Kindle FreeTime is FREE! Let me just say right up front that this is a correction/clarification from my detailed review of the Kindle Fire (and FreeTime) parental controls in Episode 32. This correction should come as a pleasant surprise to you Amazon Kindle Fire owners. Kindle FreeTime Unlimited is not free...and it comes at a price in more ways than one for Christian families. Why not buy Kindle FreeTime Unlimited: - Amazon makes content decisions for your child, not you. SpongeBob SquarePants (Numerous) Scooby-Doo (Numerous) In Search of the Fog Zombie The Avatar's Return (The Last Airbender Movie) Where does Love come from? Book description from Amazon, “Where does love come from? Does it grow on a tree? Or swim in the sea? This collection of silly questions explains a complicated emotion in a fun, entertaining way that children can easily understand. Where Does Love Come From? concludes with a declaration that readers likely already know . . . that "love comes from your heart." Privacy Another example of how technology is breaking down your expectation of privacy. StormFly Nowcomputing.com The creators of  StormFly have cleverly packaged the same basic technology that many kids use to get around filters installed on home computers. The product was successfully funded through Kickstarter. The intent is to allow kids to take their computer wherever they go...on their wrists. Proceed with caution. 101 Minute Challenge Use GOOGLE or Bing to search for "minutes in a week" and the answer you get is 10,080. Divide that by 100 and you get 100.8. So 101 minutes (100.8 rounded up) equals 1% of your week. We revisit the Fathers Mandate part 1 of 8 which was highlighted in Daddy Life Episode #12. I challenge you to dedicate 101 minutes of your week to one of the following: Your family together for 101 minutes outside of normal meal times (Good) A total of 101 minute with each child throughout the week (Better) 101 minutes dedicated, uninterrupted, with each child doing what the child wants to do (Best) Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Daddy Life

101 Minutes – FreeTime

Anne Marie Ezzo shared a blog post on her Facebook page recently that was authored by Mark Gregston. The Honest Truth about Dishonesty by Mark Gregston ”A recent Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth, by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, shows that 61% of teens admit to lying to a teacher about something important, and a whopping 76% admitted to lying to their parents last year.  Another study, this one conducted in Britain, indicates that an overwhelming 84% of teens said they’ve regularly copied information from the Internet and pasted it right into their homework. But it wasn’t necessarily those numbers that shocked me.  What really rocked me back on my heels was that this recent study of American teenagers reported that while over 50% of teenagers admitted lying, cheating, or stealing within that last year, 93% of those same kids said they are “satisfied with their personal ethics and character.” In addition, 81% of those teenagers said that “when it comes to doing what’s right, they are better than most people they know.” The point Mrs. Ezzo made was that (I quote),  “While this blog post is addressed to parents of teens, parents with younger children would be wise to heed the thoughts expressed and thereby wisely help to prevent this issues from developing in your own home. Remember "begin as you mean to go" if you desire to have an honest child, then even those 'creative stories' need to have boundaries, we want to set our younger children [let alone teens] for success and direct help keep them on the right path.” Mark went on to offer advice to parents on how to shift the trends so that teens embrace the virtue of truth over the norm of lying. Mark’s very first recommendation to “Monitor Media” steps into my area of expertise so I want to expand on his advice. We all know that we can’t monitor every single thing that our kids do. Even if we try we have to be realistic and admit that if we are faced with a kid that is already characterized by dishonesty, deception, and lying then they probably will take steps to avoid our efforts to monitor. How many of us can actually keep up with our kids in terms of technology anyway? I have shared this example before, but I believe it is worth repeating again and again.  Technology security is more about behavior than the technology! You can try to monitor and control your kid’s Internet or TV access, but you are only treating the symptom. You must get to the heart if the issue and then end result will be that your child will self regulate their Internet, TV, movie, and gaming activity. They are going to get there soon enough so you might as well teach them early. Teach Your Kids to Use the TV Remote Sounds crazy doesn't it? One of the things we joke about as parents is how much more kids understand about the DVD/DVR and how to operate it. But do they really understand the most important features? As a parent, the two most important buttons on a remote are the “Last Channel” button (sometimes called a Recall or last) and the “MUTE” button. That’s right. Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Character Training with a TV Remote

Kindle Fire FreeTime Parental Controls How Kindle Fire FreeTime works FreeTime is an App that some preloaded on new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD readers from Amazon. What Kindle FreeTime does well - Control amount of time kids spend on the three categories available (Apps, Video, Books) - Restrict access to parent Kindle system apps, videos, Internet, Music*, Books - Tracks book reading progress separately between parent and each of the kid profiles in Kindle FreeTime. My wife and my son are both reading The Roman, The Twelve, and The King by Jenny L. Cote. My son generally stays ahead of my wife so his place is saved in his FreeTime profile and does not affect the last read place saved by my wife in the main Kindle OS. Kindle FreeTime failures with some workarounds - Music is not accessible from within Kindle FreeTime with apps and services built in by default Workaround: Install a music playing app. Then add the Music player app to your child’s Kindle FreeTime Apps. WARNING: The music app will burn up app time. There is no way to limit screen time per App so all apps count towards daily limit. - Kindle opens into the last profile used in FreeTime or the main full featured profile if FreeTime was not active during last shutdown. Workaround: -  Kindle Fire has the ability to load a screen lock pin. We share this with our oldest son who is the primary user. We (my wife and I) are diligent to log into FreeTime and enter into Riley’s profile so that the Kindle will open back into his profile when the screen lock pin is entered. He gets to protect access to his apps and books from his younger brothers and we know he is only accessing his content because the Parental Controls password must be entered to get to the root OS of the Kindle Fire. Kindle FreeTime Feature Requests Wish List - Five minute warning before time allocation is up - FreeTime profiles tied to screen lock PINs - Add a music category that works like video category where parents can choose which songs kids can listen to. Then FreeTime App time is not eaten up by listening to music with 3rd party app. PARENTING News The Ozz family is growing. Babywise Friendly Blog Network - Check them out The Journey of Parenthood Childwise Chat Chronicles of a Babywise Mom Daddy Life Graceful Mom My Baby Sleep Guide http://www.babywisebooks.com/ Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Kindle Fire FreeTime Parental Controls Review

Credit card and Debit card theft Norfolk Naval Base McDonald’s Cashier Admits to Stealing Credit Card Data DeLand Florida Chili's Resurant server skims $24,000 from debit and credit cards. iPhone 5 and iOS6 Tablet Crunch - Tim Cook Apology for Apple iOS 6 Maps Find My iPhone "It happens. You misplace your iPhone or your iPad or your iPod touch. Luckily, iOS 6 and iCloud now offer Lost Mode, making it even easier to use Find My iPhone to locate and protect a missing device.7 Immediately lock your missing iPhone with a four-digit passcode and send it a message displaying a contact number. That way a good Samaritan can call you from your Lock screen without accessing the rest of the information on your iPhone. And while in Lost Mode, your device will keep track of where it’s been and report back to you anytime you check in with the Find My iPhone app." Source: Apple.com Kindle Store Search Risks Searching for popular children’s books in the Amazon Kindle Store reveals inappropriate material for kids. Hiding status updates on Facebook If I no longer comment on your Facebook status updates then it may be because I have chose to hide your junk. In this episode I explain how. Lying to your kids Ad Council encourages lying to your children in this YouTube video in support of 1st Lady Michele Obama's Let's Move Campaign 50 Shades of Lying on The Graceful Mom Blog Other Links Mentioned: Home School Support Network Daddy Life Episode 8   Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Apple iOS 6 Upgrade Security Features

What 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.   Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Halloween and Mediocrity

This podcast episode contains an interview with Matt Due to complications at birth, Matt was afflicted with cerebral palsy, which resulted in his permanently crippled condition. Surprisingly, a disability resulting from Cerebral Palsy (CP) has never stood between him and his life goals with his career, marriage, or in his parenting.  From the moment he was born, Matt demonstrated his ability to overcome the odds.  During the birthing process, he was deprived of oxygen for more than 20 minutes.  This lack of oxygen resulted in damage to the cerebral cortex. While the lack of oxygen did not affect Matt’s cognitive ability, it significantly impacted his muscle control and movement. Matt's Web Site: SOAR1.net More from this episode: Happy Father's Day Happy Anniversary to my wonderful wife Sherry.   Also mentioned in this episode: Understand Childhood Fears on Childwise Chat Riley's review of The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud on The Home School Support Network Large Families on Purpose Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Matt Rutherford – A Dad with Cerebral Palsy

Dads, Marriage Counts and you need to take the lead in your home. Get to know your wife and children better Love Languages Episode 13 Demonstrate Love to your wife Temperaments Episode 21 Lead devotions: We just started doing things different. Pray a simple prayer asking God to speak to you. Reading a chapter from a children’s bible. Pray and thank God and ask Him to fill your needs. Be present Attend appointments (school, medical, etc) (Mom’s let dads help) Take your kids camping...even if in the back yard Go for a bike ride Being a great husband even when you disagree No name calling Leave the past in the past LISTEN Keep your hands to yourself Allow a disagreement resolution to play out in from of the kids Boys want to be like Daddy Girls want to gain Dad’s approval Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/DaddyLife Levi’s Birthday Our youngest turned two on Memorial Day Babywise Friendly Blog Segment God’s Faithfulness Through Infertility   Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

What Makes a Father a Daddy?

Hazardous Journeys Society Vision Forum - Discipleship and Education for Christian Families Jonathan Park Radio Adventure Series - Great adventures to educate children on the facts about creation and evolution. In this episode I quote from: http://atheists.org/content/christmas "No Adam and Eve means no need for a savior. It also means that the Bible cannot be trusted as a source of unambiguous, literal truth. It is completely unreliable, because it all begins with a myth, and builds on that as a basis. No Fall of Man means no need for atonement and no need for a redeemer. You know it." Christians are the only real free thinkers in the evolution/creation debate. Evolutionist have not interest in teaching their kids opposing theories. We as Christian parents are not afraid to teach our kids the unproven evolutionary theories. We know what is at stake. Christians have a eternity with their children to loose if they miss teaching their kids to defend their faith. Building a strong defense requires some degree of understanding about the enemy. Things for Dad's to do with boys: Biking - All my boys like biking even if it is riding in the little pull-along trailer/cart that attaches to my bicycle. Gardening - This is an awesome place to learn about growing food and how God works in our lives. What is planted in our hearts is what grows up and comes out though our words, actions, and attitudes. Building - Build a raise flow bed for your home garden. Build a toy or a pice of furniture. It does not matter, just spend time teaching your boys how to use tools safely. Fixing - Fix those broken toys before you simply trash them t buy new ones. You may think you have more time than money, but no amount of money can replace the time spent with your kids. Hunting - Many dads and moms start to take their kids hunting at a young age. Fishing - Every young boy can catch a fish before they are even five years old. Cooking/Grilling - Teaching your kids how to cook that fish. Playing Games - I recommend things like chess, Risk, or Monopoly. These games provide a much better environment.   Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Growing Boys into Men

I am here to help you Dads to be the parents that God intended for your to be. Yes folks, Things are changing. Regular listeners may have heard from intro that I am changing things up a little. I am refining the focus of the Daddy Life podcast. Feedback continues to prove that dads are hungry for more encouragement on the parenting front. I almost exclusively get feedback from the non-technical content so that is where I am going to focus attention. There are plenty of dads out there covering the things that entertain. I am here to equip and challenge you to rise above the level of mediocrity in your marriage and in your parenting. I will add tech tips in as subjects questions are raised. As in recent episode, I will only include a tech time in occasionally moving forward. So what am I talking about this week: This week I am going to provide you with an audio version of my review of Kirk Cameron’s new documentary titled Monumental: In Search of America’s National Treasure. Only you will get more in the audio because I can bring Kirk into from the trailers and let him tell you about the movie in his own words. Before we get into that I want to talk about Easter. If you are new to the show you will know that I am very big on relationships. In particular I am big on telling the truth to your kids concerning things like Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. And you guessed it, I am in favor of keeping it real and true concerning the Easter Bunny. We do Easter baskets and egg hunts, but we tell our kids the truth about where the candy eggs and chocolate bunny's come from. There is no magical bunny. Really! Seriously! Also mentioned in this episode are some points from David Platt’s book titled Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. Monumental is Highly recommended! DEMAND THE MOVIE Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Podcast Review of Monumental and the Easter Bunny

Rachel from over at the blog titled My Baby Sleep Guide is the winner of the latest (2012) edition of On Becoming Babywise. Speaking of Babywise, there is a new Nap App available for the iPhone from PocketParenting.com. This app has been developed by the same folks that publish On Becoming Babywise. There are demo videos and screenshots on the web site.   Asking your child for Forgiveness and Make it Right Asking your child to forgive you for something you did to hurt them is hard. If you are a headstrong natural born alpha male leader type, it can be extremely more difficult to master this process. It takes an extra degree of humility. I recently embarrassed my nine year old son Riley. I raised my voice to him in front of some neighborhood kids. A few minutes later Riley let me know (respectfully) that he had been embarrassed by my tone. I was still hot and sent him to his room so that I could cool off. After I cooled off I went up to Riley’s room and sat on the bed next to him. I asked him if he would forgive me for embarrassing him in front of his friends by raising my voice. He said yes and gave me a big hug. This about where things end for how most people deal with forgiveness. Our friends Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo taught us better in Growing Kids God’s Way. They teach that when wrong is done and forgiveness is asked for an give, there is still a need to restore the relationship. Then I asked Riley how I could make it right with him. Many people apologize or say they are sorry. Very few ever ask how they can make things right. By making things right I mean that we should try to restore the relationship. Tech Time Droid - Angry Birds Ads -  How to stop advertisements while your child plays Angry Birds on your Android OS. Using your ICE (In Case of Emergency) contacts on your phone. Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Ask Your Child to Forgive You

Dads are parents and they should act like it. Be weird. Be different. Be more than just a biological father to your children. Be a Daddy. The transcript from the last half of this episode can be found posted on each of the blogs listed below on Wednesday 3/14/2012. Check them out and add them all to your RSS reader. Babywise Friendly Networked Blogs Monday 3/12: Valerie Plowman, Chronicles of a Babywise Mom  Tuesday 3/13: Maureen Monfore, Childwise Chat  Wednesday 3/14: Hank Osborne, Daddy Life Thursday 3/15: Rachel Rowell, My Baby Sleep Guide Friday 3/16: Bethany Lynch, The Graceful Mom Giveaway - Hot off the press is the Revised and Updated edition of On Becoming Babywise. Everyone who subscribes for the newsletter before midnight March 21, 2012 will be eligible the giveaway. The subscription form is provided below or you can use the one in the sidebar. Subscribe to the DaddyLife.net Newsletter here: Thanks to Andy from the betterdadpodcast.com Thanks to my friend Manny for his encouraging words following the last episode. Leave feedback in the comments below or contact us via: Daddy Life on Twitter Voice Mail: (864) 372-9833 Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Dads Are Parents Too – Babywise Friendly Blogs

This podcast episode contains an interview with a man's man who is raising a house full of girls. Stacy Ratliff is an independent video consultant, producer, and editor with over 25 years of experience. He has produced a ton of content in the hunting/fishing/shooting categories over the past two decades. Stacy wrote and produced the ESPN Ultimate NASCAR 100 Defining Moments, The Bassmaster Yearbook, Driven to Hunt and much more that has aired on ESPN, the Outdoor Channel, and the Sportsman Channel. He has done camera work on the National Finals Rodeo, music videos, commercials, and industrial films. You can see some of Stacy's video work on his Vimeo page. Stacy is they guy who took Dale Earnhardt Jr on his first hunt. Stacy worked with the three time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart on a show title Driven to Hunt. in that episode they were working with some kids through the Make A Wish Foundation. Stacy has also worked with NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt as well as Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Kevin Harvik, Martin Truex and many more. Stacy has been married to Anne for 21 years. They have three teen girls ages 14, 16, and 18. They are key couple leaders in the Growing Families International parenting ministry. Stacy has recently moved into the role of being an independent video consultant, producer, and editor. I am sure he would greatly appreciate any work you can send in his direction. You can connect with Stacy on LinkedIn. Leave feedback in the comments below or contact us via: Daddy Life on Twitter Voice Mail: (864) 372-9833 Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Raising Teen Girls – Interview

Dad's should teach their kids good wireless security practices and configure home wireless networks to be as secure as possible. This episode provides an explanation on the frequency of episode productions. I also provide an update on our son Caden. There are two main areas of concern: Your home wireless network configuration Your and your family member’s wireless devices Home Wireless Home wireless comes in many flavors. The most popular brands of home wireless devices, also called access points, or routers are Linksys (Owned by Cisco) Net Gear, D-Link, Apple, Belkin, and Motorola. Use good wireless encryption. WPA and WPA2 is the current, common encryption standard you should probably be using — though, of course, you should use something stronger as soon as it becomes available to you. Technology is advancing every day, on both sides of the encryption arms race, after all. Use a strong pre-shared key (password) IhagviW,NC Build a DMZ or add a separate router for guests and leave it open access Easy stuff to keep out the kiddie hackersDon’t broadcast your SSID. MAC Filtering Avoid WEP WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) Vulnerability The following manufactures have published instructions on how to protect your network: Belkin Netgear D-Link While Linksys routers do have an option to disable WPS...it does not actual disable the protocol.  I expect we will see firmware updates for more major maufatures very soon. When you or your family members go ut with wireless devices: Firewall your laptop Limit your Privacy activity Use VPNs Turn of wireless network cards OFF Leave feedback in the comments below or contact us via: Daddy Life on Twitter Voice Mail: (864) 372-9833 Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Wireless Security

In this episode I have a very special guest. My wife Sherry and I introduce you to the four temperaments. Sherry and I also co-host the Home School Support Network (HSSN) podcast and blog. We have produced a HSSN episode on temperaments as well. Why temperaments?  Our understanding of temperaments has been most helpful in understanding what makes our family members tick. This is helpful in a marriage relationship, with understanding why grandma and grandpa do things a certain way, and most importantly what makes our children “tick”... so to speak. We have taught parents on the subject of temperaments for over five years. We have learned over the years from books, observations of parents we have mentored, and from various speakers throughout the country. Your temperament is God given and does not change. Each temperament has strengths, weaknesses, and one specific area of weakness that is more dominant than other weaknesses. There are four types with many “blends”- most people have a primary and secondary and keep in mind you may have the strengths of one and the weakness of another. What are the four temperaments we will cover in this podcast episode?  Choleric (lion): task oriented-extrovert Sanguine (otter): people oriented-extrovert Melancholy (beaver): task oriented-introvert Phlegmatic (golden retriever): people oriented- introvert Resources mentioned in this episode:   Spirit-Controlled Temperament by Tim LaHaye Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself by Florence Littauer The Treasure Tree: Helping Kids Understand Their Personality by Dr. John Trent and Gary Smalley Wired That Way: An Easy-to-Use Questionnaire for Helping People Discover Their God-Given Personality Type Leave feedback in the comments below or contact us via: Daddy Life on Twitter Voice Mail: (864) 372-9833 Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Temperaments and Parenting

Gingerbread Train I talked about Family Identity in Episode 12. It is important for dads to cultivate a sense of family identity. Getting your family together for a project like an annual gingerbread train or house is a great way to build family identity. Enter your creation into a competition. Have some fun with the project by creating some custom cars. Read more about the annual Osborne Family Gingerbread Train on Grill'n Time. The Father's Mandate - Where to learn more? Best - Take a Growing Kids God's Way class in a small group setting Better - Go through the videos as a couple at home (GFI.org sale) Good - Read On Becoming Childwise: Parenting Your Child from 3-7 Years Find a Growing Kids God's Way Class in your local area by visiting the GrowingKids.org web site. Use the "General Ministry or Curriculum" contact email address to ask about classes in your area. Listen to the eight part series on The Father's Mandate 1.  A father must cultivate a sense of family identity. 2.  A father must regularly demonstrate love to his wife. 3.  A father must understand and respect his child’s private world. 4.  A father must give his children the freedom to fail. 5.  A father must be the encourager of the family. 6.  A father must guard his tongue and his tone and learn to measure his response against the excitement on their faces. 7.  A father must routinely embrace his children. 8.  A father must build the trusting relationship on God’s Word, not on human wisdom. Update on Caden - He broke his arm and the next week was hospitalized with pneumonia. Tech Time: Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson - Security Now Podcast Which apps are safer? Apps from the Android market or the Apple App store? Leave feedback in the comments below or contact us via: Daddy Life on Twitter Voice Mail: (864) 372-9833 Subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or RSS:

Episode 20 – Holiday Traditions

Rising above mediocrity in marriage and parenting. Daddy Life provides Internet and technology security information. Daddy Life teaches parents how to train children to use technology safely including Internet, computers, tablets, e-readers, smart phones, apps, and much more. Daddy Life parenting and marriage advice is based on solid Christian biblical principles. The host is a homeschool dad of five children. While the host works full-time as a cyber security expert for the Department of Defense (DOD), the views expressed on this podcast are the personal opinions and advice of the host and do not represent the DOD in any way.

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