POSITION: Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma or Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Long term, team players needed, for challenging, permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.

Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities! Travel expenses not reimbursed.

Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Physical fitness. Possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf
• Endure being hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5
• Willing to bite tongue repeatedly
• Be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers
• Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects
• Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks
• Be a willing to be indispensable one minute and an embarrassment the next
• Assemble and safety test a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices that often don’t come with instructions
• Must always hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst
• Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product
• Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION:
NONE. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
None required (unfortunately). On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:
Get this!   You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses.

A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent.

When you die, you give them whatever is left.

The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and only wish you could do more.

BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies
limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love, and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

Forward this on to all the PARENTS you know, in appreciation for everything they do on a daily basis, letting them know they are appreciated for the fabulous job they do…

or forward with love to anyone thinking of applying for the job.

AND A FOOTNOTE:

THERE IS NO RETIREMENT — EVER!!!

- – - – - -

Absolutely no idea who wrote this, but just received it via email and thought it was too funny not to share.

This week, our family did something crazy together.  We took to the waves together for the first time.  There we were, a 6 year old with his mom and dad totally clueless about what to do, and nervous about how we were going to survive the next 2 hours.  (3 year old brother posed for some pics on the surf board but was too young for the lesson).   The experience was phenomenal to say the very least.   First of all, we were so happy with our surf instructors from the Surf Academy by Dane Keahole on Waikiki.  But more significantly, the experience of trying to gain a new skill that none of us had ever tried before was such a bonding experience.  There are such rare moments where you are at the same starting point as your 6 year old, struggling and fearing the same things.

For our 6 year old, the experience of watching mom and dad take on a new challenge alongside him seem to be particularly energizing.   He seemed determined to out do us…and it really wasn’t hard for him to do so.  For me, I found it wonderfully freeing to know nothing more about something than my child.   I didn’t feel the need correct him or give any tips.  We were all in for the ride together.   This will be a memory that we carry with us for many many years to come.  So, if you are thinking of putting yourself out there to try something totally novel!  Go ahead and take the whole family with you.  This is the stuff great memories are made of.

Other Kid-Friendly Activities in Oahu, Hawaii

Would you vote an 18 year old to the school board? Did you even know that an 18 year old could run for public office?  What about voting a 20 year old to be your mayor?

Jason Pollock, film-maker, writer, activist and twitter fanatic (@Jason_Pollock) just released a movie called “The Youngest Candidate” in partnership with Oscar winning producer Lawrence Bender (“Inconvenient Truth” and “Pulp Fiction”), Worldwide Pants (David Letterman’s Studio) and Balance Vector Productions.  Here’s the trailer:

The film is about the few remarkable teenagers who have the passion to run for public office despite their youth, inexperience, and the cynicism directed towards them.  This documentary follows four boys and girls who are coming of age through the electorial process.  It captures their exuberant enthusiasm, unbending idealism, and the unfettered passion of youth.  These brave young politicians face ridicule on every front, but persevere through to election day.

The topic that Pollock covers in this documentry is fascinating, but what I find even more intriguing is the preciousness of unbriddled optimism, passion, and idealism that comes with youth.  Those of us who are able to maintain this through the curve balls that life throws our way are the ones who will be able to rise beyond ourselves.  Unfortunately, these qualities are often beaten out of us by life circumstances or by well and not so well meaning adults well before we enter our teens.

As a first time entrepreneur chasing after a dream, I find myself identifying in many ways with these young passionates.   Before starting Trekaroo slightly over a year ago when we decided to jump in with two feet, our hearts, our paycheck, and bank account, I couldn’t even begin to imagine the merciless challenges that would face us daily as entrepreneurs.   Without the same unbriddled optimism that these teens possess to face the seemingly insurmountable, we would have given up even before launching Trekaroo.  Recession or no recession, being an entrepreneur is both the most exhilarating and nerve wrecking thing I’ve ever done in my life.  It is also a journey our family could never have persevered along without family and friends.  Family who have indulged our dreams, sometimes blindly, but most of the time by biting back their fears and instead choosing to help us.

As parents, most of us want our children to believe that they can accomplish anything.  We offer countless words of encouragement starting when our little ones can barely rollover.  We make personal sacrifices to ensure that our kids receive an education that puts them in good standing on the path to success.  Some of us practically sell our souls to provide our children with every opportunity to discover their unique talents and passions. At the same time, we also have a strong urge to shield them from any disappointment, ridicule, failure, and poverty.  Essentially, we tell our kids to reach for the sky but as soon as we think the sky is too high, we pull down heavy rain clouds to drown out their dreams. What a paradox!

When I picture myself as a parent to one of these young candidates, I just know that I’d be the one trying to adjust my child’s expectations or attempting to talk him into a smaller dream.  Of course, failure is painful. But as with most jourynes, it’s not the final desitnation that matters most, rather it’s about the lessons we learn on the road through struggling and overcoming challenges. The faith to embark on new and unknown journeys is something we are born with, but it is delicate. I believe that as parents, we should take great care to guard it.

“…we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope…” Romans 5:3