Strollerderby : entrepreneurs

8-Year-Old Kid's Toy Drive

Kelly Mills — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 17:01:00 GMT

I've been feeling the tyranny of Christmas this year. Everywhere I look, there's displays exhorting me to buy more crap for folks; the stress of getting it together has been making me edgy; and frankly, people drive like jerks this time of year. So when I watched this clip about Stephen Smith in an effort to find things to post about, I was only slightly into it. (Partly because the newscaster's chatter is just idiotic.) Yeah, he's an 8-year-old who started a toy drive when he was 3. That's very sweet. But you know, somehow I was just feeling sold.

My 6-year-old was watching my computer from a ways away over my shoulder, and when the clip ended, she asked me, "What are you doing?" "Looking for stories to post about," I absently replied.

"I think you should write about that one," she said. "Because that kid is pretty cool. I mean, not everyone celebrates Christmas, but when kids do, and they don't have any money for toys...Well, that boy made a party for them. I like that." She smiled to herself. "He's a very, very sweet boy."

Okay, you got me. And here you go.

Parent Entrepreneurs Find Balance between Work and Family

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:34:00 GMT

The Gottman Institute, Seattle's preeminent marital researchers, found that two-thirds of marriages report a decline in marital satisfaction after having kids. Grace and Arnie Martinez participated in the Gottman study which uncovered this (seemingly obvious) result, and used the opportunity to plan for a life with more time and flexibility once their child was born.

The Martinez's started a business, cut back on expenses, and payed off debt, so that they could realize work-family balance that many people strive for but few achieve. Started before their daughter's birth, their pet-sitting business now allows them to work in shifts so that someone is always home with their daughter.

Not surprisingly, the Martinez's report high marital satisfaction as well as flexible schedules which allow ample time for their daughter and for their marriage. Like parents before them, they seem to have discovered the pot of gold at the end of the work/life balance rainbow: simplify, simplify, simplify. And man, I'm envious.