dads Archives - NAPPA Awards

July 28, 2020 by

We’re excited to introduce you to entrepreneur and dad Jordan Weiner, the founder behind the 2020 NAPPA Award winning How to Be Good Behavioral Learning Kits.

Jordan Weiner with daughter Lauren Alexa.

We would love for our readers to get to know you better. Tell us a little about your daily life.

In addition to investing time daily in children’s educational businesses I also own Internet Consulting, Inc. Working on these businesses aren’t work to me – it’s play. I am a single father, which is my most important job/love. I truly live an American Dream fairytale life, which I am grateful to the core of my being. Everyday I wake up and wonder how did I get to be so lucky in life, and I try and give back as much as possible.

One of my favorite parts of the job is seeing our illustrators bring our characters and products to life. Knowing our work will help kids strengthen and expand life skills and self-worth. The work is chicken noodle soup for my mind, heart, and soul. Seeing and hearing the kids, parents, grandparents, teachers, nannies, babysitters, counselors, and therapists all say how much they love our materials makes getting all the details done fun.

What was your motivation behind launching this company and developing these behavior education kits?

How To Be Good For Santa was my daughter’s, Lauren Alexa Weiner’s, flash of genius when she was only 7 years old. She was playing a SIM’s game and building an online bookstore when I asked her what some of the titles of her books where. She rattled off some amazing titles such as “The Meaning of Life” and I forget most of the others … but when she said “How To Be Good For Santa” I immediately knew that it was a flash of genius because what kid doesn’t want to know the secrets for how to be good for Santa and what parent wouldn’t instantly by that product as long as it was truly top tier award winning materials that would genuinely help their kid(s) build life skills?

A few of my motivation goals for launching this business where to show my daughter that she has million dollar ideas, to help her learn real business in the business world, and to help her get into a top college by brining her idea to fruition. Other core motivational goals are to genuinely help kids have fun learning to build life skills and making it easy for guardians to have access to award winning materials that help their kids live happy and wonderful lives.

I help a lot of businesses and people with Internet Consulting, Inc., which is what is funding How To Be Good For Santa and How To Be Good with Polly the Parrot (The Polly the Parrot product versions are for people that don’t believe in Santa and for the educational market). By the time I die, I want to leave something truly humanitarianly beneficial behind – and what better way to invest time, money and my human resources than helping children build life skills and self-worth? The pay it forward returns are exponential.

Our products are amazing, with hand illustrated water colored animal characters that kids, parents/grand parents, teachers/educators, counselors/therapists, and everyone that sees them love.

Why do you think character development is so important for kids?

Helping children build life skills and self-worth provides a solid foundation for them to do well and feel good about who they are. If we invest a little time, efforts and resources while the children are learning how to act it truly helps all stakeholders. Knowledge is power. Kids minds are sponges, by being a little proactive instead of reactive we can increase our children’s positive to negative ratio, helping them know how to be safe, how to act properly so the ongoing cause and effect is in a positive direction. An evolutionary advantage humans have is the ability to create tools and pass knowledge down through our generations… so our children don’t have to recreate the wheel for experiences we know have already learned. Investing time helping kids with their character development will pay exponentially in their lives as well as the lives they influence.

What do you enjoy doing when not working?

I love raising my daughter, spending quality time with my family and friends. Playing any type of game, watching quality movies, I love to cook and feed the people in my life, I used to love to travel but the pandemic put a stop to that for a while.

Favorite place to be with your family?

Anywhere as long as I am with family and friends. I’ve done everything from parachute to scuba dive and try all types of experiences in my life’s journey. I truly appreciate the nuances of life and living in the moment, the where and what are not as important as the with who.

Best life advice?

One of my characters Georgey the Gerbil who specializes in greeting people nicely sums up my best advice in life “Run through life happy and free while treating others with dignity!” A couple other Jordanisms are everyone goes through ups and downs and you must make it through the lows to get to the highs. Positive actions usually get positive reactions and negativity usually gets negative responses so for your own best interest it is best to be kind to others. I also believe that you can only do so much with your own hands and thoughts and that to truly leverage yourself and ideas in life you need to work well with others by building a strong relationships with quality people. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and/or admit to being wrong. Live to learn and enjoy the ride, you only go through this life once so try and be kind and help everyone, so you don’t have any regrets.

Best advice for dads?

Say and do positive things for the kids, role model how you want your kids to act, and most important is time on task… spend as much time with your kids as possible and they will turn out knowing they were loved and be good humans.

April 23, 2020 by

One fun side-effect of being at home is that everyone has lots more time to make – and eat – breakfast. This French toast recipe from La Brea Bakery makes use of their wonderful baguette (in case you didn’t finish it off with dinner) and doesn’t require any special equipment or technique. You can put the whole thing together the night before, then quickly finish it up in the morning to kick-start everyone’s day.

La Brea Bakery Oven Puffed French Toast

1 La Brea Bakery baguette (unsliced)

10 eggs

½ cup all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup milk

1 cup dark beer

Pinch of coarse salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

Cut the bread diagonally into ¾-inch slices and place in a dish in a single layer. Whisk together the eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, milk, beer and salt. Pour over both sides of the bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a very large ovenproof skillet, melt the butter. Add the soaked bread, and brown on one side. Turn the bread over and place the skillet in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the toast is puffed and golden brown on the bottom.

For Los Angeles residents, fresh-baked artisan breads and pastries are available for 25% off for pick-up at the La Brea Bakery Café on South La Brea. The café’s full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner is available for pick-up, and also through Grubhub, Postmates, UberEats and DoorDash. In addition, health care workers, first responders and essential front-line employees can receive a free boxed meal that includes a sandwich, chips and a cookie when they present their badge or proof of employment at the South La Brea café.

April 23, 2020 by

When it comes to parenting in the COVID-19 era, the onslaught of “new normal” practices is, frankly, exhausting. But parents everywhere are rising to the occasion and finding ways to adjust.

In the realm of co-parenting – the term used most for parents who are divorced, separated or not in a relationship with each other – the challenge is especially real. Conflicts about shared custody, safety protocols and court-ordered support payments are on the rise. Family law attorneys are being inundated with calls and questions about co-parenting daily.

Communication, consideration and cooperation are key to co-parenting that is best for your child. Photo by Jonathan Daniels on Unsplash

Some of the more frequent inquiries are:

Can I have visits with my child during quarantine?
I don’t live near my child’s mother or father. How can I visit?
My former spouse cleans offices for a living. I’m scared for them to have custody. What should I do?
I need to work, and my co-parent isn’t helping with childcare. What do I do?

There are also questions about financial support, and the list goes on and on.

I sat down with Judge Sherrill A. Ellsworth, co-founder of the parenting app CoParenter and past presiding judge of Riverside County, and Laura Wasser, author of “It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way: How to Divorce Without Destroying Your Family or Bankrupting Yourself” and founder of It’s Over Easy online divorce services.

Ellsworth and Wasser agree that the first step during this unprecedented time is to take a deep breath and think before you act. Understand that you are in a very different situation. Take away the animosity for the moment. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to go rushing to an attorney at this point, because most of the courts are closed, and you are not going to get a hearing,” says Wasser. “The courts are only dealing with domestic violence cases. So, save money and save your child’s emotional wellbeing during this time.”

First, think about what you need to do now. “This is about empowering parents to do the best thing for their family financially, emotionally and at this time for safety purposes,” says Ellsworth. “At the heart of this is keeping children safe and families safe. How can we plan for right this minute?”

Both experts advise discussing crucial questions together and putting everything in writing. You can always revise and readjust later. Here are a few things to consider:

Who is an essential worker?
Whose health might be especially at risk due to underlying conditions?
What is the family’s safety plan? All must adhere to it.
Whose household is safest?
Can co-parents safely exchange custody?
How can co-parents remain consistent during this time and keep the children’s needs at the forefront?
What is the schedule for each parent to see their child who might be sheltering in place in the other parent’s home?
What is the plan for making up days missed?
What is the “new normal” schedule in relation to school, chores and tech time?

Wasser believes that what she calls the “three Cs” will also help. “Even without a global crisis, we generally try to recommend that parents try to adhere to the three C’s: communication, consideration and cooperation,” she says, “and really, really listen to each other, keeping in mind that there are court orders in place and to the extent that you can adhere to those court orders, you should do so.”

Wasser’s CoParenter app is designed to help parents get through the most trying times. It is dedicated to eliminating high-conflict divorce from the list of adverse childhood experiences (ACES). According to co-founder Jonathan Verk, the platform has helped divert more than 20,000 cases from family courts. The app allows users to resolve disputes online in real time with a qualified mediator, and also helps them manage co-parenting duties via a calendar, messaging and journaling functions.

Start by taking that breath, as Ellsworth and Wasser suggest, and resolve to find ways to agree and to settle disputes during these difficult times. Along the way, practice compassion for yourself, your ex and, most importantly, for your children. If we rethink how our actions and words impact our children’s health and wellbeing, this situation could create a reset for the entire extended family.

Donna Tetreault is a journalist and host of the podcast Kids Under Construction.

April 15, 2020 by NAPPA Awards Team

Our homes have always been our havens and now more than ever we are grateful to have a cozy place with our families to shelter in and face the current crisis with strength and hope.

With kids learning from home and parents working from home, we want to share a few NAPPA Award-winning products that will bring a sense of security, some ease and fun to daily activities.

Baby & Toddler Proof with Ease

Keep your little explorer safer while at home with Safety 1st Furniture Straps. These universal straps work in 3 different configurations to keep your children safe. Secure your TV to the Wall; Secure your TV to your Furniture; Secure your TV to your Furniture and your Furniture to the Wall (first strap of its kind).

While your curious toddler explores the house, the Safety 1st Adhesive Magnetic Lock will keep them out of restricted cabinets and drawers. Each magnetic lock provides a strong, childproof hold, and can be easily mounted to most surfaces. Operates with a magnetic key that should be stored in a high or secure spot. Adhesive backing allows for easy installation.

Make Brushing Teeth More Fun

BriteBrush is a game changer for kids who don’t always love to brush their teeth. This toothbrush uses songs, games and live coaching to encourage proper brushing in accordance with the Modified Bass Technique, a method that is widely endorsed by dentists. The brush also uses proprietary, smart sensor technology and a vibrating handle that encourages total mouth coverage and side-change recognition – and is equipped with a Parent Check Light to provide peace of mind that children are brushing correctly.

Add Ease to Your Cooking Time

We are all spending a lot of time home cooking now and the Kitchen Gizmo Snap N’ Strain’s universal design will take the strain out of straining. This heat-resistant, silicone colander is a practical way to get your food strained thoroughly while avoiding transferring the food out of the pot.

Keep Your Makeup Tools Clean

We know that your time is valuable and the Luxe Makeup Brush Cleaner is here to help. Who wants to take the time to not only clean makeup brushes, but wait for it to dry? The Luxe spinner uses the newest technology to get all the dirt, grime and oil off of your brush within seconds of pressing the handle button.

For more award-winning products visit nappaawards.com