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With help from guest authors, experts, and community and business leaders, the Familius Helping Families Be Happy podcast explores topics and issues that connect families to the nine habits of a happy family: love, play, learn, work, talk, heal, read, eat, and laugh together.
Episodes
Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
Giving the Gift of Memories Through Books with Megan Alms
Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
On today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Dr. Carla Marie Manly, a practicing clinical psychologist, Wellness advocate, and author based in Sonoma County, California talks to Megan Alms. She will be talking with us about her upcoming book Creature From the Woods.
Episode Highlights
- 01:44: Megan talks about her freelance journey and what motivated her to write a picture book.
- 03:00: Megan shares how her sister inspired her to write the book Creature From the Woods.
- 03:30: Megan shares how she gravitated toward being a big sister and being part of her imaginary world.
- 06:50: Megan's big message through her book is a focus on unconditional love. It's a fun little book to read and go through all the rhymes and act out all the motions.
- 07:58: The deer fawn taking timid steps was really this adult figure in Megan's life watching her take chances and take and learn these new things, and the owl was curious and wanted to learn new things.
- 09:06: The book talks about emotional intelligence and relationship building. Just reading through it can help bring back childhood memories.
- 10:57: Carla recalls her reading experience with her parents. She has memories of laughing; her parents used to read, and they tripped over their words a little bit and they would just laugh and laugh.
- 11:48: Megan talks about tenderness and wanting to cling to childhood moments.
- 13:29: Sometimes quietness gives you a chance to sit and think and commit to memories.
- 14:21: When we read to a child, we are giving that gift of tenderness to the child and to ourselves, says Meghan.
- 17:10: Meghan shares how knowing the characters of the kid's show brings them together as a family.
- 19:07: Reading together shows love in several different ways, all at the same time.
3 Key Points
- As per Megan, her book is something that kids can look back on once they have grown up and seen various messages and fully understand.
- Meghan explains how she focuses on unconditional love and helps readers to relive memories.
- For kids and for families, it is important to find those love languages, the things that make them feel loved, and know what things make them come alive because you don't have to have all the same hobbies. But there is something about genuinely caring about a passion or a way of loving each other.
Tweetable Quotes
- "I started getting all of these ideas for all of the different fun things that I enjoyed reading when I was that age and things that I wanted to share with my sister because at the time she was a toddler, and she loved pretending she loved to pretend to be different animals." - Megan Alms
- "Your parents created that piece of reading together from very early on in your life." - Carla Marie
Resources Mentioned
- Helping Families be Happy Podcast Apple
- Megan Alms: Instagram Website
- Familius: Instagram Facebook Shop
- Podcast Editing
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Despair and Hope with Noah benShea
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
In today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Christopher Robbins, co-founder of Familius publishing, husband, father of nine, author, fisherman, backpacker, and aspirational musician based in the Central Valley of California, talks to Noah benShea, one of North America's most respected and beloved poet philosophers. He has the Pulitzer Prize-nominated and internationally best-selling author of 29 books translated into 18 languages, embraced around the world. Today they will discuss the duality of despair and hope from his most recent book - The Surfer and the Sage: A Guide to Surviving and Ride Life's Waves.
Episode Highlights
- 02:15: Life is a great party to which you have been invited. Now you have to decide what you want to wear to the party. The first thing to remember is that you get to choose not only from your clothing wardrobe but also from your emotional wardrobe.
- 02:58: Despair and hope are options that each has in each of their moments. Being filled with despair is not necessarily a flaw.
- 03:19: Those in the military remind us that hope is not a plan, and they are right. But from hope, a move to the positive can be planned.
- 03:40: Despair is not designer clothing more is it meant to be worn every day. However hope is a superhero cloak that on the tough days and even on the easy days, can shield you from despair.
- 06:30: Faith is saying things unseen, hope is hoping to see things unseen.
- 08:27: There are so many things, and we want to move towards hope.
- 10:28: As per Noah there is nothing more challenging for us in this lifetime to come to because Aristotle said that honesty is important to all wisdom.
- 11:45: We are all alone, but we are all alone together when we recognize our own aloneness, we recognize empathetically our aloneness, our brother and sister.
- 12:50: Remind other people that you hope the best for them and that the best for you will be arriving.
- 14:47: Noah suggests passing vulnerability to children this way your children will recognize that the strongest person in their life is not absent from vulnerability.
- 16:16: We are not seeking to solve all problems, but just help people explore ways to improve their lives, and help their families be happy, says Christopher.
3 Key Points
- Noah gives several real-life examples that give insights into hope and despair.
- One of the areas where we fall victim to despair is when our ego is in despair, says Noah.
- Noah talks about mental illness and the importance of seeking medical help in case feeling depressed.
Tweetable Quotes
- "I know there are people for many years I was asked to be a national philosopher, dealing with people in the field of addiction, and one of the things I would remind people that to some people dope is the is the only hope."- Noah benShea
- "I was thinking about hope versus faith the other day and somebody I think framed it for me and they framed it in a religious sense." - Christopher Robbins
- "For me, there has been no more profoundly despairing time in my life, and perhaps for those lists they were observing than when you wake up in." - Noah benShea
- "I don't think there's anything more challenging for us in this lifetime to come to because Aristotle said that honesty is important to all wisdom." - Christopher Robbins
Resources Mentioned
- Helping Families Be Happy Podcast Apple
- Familius: Instagram
- Podcast Editing
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Stories at Bedtime with Heather Aranda of The Family Arcade
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
On today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Dr. Carla Marie Manly is a practicing clinical psychologist, wellness advocate, and author based in Sonoma County. Today she is talking to Heather Aranda, of the Family Arcade.
Episode Highlights
- 01:11: Heather is blessed with a total of eight children.
- 03:33: Heather is The Family Arcade on Instagram and she has a whopping 131,000 followers.
- 04:59: Heather shares how she started the YouTube channel and then later shifted to Instagram.
- 07:06: Heather shares how she gets a sense of completion that one never gets in the most beautiful way when raising children.
- 08:16: Heather loves Instagram and YouTube. The world she has created it is very exciting. She loves what she can do without the written work.
- 09:51: Heather explains how post-COVID she prompted her children to take up virtual classes.
- 11:38: Heather talks about the bedtime routine that she follows with her kids.
- 13:26: Heather shares how she starts a story and then another kid adds to it, and the one on the bottom bunk might list for something that comes next.
- 14:43: Heather shares how long it takes her to put eight children to bed.
- 15:40: Sometimes kids need to let go and the best way to do that is with the story, regardless of what their day was like.
- 16:22: When it comes to new stories, Heather's children play a big part.
- 20:48: Heather shares how she wants the videos to be about her family, regardless of who has the camera, who is recording.
- 21:38: What makes really excellent families is when everybody is working to support each other and the couple, the team are really cohesive and supportive of each other.
3 Key Points
- Carla and Heather discuss the importance of reading books to kids.
- Heather talks about the bedtime stories that she dramatically reads to her children.
- Heather shares how her work helps families be happy.
Tweetable Quotes
- "It's better to fight sadness with good news." - Heather Aranda
- "I decided to go with Instagram because well, it's instant and we have a lot of kids we are busy. If you want fast, quick gratification, you know to fill in the gaps and it still made the kids happy and it made me happy, and I enjoy editing so much." - Heather Aranda
- "All my children have their own song, something I fabricated." - Heather Aranda
- "As part of the winding down process, it really feels like you just incorporate it into a natural ritual that here this is the time the lights are low and let's kind of just get into the space of letting go of the day and moving into the night so we can wait for tomorrow." - Heather Aranda
Resources Mentioned
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Doubt and Faith with Shaun Tomson
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
In today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Christopher Robbins, co-founder of Familius publishing, husband, father of nine, author, fisherman, backpacker, and aspirational musician based in the Central Valley of California, talks to Shaun Tomson.
Episode Highlights
- 01:49: Shaun talks about his book and the 18 chapter that it contains. They are based on the duality of what he experiences in life and how to move from the negative to the positive.
- 03:18: There is a synthesis between religion and kind of a secular perspective in terms of it's a foundation on which we build our lives and foundation on which we build our world.
- 04:51: As per Shaun it is faith that keeps us in the direction of where we want to go.
- 06:09: Life that bends inside us, gives us hope, meaning, reason and optimism.
- 08:55: Shaun shares the heartbreaking story of losing his son and how he coped with the grief.
- 10:40: Look for help from friends, rekindle those relationships, look from help for professional people and religious people and look for science and helping nature just work in nature.
- 11:32: Christopher had many conversations with psychologist authors and it's a common denominator that they say that those people with whom they are counseling and working with those who can accept the reality of where they are right now are able to move forward and those who cannot accept it, they continue to stay in place.
- 13:05: You put more pressure on yourself and eventually you get caught in this despair and anxiety and you just stop spinning downwards and it's not dissimilar when you can't accept reality and you get caught in this cycle of conjecture, you get open cycle.
- 16:16: Help others find the beauty in the world, find the signs that God exists and loves, and then things will continue.
3 Key Points
- Shaun explains how we come from different religions, but underneath we are the same in terms of how we relate to that one God or to that energy that we believe controls the world and is responsible for the world staying on its exes.
- There is a very powerful and inspirational story in the book about how Shaun lost and then regained his faith.
- Shaun explains how forgiveness is essential to cope with one's grief.
Tweetable Quotes
- "It's a book of perspective, not prescription." - Shaun
- "I can think about faith from a religious point of view, also can think of it from a secular point of view." – Christopher
- "I think back to my athletic days as a competitor, and it's not really aligned with grief. It is aligned with what can happen when you are an athlete." – Christopher
- "Whatever your sport may be, do that and then help others, whatever that might be mentoring, teaching and doing with our projects, getting involved with the NGO that might do something, and do you create inspirational project that is in memory of the of the person you lost." - Shaun
Resources Mentioned
- Helping Families be Happy Podcast Apple
- Podcast Editing
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
The Duality of Anxious and Calm with Noah benShea
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
In today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Christopher Robbins, co-founder of Familius publishing, husband, father of nine, author, fisherman, backpacker, and aspirational musician based in the Central Valley of California talks to Noah benShea, one of North America's most respected and beloved poet philosophers. He has the Pulitzer Prize-nominated and internationally best-selling author of 29 books translated into 18 languages, embraced around the world. Today they will discuss the duality of anxiety and calm from his most recent book, The Surfer and the Sage, how to survive and ride life waves that he co-wrote with World Champion Surfer Sean.
Episode Highlights
- 01.54. Noah explains what is anxiety and calm?
- 02.30: If you think that you are going to find any plus in life without a minus or any minus in life for which you cannot find a plus.
- 02.58: Anxiety is the most common passport people use when they express how they are feeling now.
- 04.07: Think of anxiety as a balancing poll that will keep you upright on your life board as you witness waves that can threaten to topple you.
- 04.39: Calm is a word that has been idealized in every religion and teaching across time. Finding that quiet, safe place inside of you is about as good as it gets in life.
- 05.10: Choose calm when it calms your spirit, but do not choose calm when it robs you of the wild ride you want to remember for the rest of your life.
- 06.42: You have to decide what you are going to accept from your mind so that you have be able to step outside and realize you don't want to put your mind's thoughts in the driver's seat.
- 09.19: It is an ancient tradition, that in breath there is calm.
- 09.27: If you know someone who's going through an anxiety attack. One of the most common manifestations of it is you will witness them being unable to breathe.
- 11.13: Conspiring usually means people planning a robbery, but it really means people breathing together.
- 13.01: Noah talks about the 478 technique of breathing and how it works.
3 Key Points
- What people seldom realize is that anxiety is not necessarily negative.
- Don't give anxiety too much of your attention because anxiety isn't a boost, but a caution and anxiety won't improve your future.
- Noah talks about the ancient connection of breathing techniques and how it is mentioned in the bible as well.
Tweetable Quotes
- "It was clear to us that we had to write on any topic on the duality of it, because life seems to be coming and going at the same time." - Noah
- "The word anxious can by itself make you feel anxious." - Christopher
- "I remind people that the issue of being shamed by anxiety because you are so taught and tense about what is happening is a reminder that it is not an act of character to beat yourself up because you did something wrong." – Noah
- "I have a reminder when I say my prayers in the morning, I say to God I take your breath and I return your breath." - Noah
Resources Mentioned
- Helping Families be Happy Podcast Apple
- Podcast Editing
- Get the book: HERE
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Kitchen Secrets with Jason Goldstein
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
In today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Christopher Robbins, co-founder of Familius publishing, husband, father of nine, author, fisherman, backpacker, and aspirational musician based in the Central Valley of California, talks to Jason Goldstein. He is the author and creator of Chop Happy, a fantastic blog. He specializes in delicious and simple comfort dishes that showcase rich flavors, inventive ideas, and unique cooking tips and advice. Jason is the author of the Happy Sandwich, scrumptious sandwiches to make you smile. Today they are going to explore how to save money, do fewer dishes, and save time in the kitchen.
Episode Highlights
- 03.44: As per Jason, when it comes to efficient kitchen management time is usually the most important. No matter what you do, no matter where you are, everyone wants some more free time or time for themself.
- 04.30: Jason shares how one can cook pasta in a slow cooker.
- 06.24: Jason shares how sheet pan saves dishes and how one can make a whole meal on a sheet pan.
- 07.27: Jason reveals how he keeps the meats and veggies separate in a sheet pan.
- 09.05: Doubling recipes save time shares, Jason.
- 10.02: Budget is important for everybody and as per Jason people overspend anyway, regardless of inflation and stuff.
- 10.30: Frozen vegetables are frozen at the peak of their freshness. So you are actually getting the same nutritional value and stuff for less price and it's already prepared for you
- 11.02: There are a lot of ways to save time. As per Jason see your pantry and use your frozen and canned items.
- 13.17 If you have bacon leftover and you use it for a recipe for breakfast, you can actually freeze it again and just take it out and use it, says Jason.
- 14.21: Jason shares how one can cook the perfect pizza.
- 16.00: Jason talks about cooking hacks that will help people in their kitchen, save time, have fewer dishes, and save money.
3 Key Points
- Jason shares how the slow cooker is a great piece of equipment that can help you to save time.
- Food is good money, food is expensive, and inflation has really hit people's pocketbooks. Jason shares his idea for saving money and how people can avoid overspending on food.
- Jason talks about the difference between frozen and non-frozen food and how much nutritional value each holds.
Tweetable Quotes
- "What you can do is after you get the kids to bed, you're getting ready to watch whatever shows on Netflix you want, you drop things into the slow cooker, put it in the fridge. And right before you go to work, you start your day. Just turn it on take it out of the fridge and turn on that slow cooker and it will cook dinner for you, so you don't have to spend a lot of time doing stuff throughout the day to make dinner happen." - Jason
- "If you are trying to roast meatballs and veggies with all those hacks on TikTok where you get the crispiest potatoes and you smash those potatoes, just take like the tin foil and make like a little section in the middle so it doesn't get there." - Jason
- "I actually love to double my recipes whenever I make, so if I am making a meatloaf with potatoes, I will actually use sushi pans and I will turn the oven to convection. So that the air circulates on everything and everything cooks evenly. And I will make two of them so that this way you one I will eat for the week or make sandwiches out of them or whatever it is we need to do. And the other one, I will wrap and freeze it and then I will just defrost it, so I have dinner another time for me." - Jason
Resources Mentioned
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
One and Done with Rebecca Greene
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
On today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Dr. Carla Marie Manly, talks with Rebecca Greene. She will be talking about her new book, one and done. Rebecca shares how does her work and her book in particular help families be happy.
Episode Highlights
- 1.50: Rebecca loves her job as a therapist, and she has been working with clients. One of the things she has realized was that only-child families don't have a lot of resources just dedicated to them.
- 03.10: When Rebecca noticed the lack of guides for only child families, it made me realize that there was a wonderful opportunity to write a how-to parenting guide self-help book specifically tailored for only child families.
- 04.47: Rebecca discusses the blessings and challenges in raising an only child.
- 05.24: In today's society, most of the time both parents working outside of the home, or if it's a single parent family with that parent working outside of the home, time and energy are in short supply these days. So many parents make the decision to have one child because they feel that they can best raise a child when they get all of their time and energy rather than diluting it amongst multiple children.
- 05.55: Some families make their decision to have one child based on finances makes sense. They decide that they can live their best life if they have one child that they put all of their financial resources toward.
- 07.01: Rebecca talks about socializing issues faced by a single child.
- 08.20: One of the stereotypes of only children is that they are always lonely, says Rebecca.
- 09.37: In case of a single child parents can feel obligated to play with their child 24/7, like all the time which can cause burnout in the parents and many times parents, especially if they work from home or working full time, they just don't have a lot of time and energy left over to necessarily spend hours after work playing with their child.
- 11.20: It has been shown research wise that only children are very successful academically and, in their career, and that has been attributed to the fact that parents spend so much time one-on-one with their child.
- 12.18: Many only children excel academically in school. They go on to excel and become leaders in their career field. Especially because they have had so much practice being leaders at home and many times with their friends only children have been shown to have very high levels of self-confidence and self-esteem.
- 13.10: It is a very widely held stereotype about only children, that only children are always spoiled, that they can't share with other kids, that their social skills are not as good as children, growing up in families with siblings, but that actually are stereotypes, says Rebecca.
- 14.18: Parents can be very mindful when raising only child to make sure they have a realistic view of wants versus needs and to make sure that they have a balance in their life, so they get some of what they want.
- 17.43: Rebecca's book is written for both families who are one and done by choice, and also for families who are one and done not by choice.
- 19.26: Rebecca interviewed families from the UK, Australia, France, Japan, a variety of different countries, because she wanted to include what it's like to raise an only child in other countries
3 Key Points
- Rebecca's book is not meant to help parents make the decision to have one child it is when readers start the book, they have already made that decision. It is a step-by-step parenting guide to help parents.
- Rebecca shares how many only children really nurture their creative sides because they are very resourceful.
- Rebecca explains how it can be challenging to have a smaller family than one would have otherwise preferred.
Tweetable Quotes
- "I myself is an only child and I am raising an only child and my perspective as a parent and as an only child myself and as a therapist who works with families who have only children and are experiencing different issues related to that, it all made me realize that there should be more books dedicated to the topic of raising only children." - Rebecca
- "I have experienced what it feels like to be left out socially because we have one child and there wouldn't be a friend for the child that my son would like to hang out. So, it that can be really, really distressing." - Rebecca
- "When kids get some of the things that they want and many of the things that they need, that's a healthy balance. What becomes an unhealthy balance is when kids get everything, they need plus everything they want all the time." - Rebecca
Resources Mentioned
- Helping Families be Happy Podcast Apple
- Familius Instagram Facebook Twitter
- Rebecca Greene Instagram
- https://www.rebeccagreeneauthor.com/
- Podcast Editing
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
The Duality of Despair and Hope with Shaun Tomson
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
In today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Christopher Robbins, co-founder of Familius publishing, husband, father of nine, author, fisherman, backpacker, and aspirational musician based in the Central Valley of California, talks to Shaun Tomson. Shaun is a former world surfing champion and has been described as one of the greatest and most influential surfers of all time. He is an inductee in the US Jewish and South African sports halls of fame. Today they are going to talk about despair and hope from his most recent book - The Surfer and the Sage: A Guide to Survive and Ride Life's Waves.
Episode Highlights
- 02.20: The book is a way to help people to move from a place of darkness to light to move from despair to hope to move to be anxious to calm, says Shaun.
- 03.07: Shaun's father, was an Olympic hopeful from South Africa in the 1948 Olympics and he had a tragic accident while surfing off the coast. Shaun shares his father's story and how that changed the course of his life and helped him understand the duality of despair and hope.
- 05.04: Shaun's earliest memory of his dad was taking him to swim and surf. He had taught him how to surf and swim about 100 yards away from where he had this terrible attack that destroyed his swimming career.
- 06.46: Shaun shares how his father loved to help young athletes. He took joy in helping people.
- 10.40: There are a number of ways you can get through grief, darkness, and despair, says Shaun.
- 10.50: Connecting with nature, reconnecting with your faith and helping others are some of the ways to recover from grief or loss.
- 13.20: A little gesture of kindness, you never know how it can be given at the right moment for someone that really, really, really needs it, says Shaun.
- 16.50: Christopher shares how we can get through trouble. He says it is when we forget ourselves and we go, and we are in the service of other people.
3 Key Points
- Shaun shares how his father positively impacted so many lives, hundreds and hundreds of lives on the beach in South Africa, helping young people realize their dreams.
- Shaun narrates how he won the biggest swimming contest in the world.
- Christopher and Shaun discuss how helping people can actually help you in return.
Tweetable Quotes
- "I think my dad was this wonderful example to me as a young boy of just being optimistic and hopeful and not dwelling on the negative." – Shaun
- "My dad never dwelled on the shark attack. He wasn't a depressed guy. He was always upbeat. He was always optimistic." – Shaun
- "We create hope by also creating working to create hope and other people." - Christopher
Resources Mentioned
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
Adding Creativity to Your Daily Routine with Devon Meves
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
In today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Christopher Robbins, co-founder of Familius publishing, husband, father of nine, author, fisherman, backpacker, and aspirational musician based in the Central Valley of California, talks to Devon Meves. She is a curriculum consultant and educational content creator with master's in education and teaching and curriculum and BSR education. Throughout her career, Devon has focused on two things, education, and creativity. She is the founder of ureadyteddy.
Episode Highlights
- 2.10: Today Christopher and Devon are going to discuss how families can include more creativity and learning in their lives.
- 03.25: Devon talks about process art. She explains it is the opposite of what we are used to thinking. Process art is the opposite of traditional art. The final product is very open-ended because of that it promotes more creativity than the traditional product art.
- 05.28: Process art promotes confidence and self-esteem related to art.
- 06.36: We have so many books that we have explored about creativity. There is one by Mary Potter Kenyon where she has written to create, and she says that little children know how to be creative. It's just they create everything about them. They want to play, experiment, build. They said that we start to lose this as we get older.
- 07.59: Learning together is one of the best ways to really bond with their kids.
- 08.48: Devon explains what open ended play is.
- 09.35: Open-ended play is getting back to the basics and letting kids use their imaginations to play in whatever way they choose to play.
- 11.45: Open ended play involves a lot of problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, and a lot of other 21st century skills like really being independent and flexible.
- 12.36: Devon shares how through open ended play children are developing problem solving skills because they are encountering challenges.
- 13.39: If instead of doing these step-by-step intricate crafts or play setups, you take a step back, you can give children the materials and see what they do with them. See how they create art with these materials or see how they play with these materials, it's a lot easier to incorporate these things than an adult might think, says Devon.
- 16.00: One example of an open-ended play activity that Devon really like to do is taking toy cars, toy trains, things like that outside. Children normally play with them inside on a track, and we take them outside and by changing that context they really have to think more creatively.
3 Key Points
- Devon shares how both adult and children can benefit from process art.
- open-ended play is when your goal is to creativity and just imagination.
- Devon shares some examples of how she thinks families can be better at incorporating process art and open-ended play as they work with their children.
Tweetable Quotes
- "I think a lot of us grew up either feeling like we were good at art, or we were bad at art. And if we were good at art, we probably liked the class if we thought we were bad at art we probably felt a little frustrated or stressed out in our class, and when we take away that expectation of what the final product looks like and allow these kids to just experiment freely, there's no right or wrong answers." - Devon
- "Adults can benefit from experimenting with materials and making discoveries alongside with their kids, which is kind of a fun, kind of fun bonding experience because they are learning something together." – Devon
- "Whatever you believe you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." - Christopher
Resources Mentioned
- Helping Families be Happy Podcast Apple
- https://www.ureadyteddy.com/about/
- Podcast Editing
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Opening Day at Yankee Stadium with Kelly Bennett
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
In today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Christopher Robbins, co-founder of Familius publishing, husband, father of nine, author, fisherman, backpacker, and aspirational musician based in the Central Valley of California, talks to Kelly Bennett. She has been writing professionally for more than 30 years both fiction and nonfiction. Her award-winning picture books included Not Norman a Goldfish Story, Vampire Baby, Your Daddy Was Just Like You and The House That Ruth Built celebrate all that goes into being a kid, families, friends, pets, fun and games.
Episode Highlights
- 2.00: Today Christopher and Kelly are going to discuss baseball and the history of the original Yankee Stadium and the opening game between the Yankees and Red Sox.
- 03.20: The Yankees are the team that made baseball the phenomenon it is today. Around the 90’s it was America's sport at the time.
- 04.20: Kelly shares how her grandfather was into baseball. Her grandfather was a semi-pro ballplayer. Later she and her brother started playing, now her kids also play baseball.
- 05.02: There is geometry in baseball, the statistics are just beyond belief in baseball. Kind of gives us an idea of why baseball has been such a fascinating sport for the American public for well over 100 years.
- 05.54: Baseball is the one game where anything can happen. Anything that ball can go anywhere. It can be hit, or it cannot be hit.
- 06.31: This April celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the original Yankee Stadium opening,
- 08.25: Kelly shares how Babe Ruth changed the game of baseball. People started hearing about Babe Ruth hitting and they started coming to the games just to see if he would hit it. And even when he struck out, they loved it because he put so much into it that he'd spin around beyond. He was a total hand, so it was more about the showman. Because of that, the stadium was built.
- 09.17: Kelly shares what made Babe Ruth such an iconic figure that transcended time.
- 11.24: Kelly shares what made her so interested in researching this opening day game and the history behind it. Her book includes the fans, the hawkers, the details of the stadium, and the players.
- 12.58: Families have these habits that we believe help families be happy. One is Play Together and one learns together. Kelly’s book falls within those.
- 15.14: Playing ball is not about your gender, it's not about your physicality. It's about anybody who can play actual catch, starting with your toddler.
- 17.07: Kelly shares one story that she loves about Babe Ruth.
- 19.02: The house that Ruth built comes out in April 2023, the 100-year anniversary of the first game played between the Red Sox and the Yankees on April 1923.
3 Key Points
- Kelly shares why she is so interested in baseball and what is her history with baseball.
- Kelly explains how Babe Ruth was able to draw all by himself, triple and five times and 10 times the fans that any other stadium, including the archrivals, then New York Giants, was drawing.
- Kelly shares how she thinks the family could benefit from and how they could use the house that Ruth built to play and learn besides just reading the story.
Tweetable Quotes
- “We love baseball, but you got to hate somebody, whoever you are playing against. I guess that's the way it goes.” - Kelly
- “Anybody can play baseball. It's easy to get. All you need is a ball and a bat, and you can start playing baseball.” - Kelly
- In Kelley’s book, there are sidebars that have facts of baseball historically. You can bring together your intergenerationally. Because kids today have no idea what the world was like 100 years ago.” – Kelly
- “Football is very controversial right now. You need a ball that's a certain shape you need to feel there's the plays are really much more set. Basketball, you need a hoop. Baseball, all you need is two people, or one person throw it up in the air they catch.” - Kelley
- “A lot of people think Babe Ruth was an orphan. He wasn't an orphan. However, when he was seven years old, his parents put him into a boy's school for incorrigible children, for orphans and some put there by the state. In his case, he was put there by his family.” - Kelly
Resources Mentioned
- Pre-order now: https://www.familius.com/book/the-house-that-ruth-built/
- Helping Families be Happy Podcast Apple
- https://www.kellybennett.com/
- Podcast Editing