I’m starting off this week with the winner of our Energizer 15-Minute Battery Charger Giveaway: James, aka SeattleDad! Congrats to James, and thank you to everyone who entered. Keep watching for more free stuff from THE FATHER LIFE!
If one of your kids is a budding writer, you might want to check out the “Dream Power” Creative Writing Contest for Children. Brought to you by the award winning fantasy The Dark Dreamweaver, the contest has a grand prize of an iPod Touch and is open to kids up to age 14. Details can be found at reminchronicles.com.
A recent trip to my local Home Depot yielded an interesting result: my kids love Home Depot. Now, I’m not a real big DIY guy. I’m competent at home maintenance, but it’s not a big thing for me. Thus, trips to the hardware store are infrequent and usually sans kids. Not this time – I had all four of them with me. And they loved it. From ceiling fans to washers and dryers, they thought the place was great.
One of the very helpful orange vest people (his name was Mike, as I recall) told us (and when I say “us,” I mean “the kids”) about the Kids Workshops at Home Depot. I’d never heard of these before, but I’m going to have to go to one now; if I don’t, my children may kill me. The workshops take place the first Saturday of every month at your local Home Depot; kids of all ages are invited to come and build a simple project, which they can take home. Supposedly, they’ll learn valuable lessons like “how to use a hammer.” Which, in reality, is probably something a professional should teach them anyway. The best part is that the whole thing is free (at least, so I’ve been told. I’ll believe it when I see it). You can find more details at Home Depot’s website.
Last, but certainly not least, I’m looking for a couple of sports writers. Actually, Chris Osburn, our noble Sports Editor, is looking for a couple of sports writers. He’s not too picky – any sport you are interested in will do. He just needs a couple of people who a) can write and b) have a passion for sports. Check out our contribution guidelines and get in touch with Chris at cosburn@thefatherlife.com. 
Ben Martin is the CEO of THE FATHER LIFE. He lives with his wife and five children in the Rochester, NY, area.