer this shy, reserved, dad blogger the time of his life — and to provide my 14-year-old son with literally the trip of his life.
When I grew up, there were wonderful dads that were the staple of television. These TV dads were an ideal that we all realized was a bit too perfect, but these dads (and moms, for that matter), made us feel good. I liked Ward Cleaver (Hugh Beaumont on “Leave It To Beaver”). I liked Steven Keaton (Michael Gross on “Family Ties”).
Carroll O’Connor broke precedent dramatically with his portrayal of Archie Bunker in “All In the Family,” but under his occasionally crass, racist, and sexist blue-collar worker there was still a loving and caring father! And, later on, everyone loved Cliff Huxtable, played by Bill Cosby on the long-running hit show that bore his name. Bill Cosby’s “Dad” was named the number one TV dad of all-time by TIME magazine!
The best family movies, kids movies, and movies about parents and family, have undergone some radical changes in my lifetime. Scene: Woman in wedding dress, sick to her gills, runs out of immaculate dress store into street. She can’t “hold it” any longer and sits down, in the middle of the street, and craps her pants. Those are her words in the dialogue she expresses moments later, though she uses another word for “craps.”
Was it funny? Yep. Was it the worst the movie had to offer in the way of graphic language, sexual situations, and bathroom humor? Nope. Was the movie successful? Yep. Would you as a dad or mom really want to sit with your 11-year-old son or daughter during this movie’s opening sequence in which the lead character was humping a guy in every conceivable position and with every conceivable vocal utterance associated with sex? I doubt it.
Technology has me in its grasp. It won’t let go. It’s got me by the proverbial – what do you call those things you juggle? Is this computer addiction? I didn’t realize that I was its victim until I reflected on my growing use and, yes, dependence on “My Tech!” But, saying I’m its “victim” is a large exaggeration since I’m really its beneficiary and it has changed my life, mostly for the better. My second career is a total result of the opportunities that modern technology and “Social Media” provide.
NOTE: My original article on our new #aDadsPov Tweet Chat got corrupted and we lost all the Disqus info – it was “My Bad” so here’s the reconstituted article with updates and all the info you need to join us on Thursdays, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., PST using the hashtag, #aDadsPov.
