parenting – Page 2 – Jerad Hill Blog

Son Buys First Apple TV Show

Posted on January 4, 2016February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

A few months back, I had a heart to heart with my son about how iTunes works on the Apple TV. This came after he had purchased a couple of $2.99 shows on the Apple TV without my permission. Apple does not make it easy to set parental controls on the Apple TV. If you enable parental controls, you have to use a four digit passcode for just about everything, even launching Netflix. We often let our kids select their own shows on Netflix because we have a kid-safe profile set up for them. I would have to give them the four digit passcode so they could get into their Netflix shows, but that would be the same passcode that would allow them to purchase shows. Kind of a lost cause.

Tonight, my son came across a show he really wanted to see. It was a Paw Patrol Christmas Episode. I explained to him that the show had a cost of $2.99. I said to him, “The show you want to watch is not free. It will cost us two dollars and ninety-nine cents to watch that show.” After explaining to him what I meant by “cents” by using play money in the toy room, he expressed an interest in paying for the show himself. I took the opportunity to turn this into a teachable moment.

My kids each have a piggy bank. It’s not in the shape of a piggy, it’s in the shape of R2D2, but we still call it that. When they earn money for going over and above what they are asked to do, or a task outside of their regular responsibilities was completed, we occasionally give them some change. We don’t compensate them for everything, we actually don’t compensate them very often at all. However, my son wanted to buy this show and was prepared to pay for it with his own money.

He brought out his piggy bank and we counted the money he had. He had enough for the $2.99 show. I took some time to discuss what spending money on a show would leave him with. I explained that if he spent $2.99 on a show, the next time he was at a store with us, he might not have enough money to get something that he really wanted. His response was, “I don’t need anything, I just got a lot of new toys for Christmas. I can wait until my Birthday.” I explained to him that his birthday was six months away and that he would need to save up again if he wanted to buy something before his birthday. He was ok with it. He really wanted to buy that show.

We counted our $2.99 and set that aside. We then counted what was left. He had $2.08 remaining. I explained to him that he was about to use more than half of what he had in his piggy bank. He was still ok with his decision. I also explained that he would only get to buy one show, because he did not have enough to buy two shows and that this show was only 24 minutes long. He said, “It’s ok, I can watch it twice.” Smart kid.

I looked over at my wife, who had been listening to our conversation and confirmed that she was ok with the transaction that was about to take place. She nodded yes. I explained to him that I was going to buy the show for him and that I would take his $2.99 to pay for it. I explained to him that when we buy shows that cost money, that money is taken from Daddy and Mommy’s bank account just like we took money from his piggy bank to pay for the show.

We purchased the show and it started to load. I asked him if he wanted to play the show now and share it with his brother and sister, or save it for later when he could watch it alone. He said that he wanted his brother and sister to be able to watch it with him. I then told his brother and sister that they were going to get to watch a show that their brother paid for. They both said, “Thank you brother,” and they watched the show together.

After the show was over I asked my son if he thought the show was worth $2.99. He said that it was and that he would like to watch it again tomorrow.

It’s hard to teach kids about money these days. We live in a world where we just swipe a card to get immediate gratification. I want my children to grow up knowing that money is real and it’s a limited resource. It takes hard work to get it and even harder work to save it.

What are some money saving teaching moments you have had with your children? If you have a moment, please share them in the comment section below.

I Have a 5 Year Old

Posted on June 5, 2015February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

Today marked a milestone. From what I understand, it is his “Golden Birthday.” Not sure what that means. I would think your golden birthday is when you turn 100. Regardless, my son is now five years old and I am sitting here trying to figure out just how I got here.

The last five years of my life have gone by pretty fast. In those five years, I have had three children and grown my business about 500%. I have also grown a lot as a person, but this post isn’t about me, it’s about my beautiful boy who is growing up rather fast.
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Money Ain’t The Motive

Posted on April 15, 2015February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

I can’t honestly start this post off by saying money has never been a motive of mine. When I was younger, money was a motive. I wanted to make more of it, so I could buy things. Money was not talked about as it is today. There were no podcasts on finances. Only people older than your Dad were talking about it. What we did have was the beginning of what MTV and the influence rap music was having on us. It was all about money and getting it any way possible. After maxing out a credit card and slaving to get it paid off, I had learned my lesson. I did not like being a slave to anything. What took me many more years to learn was how to actually save money. There always seemed to be something I wanted and I never had enough money to have what I wanted and save money at the same time.

In my early 20’s, one of my businesses required me to work long hours. It was a lot to have on your shoulders. The retail space is hard but stack two online businesses on top of that, plus some freelance work and it was too much for one person to handle. What I didn’t mind at the time was not having much overhead. I worked my butt off and was able to keep, I mean spend most of the money myself. I had an HD TV before you could even watch anything in HD. Stupid stuff like that. I had became a slave to something else, my business. There are many other ways to lose some or all of your freedom and I have experienced some of those as well.
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Parenting, Life, Business & Freedom in 2015

Posted on January 1, 2015February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

Let me apologize in advance by saying that this post is a mess. It’s a mess of thoughts, emotions and frustrations most of which are not in any specific order. I just started typing about where I am at right now and stuff came out. So if you are interested, read on.

Well, it’s 2015 and though I don’t put much into resolutions or starting over, part of me does hope for the best when the new year begins. The last couple of months of parenting have been tough. All three of my kids have been super emotional and they constantly mess with each other. Of course there are those moments where they play nice but its short lived. As I sit here and type this, my kids are watching Clifford. Emmy looks over at Cohen and he kicks her in the leg. They love each other one moment and hate each other the next. I don’t think they know any other way to express themselves yet, but it’s sure annoying to have to constantly be putting out fires as each battle is taken to far. A very naive part of me hoped that something would change and the first of the year would magically start off perfect.

Here is a photo of my daughter. She was screaming for no reason at all. Well, I am sure there was a reason, but I have no idea what was upsetting her. She gets so mad just out of no where. The only way to fix that is to pick her up. If you do anything at all with Liam and it does not go his way, he shuts down and throws a fit. Cohen is quieter but has his moments of complete breakdown where you can’t to anything but put him on his bed and tell him to come find you when he is done throwing a fit.

What is nice is that both of my boys are easy to talk to. They are quick to ask for forgiveness and they know when they have wronged someone. I recognize that they are just going through a phase where they are not sure how to express feeling so they lash out at whomever is in the way. Liam is not like this with anybody but us. He knows that he cannot get away with acting that way toward friends but he knows that he can with us. I have not found a good way of dealing with his outbursts that consistently works. Trial and error I guess. Each kid is different.

This last year was a bit rough for me physically. I have never felt more tired and been less active than I was in 2014. I probably made it to the gym less than 15 times the entire year. There was a time when it was easy for me to get to the gym 6 days a week and spent about 2 hours there each day. I realize what needs to happen to change that, but I have gotten myself into a place of too much demand of my own resources to easily change that. I recognize that this needs to change this year as I cannot continue on the path I am on. Part of what is annoying to me is that I am not an unhealthy person. I don’t eat bad foods and I don’t overeat. I am active compared to most people I know, but for me, it must not be enough.

I have found that I am on a path that I did not intend on heading down. I don’t want to sound like I am complaining as I really love my life and have absolutely nothing to complain about. What has happened is that I have driven myself to a place that was not where I originally had intended on being.

When I was in my early 20’s, I was working a lot. I knew that what I was doing was not sustainable and that I would need to change if I wanted to be healthy and have a family one day. I made those changes by closing off a business I had started and began freelancing as a website and graphic designer. My time was instantly more manageable and I had much more control over everything. Fast forward ten years and I have wound up in a similar situation as I was before. I am not overworking and I almost never work on the weekends but it is not the level of freedom I wanted and was working to create for myself. As we get older, we get more responsibilities but some of those are not necessary. I worked from home for six years and only got an office because we needed the extra room for our growing family. With those added expenses I took on more clients because I wanted to make sure I was able to cover the increase in overhead. As I brought on more clients I needed to hire employees. Then I needed more space so overhead went even higher. There is nothing wrong with all of this as this is part of growing a business into something successful. The issue is that it has not brought me the freedom I originally wanted. I am achieving a lot more than I could be on my own, but it has not resulted in the level of freedom I desire.

Some people want to build a business to make money, I want to build a business to give me more freedom. Freedom to me is being able to drop everything and hang out with my family or be there for them when they need me. Freedom is the ability to attend all of my children’s school functions. Freedom is being able to take off anytime I want to take my family to the coast. For the most part, I do have those freedoms, but I am still not where I want to be. Freedom does cost money. To be able to have a flexible schedule, you have to be able to afford to take that time off.

I do have much more freedom than most. We have vacationed a couple of times each year as a family. I have been able to be there for my wife before, during and after each of our children have been born. My oldest and my wife have had some extended hospital stays over the last few years and I was able to drop everything to be there for them. The business I have built has allowed me that kind of freedom.

I am starting to feel like it sounds like I am complaining about my life. This is not the case as I am blessed far beyond what I deserve. What I am not, is content. Typing that last sentence kind of makes me sad but at the same time optimistic. I know that I am not the kind of person who could ever be completely content, but I am at the point where I would like a season of contentment. My life is constantly in R&D (research and development) but lately I have not been able to spend as much time in R&D mode as I would like. I like trying new things so I can see what works and what doesn’t. I always want to know what will work best. I am not happy until I know the best way to accomplish a task. I have also not been able to cultivate relationships with my friends for several years and that is starting to wear on me. We need community and I don’t really have that on a personal level.

It’s not going to be comfortable, but there will be changes this year. I hate the fact that I am talking about it and even going as far as typing it out on January 1, but it is what it is. I have thought about it every day of last year and not much changed. It is too easy to get into a rut and just let the days pass by while you continuously tell yourself that you will start that tomorrow. My family gets my full attention and my clients do as well. Its time for me to find a way to continue to be available to those who need me while making sure there is enough energy left for myself.

With all of that said, here is the thing I need to keep reminding myself: It’s not about me. It really is not about me. Its about what I find important and where my priorities are. When you have those in line, it is much easier to be where you want to be. The hard thing is that when you have more priorities than you used to, it gets harder to figure out how to keep them all at the top. My family is my most important earthly possession. It is important to me that my wife is happy and that she feels secure. It is important to me that my kids are happy and that my wife is able to stay home with them rather than have to work. I would sacrifice just about everything to keep my wife home with my kids, that is more important than possessions or any kind of freedom I could desire for myself. I don’t think that many people get that, and the only one who suffers is the child.

So where does that leave me? Well, it leaves me tired and sometimes frustrated, but I need to see past that. Last year was a lot about giving into that tiredness and allowing myself to feel like there was not enough time for myself. This year, I will make an effort to assure I fix the things that have been bothering me. No more excuses. Its 2015, which is the year the movie “Back to the Future” gave us a glimpse into what the future would be like. We might not have Hoverboards and we definitely don’t dress like Biff and his crew did, but we are living in exciting times.

With all that said, I’m going to go peek in on my precious sleeping children which erases all memories of the frustrations of the day.

Parting words from Biff Tannen:

So, why don’t you make like a tree and get outta here?

Some things are just hard

Posted on August 11, 2014February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

This summer has proven to be pretty challenging. Though we have also had some good times, my family and I have been met with many challenges.

Owning your own business and having a young family of 5 makes for a pretty busy life. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, I love my life and what has become of it. What gets hard is when you have issues that arise in multiple areas of your life at once.

So far this summer I have lost my grandmother, made some changes at work, took a 12 day family trip, decided to move to a bigger house, and just recently my wife got over a second occurrence of a week long illness. This time it resulted in a 4 day hospital stay. I am NOT use to anything other than my wife being strong and supportive. If anybody slows down, it’s usually me.

I learned not to be selfish because I used to be one of the most selfish people out there. I came to realize that there are very few people that will be in your life for the long haul. Those people deserve 100 percent of you. They come first before all else. Thankfully I have a business that runs relatively well even if I can’t be in the office every day. When I need to handle family situations, I can be there. It’s what I wanted for my life before I got married and had kids. I’m very thankful that things panned out that way. Being in my profession I could easily be working for a company out of town that would not offer near the flexibility.

In my lifetime I have learned that difficulty comes to me all at once. It is not evenly spread out. I know that God recognizes the fact that I would not deal well with a constant struggle and I am truly blessed to have only had the struggles I have experienced so far. Though they are stressful at the time, I get through them and move on as if nothing ever happened. Moving on is the key to surviving.

What is tough is always assuming that something is around the corner. When I start to get ahead, something happens. It’s like clockwork. I don’t even like to entertain the idea that things are going well because from experience, I know that is just the calm before the storm.

Now it seems that storm has passed, at least until I get the hospital bill. I am starting to catch up on sleep and my blood pressure is probably back to normal. What I realize is that every situation leaves it’s mark on me somehow. It seems to slow me down a bit in one area or another. Growing older means new challenges and hardships to endure. Learning how to meet them and get through them is also a challenge that will probably never end.

My prayer is that God gives me that answer or shows me how I should be handling life in a healthy sustainable way. Everybody has their suggestions on how you should handle things but it’s different for everybody. What works for you might not work for me. Whatever it is, I need to find it. The struggle is real and if we don’t find a solid way of coping with it and strengthening ourselves from it, it will eat us alive.

Parenting Tip: Properly store the potty training toilet

Posted on July 21, 2014February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

Here is a tip for you parents who are currently going through or have recently finished potty training your child. When you are finished with the potty training toilet, make sure that you properly store it somewhere that is not easily accessible to your child. Failure to do so will result in you randomly happening across said potty training toilet full of urine spanning back to who knows when. In our case, we had started behind the rocking chair in our baby’s room. Our oldest had discovered it was there and unbeknownst to us had recently been relieving himself there. Luckily for us I only think this has been going on for a week.

The Social Consequences of Everything

Posted on April 23, 2014February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

This video had me cracking up because it sums up the comments underneath just about everything I post on Facebook.

Remember the 90’s when everything seemed more carefree? Of course at that time my generation was just a bunch of teenagers, so what did we actually know anyway? Regardless, where we have gone in the last 10 or so years is downhill. We can’t have an opinion about anything without someone else ruining it. If you stand for anything these days you will most likely get put down by others. Nobody praises you for having an opinion anymore, you get attacked for it. We will soon be in a place where nobody will want to speak up about anything out of fear of being attacked for having an opinion on something. Of course we will still let Government and Celebrities have opinions because it is ok to follow their lead. Sharing a video on something Ellen says is our way of taking a stance on something these days.

This video makes me laugh, because it’s so true. We can’t do anything these days without upsetting someone. We feel like our take on things is so open minded and accepting but in reality it’s not. In actuality, everybody is over-sensitive and closed minded because they cannot accept that someone else has an opinion that differs from their own.

I have a challenge for you. Instead of getting upset about somebody else’s take on something, spend some time getting to understand why they think they way then do about that subject. Respect their opinion and once you have enough rapport with them, give them your opinion and why it’s important to you.

We are quickly becoming a country segregated by our opinions. I can easily see this becoming something akin to racism. I don’t want to see our nation become a place where we treat people differently because of their take on trivial things. People are never going to agree on everything. What makes us unique is our individuality. Take that away from us and what do we have left?

You may disagree with me on this but I think people today are way too emotional about everything and are too soft as people. They can’t handle someone that disagrees with them because they were raised having everything the way they wanted it. We live in an option overload society. Everything comes in a million different flavors or variations so we can have it our way. If a kid doesn’t like something, the parent gives them options until they are happy. This just results in a bunch of adults who can’t handle the real world because it doesn’t come in their flavor.

It’s time we stop being irresponsible.

What is your take on this? I gladly accept your opinions below.

Father & 7 Year Old Daughter Start Metal Band

Posted on March 26, 2014February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

This is awesome. I hope to do fun things with my kids like this. This guy, who is obviously a musician with a love for metal put a fun song called “I want pancakes” up on SoundCloud that he created with his 7-year-old daughter. The lyrics are fun and the music is… well it’s brutal!

Here is what I like about this: A father is spending quality time building something with his child. She is learning about music, production, marketing and having an audience. What cool stuff to grow up already having exposure to. Right on Dad!

I love the Genre the music is listed under: Adorable Grindcore

“I want pancakes” Lyrics
I want pancakes
I want hot chocolate
I want cereal
I think that’s all I want
I want window
I want macaroni
I want pizza
Give them to me right now
There is a witch
I want to play a game, right now
I will never eat again but you will give me the ipod, I want to play a game
Ok I will play the game
No way, you are grounded
No I aint
Yes you are
hahaha
Quit your laughing
I don’t care, I will do what I want
No you won’t, if you do, you’re grounded forever.

You can purchase their album on Bandcamp: http://theironcouncil.bandcamp.com/album/werewolf
Check them out on Facebook. SockWeb

Your Kids Become You

Posted on March 26, 2014February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

I find myself in discussions with so many people about parenting these days. Though I have only been a parent for a little over 3.5 years, I now have three kids and feel that I am somewhat knowledgeable on the subject. Though I have not experienced the full range of joys, emotions and hardships that come with parenting, I do know that my children will show many of the same characteristics that they see me express throughout their time under my care.

I came across this video a while back when it came out and it brought me to tears. I watched it again just a moment ago and it once again put tears in my eyes. I know that my kids will pick up some bad habits from me but what really makes me sad is that there are a lot of people out there that are raising kids just as messed up as they are. I am going to be honest and say that each and every one of us is messed up in one way or another. We all have bad habits and stuff that makes us imperfect. What hurts is when I see people act horribly to other people in front of their children. Youtube is full of videos of it happening and I see it just about every time I drive through my town or go anywhere there might be many people in one place. It breaks my heart.

I don’t know of one parent personally that does not want more for their child than they had growing up. This is why I have a hard time understanding why some people are so bad in front of their own children. They don’t seem to understand that their child is a sponge and will soak up as much as possible from their parent, the one who is suppose to love and care for them the most. Though this video is a bit more dramatic than you see in real life it paints a picture of what many kids will grow up to become.

My parents were not perfect. I realize that I carry some of their bad habits. I also have many of their good qualities as well. I was raised to listen to and respect people and because of this, and a lot of God’s grace, I have been around some great people in my life. I have also made a lot of bad decisions as well. Nobody is perfect and I am not saying that I or anybody else will ever achieve this “perfection” that books try to teach us or parenting blogs try to showcase. What we do need to try to do, is try. I don’t think that people try very hard these days. We live in a selfish society. We want what “we” want. People just get in the way and our kids definitely get in the way of us getting what we feel we deserve. That is the mentality of many. It’s not my mentality, though I am not going to lie and say I have not considered what I could be doing rather than dealing with three screaming kids. I made a choice.

I made a choice to love my children. I made a choice to raise them to the best of my ability. Even when I feel like I don’t have anything to give, I know that they need me and I need to find something to offer them. I can not leave their upbringing to anyone other than myself and my family. I must surround my children with the influences I want them to have so they can learn what it means to be a trustworthy person and have integrity. Today the world believes that it is the responsibility of the school system and other caretakers to raise our children. We put kids in daycare for 12 hours each day because we “need” to work. We live in a world where we have to work. This is wrong, but for many, there is no other choice. The result, is broken kids who don’t know who they belong to.

My kids will grow up knowing they belong to me and that their number one source of earthly love will come from their Mother and I. I will curb my anger, frustrations or bad habits so that they have the best chance of becoming better than I. I will show them what it means to be loved each day so that they too can love others. When I get mad, I will show compassion and hold back immediate judgement so that they will do the same to people. I will teach them to value, so that they do not value money and things over people and experiences.

It’s going to be hard, but it’s worth it. If we are not being an example to our children who will? I would rather my kids have nothing but love and a roof over their head than tons of toys but no parent at home.

I can go on forever about this but I will digress and just say this…

I have messed up many things in my life but I will do my best to give my kids the best I can be for them.

Parents, Did You Get An iPod Touch For Your Kid This Year?

Posted on December 25, 2013February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

If you got an iPod Touch for one of your kids this year, you might want to do more than just turn it on and hand it over to your child. There are important parental controls you will want to set so you can protect your child from the dark side of the internet. You may think that kid apps are harmless but when ads get tapped on and the internet browser opens up, who knows where your kids can end up. Even if by accident, you don’t want them landing on a website they should not have seen.

Here is a tutorial we made over at StateofTech on how to setup an iPod Touch for your child.

For more videos, make sure to visit StateofTech.Net or the StateofTech YouTube Channel.

We Are Car Builders

Posted on January 23, 2013February 26, 2025 by Jerad Hill

Thats right! My son and I built our first car together. Such a proud moment for a Dad. From a very young age I was working on things and turning wrenches. I love the fact that my son has such a love and imagination for cars. I had no idea that such a place as this existed. Ridemakerz is basically a Build-A-Bear for cars. You select your body, chassis, rims, tires and accessories. Of course this can get expensive quick. As far as quality, the cars are ok. We upgraded Liam’s car to the remote control option so he could drive his car. ~~It does not have much of a range and you have to let off the throttle to steer~~, but it’s still fun. They offer a rechargeable battery upgrade that also gives it a power boost, I recommend it as it also makes it drive easier. For me, it was the experience of building it in the shop with my son. Well worth the cost. I was fortunate to have someone there to take a few photos with my camera. They just melt my heart. I love being a Dad!

I had 2 Gopro cameras on me, I wish I had positioned them and recorded the car building process. Maybe the next time my son and I are here I will document it in video.

I recommend that all Dad’s bring your boys here. It’s a great bonding moment.

Ridemakerz – http://ridemakerz.com