Remarkable Parents First Interview - Get To Know Us Better

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Remarkable Parents has had it’s first interview posted called “Bridging the Communication Divide with Blogging” by Parent Power Index. Posted here is a condensed version of their questions and my answers. You will have to go to their site to read the full interview and comments.

MacKenzie Loving’s writes “Vicky definitely provides some food for thought as to why “blogging” and other new Web technologies are helping to form new bonds between parents and their children in a manner that touches people today and in the future. Even if you know a lot about technology, take a moment to read Vicky’s comments because there will be a parent out there you’ll want to share this with.”

Question 1:
You say on your site that the internet is the great equalizer between generations. Can you expand on this and give an example where you’ve personally experienced this happening?

My 18 year old daughter Kay will be heading off to college in the fall. Like every parent my feelings are somewhat conflicted. I want her to discover who she is as a young adult and to experience life on her own, yet I am worried that now that she’s 18, she may feel that it’s a failure of her new found adulthood to come to me with her problems. I just want to be in the loop, have an idea of what and how she is doing, and know that she’s safe.

A few friends who’ve children have gone off to college have prepared me that that college students don’t devote a lot of time to keeping in touch. I know she has good intentions to keep in touch, but realistically I should be prepared to feel left out. To bridge this communication divide we have been talking about ways we can keep in touch. We don’t plan on using only the telephone, we also plan on using IM (instant messaging), Email, Twitter, Facebook, and Skype. Kay already uses these technologies and so do I. More >>

Question 2:
What is the most incredible or satisfying aspect of writing or managing your own blog?

The most satisfying aspect of the web site is having planned the overall vision of the site for so long and seeing that vision implemented. When the first article Who Taught My Kid That Four Letter Word? was published, along with the web design which I really love, I felt amazing, absolutely amazing and I really haven’t come down yet.

Question 3:
For any mom who is new to the blogosphere and social networking, can you offer a quick how to get started list to help ladies get engaged?

I purposely put some links, print screens, and definitions in the first question, so the ladies can go to those sites to get more information on those technologies.

Steps towards technology and social media use

1. Email Sign up for an email account. Most email accounts are free. I suggest using Gmail. Google’s Gmail has has one of the best spam blocking engines that will block most spam and make your experience much nicer (a second choice would be Yahoo).
2. Search Engines Google is by far the most popular search engine and is also free. When you are searching you can use individual words for your search criteria or you can use phrases enclosed by quotes (a second choice would be DogPile). This phrase will search for pages that Google has indexed that have these three words many times anywhere on the page.



This phrase will search for pages that Google has indexed that have the phrase ’small breed’ (must be the entire phrase) and the other word anywhere on the page.

This phrase will search for pages that Google has indexed that have the words ’small’, ‘breed’, and ‘dog’ anywhere on the page. More >>

Question 4:
If moms could learn one technology this year, what would you say it should be?

I would have to say that it would depend on the individual mom and their family’s needs.

If you need to communicate with your kids while your at work and they’re at home, I would say get two webcams, headphones w/ mics and use Skype or you could use IM.

If you are lonely, want to crowd source advice, or make new friends I would say Twitter.

If you will be soon changing jobs, finishing school and want to either get a job or network with others in your same profession, I would say Linked-In.More >>

Question 5:
Your site is asthetically pleasing want to offer kudos into anyone in particular?

The web designer for Remarkable Parents is Randa Clay. We worked remotely as I am in Wisconsin and she is in Texas. The relationship did work well for us and it wasn’t a problem that she didn’t live in the same state. I am amazed at how well she got the concepts and my vision for the site. Randa has done a case study on many of the steps we took and tips that clients can use to translate their vision to the designer.

Someone who also helped me considerably was Chris Garrett who was handled some of the more technical issues and helped me develop and organize my vision for the site. Chris lives in the United Kingdom, so we used Skype for many of our sessions.

I would like to thank MacKenzie Lovings and Parent Power Index for giving me this opportunity to share what Remarkable Parents is about with their readers.

Please let us know if we are headed in the right direction for our readers in the comments. What would you like to see more of? What would you like to see less of? Let us know, we’re writing for you!