Tiger Woods Fatherhood PSA

Childhood Obesity: Dad’s get your family out the the house!

Father's & Kids Experience

At a recent Colts Father’s & Kids Experience, I had the pleasure of talking to over 2,000 men and children about the importance of excercise and nutrition.  According to a recent study, our children’s life expectancy is shorter than our (as their parents)!

The steady rise to childhood obesity today has motivated many organizations to increase the activity of children and youth across America.  Gone are the days of waking up and playing outside until the street light comes on.  We are in an era of video games, and internet that captivates the time of our youth.

Even the NFL has gotten into the act with NFL Play 60.  The NFL’s effort to get kids active through simple drills for 60 minutes of activity every day.  Did you know that even Bill Gates doesn’t let his kids watch more than 45 minutes of TV a day!  That’s one episode of Hannah Montana, and half of Jonas’ Brothers and that’s it!

Here are some helpful tips that we gave the dad’s at our All Pro Dad event to get your family up and out of the house:

• Include your kids in your workout! That’s assuming you do workout! If you are not physically active, it’s important to start.  Not only is it a great opportunity for you to stay in shape, but it also allows you to spend time with your children.  You can now create a habit in your household of healthy physical activity that everyone can enjoy.
• Give Activity Rewards instead of Food Rewards! The next time your child gets a good grade on their report card, or does something that makes you proud, reward them with their favorite thing to do outside.  Let them skateboard, go for a family bike ride, or have a fun game of flag football.  This is far better for your family than rewarding them with a fattening burger and milkshake and their favorite restaurant.
• Find out what your child’s favorite game to play outside! Everyone has a favorite thing to do outside.  Ask your kids what they love to do, and make a great memory with them by getting outside and playing with them.

These three simple tips can be the difference between a healthy lifestyle, or being another statistic.

Managing Expectation with Your Children

I noticed something yesterday with my children that struck a nerve with me. My baby girl was following me around the house as she normally does when I come home from work, when I realized that I needed to check the mail. So I went outside to the mailbox, and as I came back to the front door my daughter standing there at the door staring through the glass waiting for me! I had already been gone the whole day at work, and I could tell she was waiting to see if I was leaving again.

Many of you can relate with your children following you to the door wanting to come with you on your errand, or asking you, “Dad…Where you are going?…Can I come with you?” as you leave the house. The thing that struck me was the look in her eye as she was expecting me to come back to the door that she saw me walk out of.

Recently, I had the pleasure of talking with a father who has committed himself to never walking out on his family, no matter how difficult things get. Why? Because he said he can still see the image of the tail lights of his fathers’ car leaving the drive way as he left his family for good when he was a little boy. He remembers the impact that made on him as a child, and committed to himself that his children will never experience that disappointment!

So here are some simple things to do to help manage expectation with your kids to keep them from being disappointed:

• Tell your kids how long your errand will take! If I know I’m getting ready to leave to run an errand that my children can’t come with me on, as I see them following me out of the door I let them know that I am leaving and when I should be back.  Sometimes I have to tell them in how many movies or TV shows they will need to watch!  This gives them an expectation to know when you will be back, so they won’t be standing at the door waiting for you.
• Tell them your schedule! If I know I have an overnight trip for a speaking engagement, I will let my kids know about it in advance.  I will also let them no how many nights I will be away.  This let’s them know up front how many times I won’t be there for “night, night” prayers.
• Call if something comes up! Follow through on when you will come home.  If something comes up, make sure you call home as soon as you can to talk to your wife and children letting them know what’s going on.  Your call home let’s your wife and children know that you are thinking of them, and they are important to you!

 

Tennessee Titans Father’s & Kids Experience

This Saturday, October 3rd the Tennessee Titans and All Pro Dad will host another Titans Father and Kids Experience!  Last year we had over 700 fathers and kids at the Titans practice facility to enjoy of day of fun, fellowship and memories.

I’m looking forward to speaking at the event again, and to see the impact every dad will make on the lives of their children.  Feel free to visit www.allprodad.com to register your family for the event.

Enjoy the video of last year’s experience!

Meeting w/U.S. Senator and more!

It was another productive week with media interviews and meetings this week.  I am excited to let you know that i met with U.S. Senator Harper yesterday, as well as founder of www.realsports.org, Barbara Murrell to discuss a possible partnership to provide young athletes the necessary life skills for success both on and off the field.

It is exciting to see how God is bringing the right people across my path to help impact people across the nation.  I am now developing the strategic plan to work with other current and former NFL players to allow us a forum to engage and impact men, families and youth everywhere!

Please keep us in your prayers as we engage the front lines.   And pray that people will truly understand the depth of God’s love for them through our efforts.

Bridging Gaps, Bonding Men, Building Families,

Freddie

www.thedadiwishihad.com

www.twitter.com/FreddieScott

Dad Drives 500 Miles to Visit Child

I had the pleasure of meeting a young father yesterday who recently read the book, The Dad I Wish I Had.  He said that growing up he never had an example of fatherhood in his home, which ended up with him making some poor decisions early in life.  He mentioned that growing up on the streets, and being involved in drugs dealing left an impression that he felt that men could not afford to show weakness by being emotional or even showing love or concern for loved ones.

He went on to say that after reading the book, he understood that he didn’t know the impact his absence had on his child.  Though his daughter lives over 500 miles away, he said that he “now understands that just sending child support isn’t enough!”  He jumped in the car and drove to make sure he was able to take his daughter to school on the first day of class.  He even said that he is now calling his daughter every night to pray with her, and tell her he loves her.

As we continued to talk, we reflected on what impact his action has had on his little girl!  Every night she is validated and comforted in knowing that daddy loves her.  If no one else reads the book, I believe this whole process is worth that little girls smile!

Follow Freddie on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FreddieScott

Who is Freddie?

10-Yr Old Faces Murder Charge in Dad’s Death

“Father’s provoke not your children to wrath…”

Ephesians 6:4

Discipline can be a difficult thing to balance from time to time.  Though we need to be firm and make sure we are setting the right expectations and habits for our children.  We also need to balance that with proper communication and temperance with our children.

Scripture tells father’s to not provoke your children to wrath.  Which means that if we are not careful, fathers can push children over the edge into anger and wrath.  This feeling can either be internalized, or acted on which we see in the shooting death of Byron Hilburn.  I dedicated an entire chapter addressing this subject in my book, The Dad I Wish I Had.  In which I share not only my feelings, but the feelings of hundreds of youth who were bound by the anger and frustration triggered by their fathers.

Tips to not provoke your children:

1. Communicate – make sure you clearly communicate your expectations to your child BEFORE you discipline them.  It is not fair to discipline a child for something they didn’t know they were supposed to do!
2. Rules that are age appropriate – make sure your rules are appropriate for the age of you child.  Your 2 year old should have a different set of expectations than your 16 year old.
3. Be consistent – don’t discipline your child for something they have done in the past but you never addressed it.  This usually happens when a child does something in public that embarrasses the parent, but the child is allowed to do or say the exact same thing at home but nothing was ever said to them.
4. Don’t Discipline in anger – if your child does something that upsets you, take a moment and calm down BEFORE you discipline your child.  Make sure they understand why they are getting disciplined and not just that you are mad.

Click here to order the book, The Dad I Wish I Had, for more information about the impact of fathers.

Click here to read FREE excerpts of the book.

Click here to read the article on the 10-Yr Old Facing Murder Charge.

More information about Freddie Scott II.

Health Club Gunman Targeted Women

As the nation mourns the events of the shooting of innocent women at the health club this week.  It is disappointing to think that someone could work around people, and seem to live a normal life and no one notice that he was hurting.  To see the video’s that he posted, and entries on his blog that went unnoticed, it appears as though he tried to reach out to someone, but no one responded.

From his video post as seen on www.abcnews.com, it appears that he was so wounded emotionally that he had to “learn” to connect with people emotionally again.  Usually that only happens when a person has been so devastated by an event, or a person that they choose to shut down emotionally so they won’t be exposed to that type of pain again.

I’ve seen this when talking to youth about how their fathers have disappointed them to the point that they have lost hope in ever having a relationship with their dad.  The results of this type of hurt tends to lead people down a path of poor decisions that not only hurt themselves, but also those around them.

All of us have lives that we are managing, and we all have issues and challenges that we have to work through.  But take a moment and think about those around you who may simply  need a pat on the back, a hug, or simply to be asked, “How are you doing?”

Too many times we only stop and think about others after something tragic has happened.  Let’s be proactive and engage the lives of the people around us who need our love and support.  God needs you to be His representation of love and mercy.

Find someone to support and be compassionate to today!  You never know how much they may need to hear your supportive voice!

Click here for more information on Freddie Scott and his book, “The Dad I Wish I Had” featuring a forward by New York Times Best-Selling Author, Tony Dungy

Health Club Gunman Targeted Women

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Vanessa Hudgens: Positive Role Model?

Twitter trending topics are soaring with the recent posts of inappropriate pictures of actress Vanessa Hudgens of the High School Musical trilogy.  She has apparently posted pictures of herself with her cell phone that is sending the wrong message to young women and young men everywhere!

After the millions of dollars that Disney spent on marketing the movies, and projecting a “Cinderalla” type image of the All American girl, it is sad to think that the success of the movies and influence she now has over teenagers is being used in the wrong way.

Dad’s, make sure you talk to your kids about this and find out if they think this is appropriate behavior for a young person.  It could be a great opportunity for you to talk to your kids about a relevant topic, and at the same time make sure they aren’t being influenced in the wrong way.

Take the time, and talk to your kids!  They are being influenced down pathways we don’t want them in!