Welcome to our blog! This is where we like to keep everyone up to date with the latest news, tips on how to have lots of fun with the kids, and share little tricks for creating more time to spend together. Come in and enjoy, we'd love to hear any of your comments as well so don't be shy!!
Me, RTE's John Murray & my good friend Sinead Moriarty
Sorry I missed my blog post last week, I was away in London
at the Spirit of Christmas Fair in the Olympia for 6 long days.
A week away from Jackie and the kids, especially over Halloween, left me
feeling a little gutted & home sick but there was also an
overpowering sense of being on a relaxing holiday away from the hyper kids, so overall
it wasn't that bad.
In case you have been off-line and missed all the posts on
Facebook and Twitter, I thought I'd let you know that Adam’s Greatest
Inventions is up for this year’s Book of the Year Award which is great as it is
the 4th year in a row!
No really, it's just a furry microphone!
I felt like Jedward on the day of the launch with all the cameras and journalists around. I managed to get talking to my very good friend
Sinead Moriarty as well as Robbie’s 'girlfriend', Celia Ahern, Paul Howard, (AKA
Ross O’Carroll Kelly), Derek Lady of Skulduggery fame, and the 'love him or hate him' Senator David Norris.
We’re up against some stiff competition with some
lovely books so we don’t expect to win but always hopeful. I am however ecstatic at the prospect of bumping into Katie Taylor on the night of the awards, she is amazing.
I was lucky enough to have been asked to do an interview on the day which was great, you can see the results on the right.
I'm off on my travels to London next to a show in Earls Court, so hopefully there'll be lots of books, (as well as hugs and kisses), on their way to homes in
London.
Today marks a magical moment for Adams Cloud as today we're launching a brand new product, it's called the 'Molly Dolly'. So this week I
thought I would tell you all about how the Molly Dolly came about.
Molly & Dolly in their pyjamas
As you may know we have a little Molly in our house. She is
great fun and goes on all Adam’s Adventures with Robbie and Harry. You may notice
in each of the books that Molly has a dolly with her and every time I read the
stories to the kids at bed time we play a game to spot Molly’s dolly.
Molly wearing the 'Play' dress
I often thought the idea of a doll would be great and one
day, as fate would have it, I was at a show in Donegal and met a woman who
designed a beautiful Rag Doll with matching clothes for the doll & the little
girls. I was immediately drawn to them and I bought my daughter, Molly, the full set of
clothes & the doll. When I gave Molly the doll & clothes her reaction was
amazing. That was the day we christened the doll Molly’s Dolly and now Molly
and her dolly go everywhere together dressed in matching outfits, including at
bedtime.
'Sporty' Molly
Excited by Molly’s reaction to her new doll I simply had to
get in touch with the woman who designed them to see if there was something we
could do together. It must be something Adam had planned as the reception to my
suggestion was very positive. We shook hands and, well the rest is history.
Molly Dolly is here at last and is also illustrated into my
new book Adam's Greatest inventions. I most definitely plan to set Molly and her
dolly off on their own bedtime adventures in the very near future so watch this
space for a new book on this very soon.
'Trendy' Molly & Dolly
I hope you like Molly Dolly and it's a hit with all Adam's
little friends, and look forward to more new things next year.
So I guess the moral of this week blog is to always make
that phone call if you think you have an idea or can work together with
someone. There is nothing to lose in making that first phone call. It worked
for me and has given me this week’s Magical Moment.
Ok, at last, a little break from telling you all about
what’s going on and time for more Magical Moment ideas this week.
When I was writing this week’s blog another thought occurred
to me. Kids need to be taught how to play, be creative, have fun
and they learn by example. So what I have concluded is that we as parents have
to be as silly, funny and creative as possible and basically make a fool of
ourselves to teach them how to have fun with lots of great games right from the start. This has been my
parenting style and I have to say I am happy with the results so far with the
younger two, Molly & Robbie, who are at this moment, preparing to perform a
magic show as I type this blog from my kitchen table.
So here are a couple of tried and tested suggestions to get
going with from a young age. As always if you have any suggestions please let me
know so I can share them. So here we go…
What’s in your Tummy?
This is one that Jackie’s mum used to play with her as a kid
and she loved it so much she couldn’t wait to try it out on the kids. So next time you're all snuggled up with the
kids on the couch, bed or anywhere put your hand on their tummy and knowing
what you gave them to eat during the day simply tell them what you can feel in
their tummy. “Is that an apple in your tummy?” “Did you eat a banana today?” or “I
think I feel some toast in your tummy, yum yum!”. Keep going through all the
things you gave them to eat during the day and the kids will be amazed at your
hidden powers to see inside their tummy.
Tickle monster
The kids go mad for this one and it gets lots of giggles. I
can only imagine that every mum or dad does this with the kids but just in case
here it is. Put both your hands in front of you and shape them like a claw and tell
them the tickle monster is hungry for some tickles. The rest is easy, just get
tickling on the tummy ribs under the arms, neck, knees, elbows and anywhere else you
can find a tickle. The kids love it.
Staring
competition
I love doing this with Molly & Robbie and highly recommend
giving it a go. I’m sure you know the drill. Stare into each other eyes and the
first one to blink, giggle or twitch loses. I always have fun with this one but the best part is that I always get a magical moment that can’t be explained, when for just a couple of seconds our
eyes simply say "I love you so much" to each other, it’s amazing.
Guess what I’m
drawing on your tummy.
Again another way to have simple relaxed fun with the kids and as the name suggests simply draw a picture, letter or shape on their
tummy and ask them to guess what it is. Of course all the answers will always
be right it’s not mastermind so you will be able to give lots of those
all-important hugs of praise for all the correct answers.
Sock puppet show
We're all into puppets in our house and have puppet pigs,
sheep, birds and vampires which are brilliant fun and I highly recommend
having some in your house for some creative fun. But when the moment catches
you either after dinner at the kitchen table, on the couch or in bed with the
kids, grab a sock put it over your hand and slowly creep it up in front of the
kids face when they are least expecting it and simply make it say “Hello!”. The
reaction is great maybe you should have a camera ready for this one.
Here's a clip of Robbie & Molly performing a puppet show for me:
That’s it for this week more magical moments on the way but
something new coming next week I can't wait to tell you about!
Well you may have already heard my new book is out so I
thought I would give you a back stage pass to tell you how it all came
together.
Over the past couple of years I have chosen to publish
Adam’s Adventure books either on Adam’s Anniversary in August or on his
Birthday in June. But with so much going on this year I thought it best to
release a little bit pressure and take a bit longer on this one to make sure it
is 100%. I am very happy to say that I think this was a good decision because I
am delighted with the end product and I hope you and your family enjoy it.
In trying to come up with another great fun idea for Adam’s
next adventure a simple thought occurred to me as I played with a great little gadget
I got for the house. The question arose
as to what the best invention through history is and “Eureka” the next mission
was created.
Robbie & Molly snuggling up before bedtime
So armed with a simple idea of Adam having to decide on what
the best invention throughout history was, the next step was to decide on which
inventions should be included. I turned to all you guys on Facebook and got
some great suggestions and then hopped on Google to try and pick out some faves.
After deciding which inventions to go with next I had to
figure out how to include Adam’s important message, and create an affectionate
expression of love from the parent to the child at the end of the book. As
always this bit ws easy as I just thought of Adam and the answer came quick
enough.
Now the plot was set, all I had to do was write the book and
get the rhyming and rhythm sorted. Well, this did not get off to a good start
as I haven’t written a book in over a year and needed to get into the ‘zone’.
Before & After 1
It took two 12-hour days
to write the first line. With 24 words that was an impressive 1 word per hour!
It’s fair to say I was getting a little worried that I wasn’t going to have
another book in me, but on day 3 I simply closed my eyes and went to a happy
place with Adam where he simply started to write the book for me.
Thinking of how mischievous and funny Adam was, the sound of
his voice, his giggle and his pure happiness and zest for fun helped me zone in
on the magic that is Adam. This combined with thoughts of Molly and Robbie, (Laurel
and Hardy mixed with Tom and Jerry), who are now at a magical age where giggles
and complete craziness are in full swing, helped set the recipe for something
really special. With these thoughts in my head, once I got going the rest simply
flowed out and in no time the first draft was done.
Before & After 2
Next step was getting illustration brief to your favourite illustrator
Roxanne, who I can only say was truly inspired on this book and did an amazing
job. With recent observations of Molly, Robbie and Harry fresh in my mind I
simply tried to recreate some of the wonderful mayhem that is part of my daily
life with the kids, into the illustrations. Watching the black and white images
come in for approval and then the full colour arriving shortly after really is
the best part of publishing the books
and is great to see Adam develop further with each illustration.
Now that the difficult job of publishing the book is
complete, the endless job of promoting the book begins so I hope you give it a
like and share on Facebook, etc.
Well time to go and earn a crust and get selling. I hope you
enjoy Adams latest adventure and get lots of extra hugs and kisses from all
your wonderful little bunnies.
Hi everyone, this week’s blog is coming to you live form the
National Ploughing Championships in New Ross, Co Wexford.
As the biggest outdoor agricultural event in
Europe it will attract 200,000 visitors over the 3 days, so with all those
people around I just had to come. Here I
am sniffling and spluttering my way through the week with a stinker of a head
cold battling mud, wet, cold and rain trying to tell everyone about Adam and
his books.
Besides feeling a bit groggy it really is quite an
experience. When I first arrived on Monday night to set up I felt I had entered
a scene from an apocalyptic movie where aliens invaded the earth, and prepared a
makeshift tented campus with flood lights & announcements over the PA
system, ready to round up and contain all the humans. Really weird.
The kids would have lots of fun in this!
The buzz of excitement on day one, (yesterday), was quickly
dampened by shocking weather of driving rain and freezing temperatures. The
gloomy faces, most with their hair soaked and stuck to their faces, walked
around with wet muddy boots, jeans and jackets. The mood however was temporally
interrupted with giggles as a number of people slipped on the muddy floors, arms
and legs all over the place, right in front of my stand despite repeated
warnings of the dangers. Thankfully no one was injured.
I do wonder though if the lad I saw walking around in nothing more
than a tee shirt is still alive or at best in bed with the flu today.
Another day, here we go again!
As the day came to a close everyone was happy to put the day
behind them and get ready for day 2, but that was put on hold with a 2 hour traffic jam. We all waited patiently and tried to inch our way out of a field where thousands of cars were trying to squeeze through a single farm gate to an
already blocked country lane.
So here we are on day 2 with less rain, a bit warmer and fewer sniffles so hopefully all goes well today.
With snifflly smiles
going out to everyone this is Benji signing off till next week’s big surprise!
Hi again and thanks for checking out this week’s ‘Benji’s Blog’.
In advance of a lovely surprise for you next week I have a
small experiment for you this week to help answer a question that occurred to
me while I was at my niece’s amazing wedding last weekend.
While sitting around the table the night before the wedding
I was hit with a fit of giggles brought on by good old fashioned banter between
friends and family. It was then that a simple thought occurred to me. Do I/we laugh
enough? And does laughing make you happier? A fairly straight forward question
with a fairly straight forward answer you might think?
While pondering this ancient question that has baffled
philosophers and psychologists for years I think I have discovered the answer
by way of a small experiment. To know whether you laugh enough you need to measure 2 important
things, quality and frequency.
Even walking in the rain makes Molly giggle!
FREQUENCY
Giggles happen because someone does something funny, silly or by accident, they
don’t just arrive on their own. So you have to be silly more often to get at
least one quality giggle a day. There are a million ways to make a giggle
happen with the kids, including mad dancing in the kitchen, pretending to trip
or fall or, my favourite, interrupting a staring competition with the kids by
blowing in their face.
QUALITY
Now for
the Stubble Rubble Tickle Experiment to measure giggle quality. We all know what it is like to cry like a baby or sleep like
a baby, so now we have to measure if we laugh like a baby to know if we laugh
enough.
All you need is 2 small pudgy baby hands and a bit of facial
stubble. Sorry Mums, unless you have a beard this one is only for the Dads but
be sure to make them have a go. Simply grab the baby’s hands so that their palm
is on your face. Then slide their palms across your face for the best stubble
tickle ever. The kids love it and giggle
their nappies off and should send you off on a giggle as well. For extra fun
try it with the soles of their feet.
Harry having a great giggle while holding Adam.
When you know how a baby laughs and giggles it is only then
that you know whether your laughs meet the quality criteria for a good quality
giggle. Giggles need to be made and giggles need to be big so we can
all laugh enough and be happy in our nappies every day.
Please send in your ideas for getting a giggle in your house to benjisblog@adamscloud.com, so that we can share them and maybe you could win a prize.
Before I get into this week’s blog I just wanted to thank
everyone who posted a review and downloaded the 'Before you Sleep' iBook on the Apple iStore. THANKS A BUNCH! J
Now! On with the show! This week I would like to share a
magical moment I had with the kids last weekend and offer a suggestion on how you
might capture the same magic with your family.
My Magical Moment This
Week
Fun & games on Dun Laoghaire Pier
You may have noticed me “Facebooking” and tweeting like a
madman over the weekend? Well that was because there was such a wonderful
atmosphere in Dun Laoghaire as the MOD70 European boat race came to town.
As impressive as the huge Trimarans
were, racing around Dublin Bay, it was the wonderful street performers that
stole the show for me & the kids. Jugglers, magicians and street acrobats all
swooped down to the pier loaded up with giggles galore as they cast their magical
spell on all the kids and their Mums & Dads.
What made this experience particularly magical and
memorable was hearing the excited screams and laughs bursting out of Molly and Robbie
as they watched in amazement, and interacted with these truly talented performers.
It really was one of those days where your heart can’t help but dance as a warm
feeling of happiness envelopes everyone with the sound of children laughing in
the sun in a wonderful setting.
Here is a small clip of
the fun with Robbie, still wearing his helmet, and Molly bursting with
excitement. Great fun.
Discover The
Magic for Yourself
So this week I share with you the magic of the
streets. You don’t have to wait till the next festival to come your way to
catch these guys, they are always out and about on the streets doing their thing
and entertaining the masses with their unusual talents.
So, for a magical family day out I strongly recommend
taking the kids into town on the bus, train, bike or by foot and make your way
to the nearest tourist hotspot or pedestrianized area, where you will be
guaranteed to find a wonderful act waiting to cast their magical spell on you
and the kids. Don’t forget to fill their hats to thank them for entertaining
you all, and afterwards why not splash out on a little treat for the kids to
make it an extra special day to remember.
It's amazing what these guys can do!
As always, let me know if and where you find them so I
can spread the word. Dublin’s Grafton Street or Temple Bar on Sunday is always
great, and of course if you happen to get the chance to visit London’s Covent Garden it is
amazing. You could check out “Street Theatre Ireland”
on Facebook, they are doing a gig in Cabinteely Park at 1 o’clock on 23rd
of September or let me know of any other places you think would be
useful at benjisblog@adamscloud.com.
Don’t forget we need your help so please share the Magical Moments blogs with your friends and help make a hug!
Well, I can only assume you are all rejoicing at the fact
that the kids are gone back to school, Thank God! I know it seemed like only 5
minutes before they all arrived back dumping the bags at the front door, searching
the cupboards for food and trashing the clean kitchen in the process, but I hope
you all took a moment to yourselves before they got back. Next stop, Halloween
and Christmas Day which, by the way, is only 142 days away. Yippee!
'Before you Sleep' is now an amazing iBook that you can
download directly from the Apple iStore. Whoa! That’s so cool, I hope this gets your approval, referrals
and reviews.
And here's some even better news, to celebrate this launch we've set the price at €1.99 for the rest of the week, (it's normally €3.99), so hurry, hurry! Here's the link to the Apple iStore again.
It was a rather difficult decision to turn “Before you
Sleep” into an iBook given the debate that rages around kids and electronics
these days. I guess if it means lots more extra hugs and kisses for more kids it
is probably worth taking the chance, so I hope you agree and give me your ‘likes’.
Just look for 'Before You Sleep' on iTunes, we're there!
What’s most exciting is that 'Before you Sleep' magically
comes to life with wonderful sound effects to accompany my specially recorded
reading of the book, which of course you can turn off if you want. The 4-6 year
old kids in the focus group have given it the thumbs up, so it’s fully approved
by the critics!
Maybe you could help me and Adam touch more families by
doing us a huge favour and post a review or rating on the Apple iStore to help
it get up the rankings. Hopefully this will allow more families receive Adam’s
little message of love, laughter and fun in the home.
This ends our Important
Service Announcement.
Normal Magical Moments service resumes next week...
… so that’s it for this week I hope you enjoyed our magical
moment. Thanks again for all your support and stay tuned for a big surprise
from me and Adam in the coming weeks. Oh and please share this with your friends, thanks!
Me, Robbie & Molly sending Harry off to school again!
As another Irish monsoon comes to a close the wonderful
memories of soggy sandcastles, muddy wellies and magical smiles peeping out
from under cute little umbrellas, are now being replaced by expectations of the
months ahead and the longing for structure, routine and sanity.
In anticipation of that long awaited cup of tea in pure
heavenly silence and whispering to ourselves “thank God they’re back”, this
week I thought I’d help you get through the morning and reach that magical cup
of tea moment with my ‘Back to School Survival Guide’. So here goes:
The Night Before
Let your boss know you’ll be a little late in the morning and make ‘Back to School Day’ a fun family day that the kids will enjoy and remember.
Don’t worry if you are missing any book list or uniform items, they can all be got in the days after while the kids are in school, and when you actually have your brain with you for the first time in 8 weeks.
Try to start as you mean to go on. Set the table for breakfast, lay all the kid’s clothes out in their bedrooms and pack the lunchboxes and pop them in the fridge. Even better, get the kids to help.
At bedtime spend some time discussing, step by step, what has to happen the next day and what they are responsible for themselves. They have to wash their face and brush their teeth, dress themselves, eat breakfast, check they have their lunchbox and coat, etc. Also a good idea is to discuss how they will get to school, walking, bus, etc.
Back to School
Morning
Set the alarm a bit earlier. Kids dig their heels in when they know they are being rushed then panic, stress and tears all follow in quick succession. So give yourself plenty of time.
Try and all have breakfast together and go through the ‘getting to school routine’ that you discussed the night before, letting them know that this is not a drill but the real thing and make it a bit of fun.
First impressions last so make a small effort. At least once during the year we all have one of those days where we drop the kids to school in our slippers with jam on our pyjamas, porridge in our hair and bags under our eyes. Just make sure you don’t use up that once off day on ‘Back to School Day’ so don’t forget to brush your own hair before you leave the house.
No doubt there will be tears when you get to school as the buzz and excitement gets too much for the smaller ones. I am afraid there is no magic wand for this one and it happens to everyone. All I can tell you is that they will be having fun 30 seconds after you’ve gone so get out as quickly as possible before they get the chance to realise what’s happening and Velcro themselves to your inner thigh. If that happens, which it will for some of you, tell them you love them and no matter what happens you will be back to collect them after they have had all the fun in school.
After you have heaved a massive sigh of relief and all the pent up stress of the summer leaves your body, fix yourself a nice cup of tea and a biscuit and enjoy your very own magical moment all to yourself, you truly deserve it because after all you are a great Mum or Dad.
Good luck with it all! After you've got through it why don't you let me know of your own experiences by posting them below, or on our
Facebook page www.facebook.com/AdamsCloud, or you can email them to me directly
at benjisblog@adamscloud.com.
Don’t forget we need your help so please share my blog with your friends and help make a hug!
The summer holidays
are nearly over so I thought I would reflect back on some fun I had both as a
kid myself, and with my own kids from this summer and summers gone by. In the hope that you can squash some last minute family fun in before the end of the
summer I will share with you my top 10 magical moments. I would also love to
hear about some of the fun things you did so I can share them with everyone so please send
them in to benjisblog@adamscloud.com. Thanks!
1. Camping in the Back Garden
I know I've spoken
about camping on the beach with Adam in a previous blog but it's worth mentioning again. When I was kid I went
camping in a friends back garden and still remember, as if it was yesterday,
the magical feeling and the thrill of the camp fire, the spooky glow of the
torch, roasting marshmallows, scary ghost stories, cooked sausages, a real coal
barbecue, singing songs and staying up late. Great for any age, I
strongly recommend getting together as a family or with a couple of friends or
cousins and have a good old fashioned camp-out in the back garden before the end
of the holidays. It costs nothing, it's great fun and you have the comfort of the
house for wee's and poo's as well as emergency shelter if a hurricane decides
to arrive!
Fun on the river in Brittas Bay!
2. Canoe up a River
Ok, I know you need
kayak, canoe or boat with life jackets for this one but it's definitely one of my
favourite things to do and has created some of my most precious
moments with the kids. The smaller the river the better with lush riverbanks and overhanging trees. So make contact with your local waterways website to see
what’s involved.
The whole Moriarty family out for a spin!
3. Family Scoot or Cycle
Although I have had plenty of scooter outings with the kids this summer the outings on the bike have been few and far between, but I
certainly felt the need to get the bikes sorted again when I met the whole Moriarty family out for a leisurely cycle while Jackie and I were out for a walk. This
is a must for all families and a summer moment to remember with fondness.
4. Big Game of Rounders
Another fond memory of mine was a big game of rounders in the local green space with all my friends and other kids on my road . So to step it up a notch and make an unforgettable day out grab a portable barbecue, burgers, drinks and a tennis ball & racquet and head for the nearest open space with family and friends and have the Boys and Mums against the Dads and Girls game of rounders. Break for food and a rest
before the second innings for another amazing day out with lots of fun and
giggles.
Robbie found the biggest leaf ever on his scavenger hunt!
5. Scavenger Hunt
An old scout’s
favourite that will never fail to spark off some high pitched excitement is the
tried and tested scavenger hunt. This can be played in the house with the
smaller ones or in the back garden, local park, forest or beach. Simply make a
list of things the kids have to go and find then give them the list and let them off! Things on the list can be anything from a drinks bottle or acorn to a Y-shaped twig or different coloured
flowers.
6. Treasure Hunt
A treasure hunt does
take a little more effort and time to organise but is great and well worth it. The treasure can be anything but gold chocolate coins and goodies are always a hit. The more clues
the better and including a little riddle or rhyme adds to the fun. Again a
treasure hunt can be organised within the house, garden or local park. Most
importantly the last clue should be a treasure map with a couple of landmarks
and an 'X' that marks the spot.
Harry, Robbie & Molly having fun in the mud!
7. Mudslide
Ok you do need a big
hill and access to a very big bucket of water so this may not be possible for
everyone but this year the kids had a ball on the mudslide in Brittas. Pour a
big bin of water with a bit of washing up liquid down a grassy hill and to get
them sliding down you may need to repeat the process a couple of times, but the
results are an amazing mud fest which is very messy but unforgettable. Adam was lucky enough to
have fun on the mud slide so highly recommended.
8. Climb a Mountain
As a kid I loved going
for walks up the mountains with my dad. One of the best days we
had at the start of the summer was a huge trip down memory lane for me when we
climbed the sugarloaf in Wicklow and had a picnic on the top. The view is
spectacular and Robbie’s words summed up the day perfectly “This is the best
day of my life.” So take a trip to your nearest mountain or hill with a view
for a picnic, you won’t be disappointed.
9. Drink The Rain Dance
Surely we can all
remember a time when we opened our mouths to the sky to drink
the rain and still have this as a fond memory. So the next time we have a downpour, which is likely to be very soon, get out there and do a rain dance in the muddy
puddles with the kids. Get soaking wet, drink the rain, and laugh like you’ve
never laughed before. When you’re all done get everyone in for a bath, hot chocolate and a movie
night.
10. Wash the Car Day
No family photo album
can ever be complete without a photo of the kids trashing your car with a
sponge and a bucket of soapy water. You'll have hours of fun and your previously clean car will have lots of lovely
water streaks all over it but it'll be worth it. Caution a trip to the car wash for one
final rinse just might be required but the kids love that as well.
If you can recommend any other fun activities that can help create Magical Moments with the kids then please post them below, or on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/AdamsCloud, or you can email them to me directly at benjisblog@adamscloud.com.
Don’t forget we need your help so please share the Magical Moments blogs with your friends and help make a hug!
With
love in your heart and belief in an Idea anything is possible. This week’s blog
is about how Adam's books came to be.
As
last Monday was my birthday I would like to start out by saying a big huge THANK YOU for all the beautiful
birthday wishes I received. But some of you may not know that it was also Adam's
5th year Anniversary and the day that Adam’s message of love, laughter and play in the family hit me like a bolt from the sky with crystal clarity
and what I needed to do to make sense of what had happened and survive the
wreckage.
Exactly
one year later, in an attempt to remember Adam, spread his simple message and
help parents develop a strong loving relationship with their kids, 'Before You
Sleep' was published. So
to create a small distraction for myself this week I thought I would write a
bit about how Adam's books came to be.
Getting
a book published by a main stream publisher is quite simply like winning the
lotto.
For
many different reasons I was desperate to have Adam’s books published, not
because I wanted to be an important writer but because I felt I had something
important to write.
I
Initially tried a couple of publishers to see if they were interested in my
book but quickly received very polite rejection letters if any at all.
I
could not handle the fact that an entry level editor trying to make their name
in the publishing industry had the power to decide my fate and the fate of Adam’s
books so I decided to take control of our destiny and go for it myself.
So,
with the help of a friend who had some experience in the publishing industry I
identified 3 key things a publisher does that I would have to do myself if I
wanted things to work out.
1. Finance my book
2. Gain distribution for
my book
3. Market and promote my
book
So
off to the bank with a business plan and box number one was ticked.
Distribution
was a bit more of a scary prospect. However with the help of a great friend I
got an introduction to the key buyer in a large distributor who believed in what
I was trying to do and gave his full support. I contacted a second large
distributor with no introduction and they also were very supportive and agreed
to take the books in. Box 2 ticked.
With
a desperate need for everyone to see Adam and know about how wonderful he was I
got on the phone and started ringing TV and radio stations, newspapers and
magazines and told them my story, and followed up with a press release and photos of
Adam. The response was amazing and word quickly got out about a beautiful book
parents could read to their children before they go to sleep.
TV3 were the first to invite me on to Ireland AM, (you can see this interview below, sorry about the quality), and more appearances followed on the Late Late Show and BBC Breakfast. You can see all of these in the media section on the Adams Cloud website.
A
few months later “Before you Sleep” was nominated and against all the odds won
the Book of the Year at the Irish Books Awards. An amazing night that I will
never forget, but oddly, in hindsight, was just something that was always supposed
to happen.
Of
course there is a lot of detail behind the scenes but self-publishing Before You Sleep was not about the book as much about dealing with the loss of Adam
and a way for me to remember some of the fun times we had together. You may be
interested to read the first ever book I wrote. It is as yet unpublished but I
thought I would post the unedited version here for you to read to
the kids. Just let me know if that is something you would like to see, I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Of course none of this would have happened without the support, belief and
encouragement from Jackie as she nursed our new baby Molly that changed our lives, and from Harry and Robbie who have demonstrated enormous strength, love and
character over the years.
So
I guess the message this week is that no matter how bad, desperate or
impossible things seem with your family around you, with love in your heart and
belief in an idea anything is possible, you just have to have the courage to
make the change and make it happen. Follow your dreams.
Lots of love, hugs & kisses,
Benji.
P.S. If you are interested in self-publishing and would like any information or advice then just drop me an email at benjisblog@adamscloud.com.
The last time the Olympics were on in 2008 I pretty much saw
every event live from China in the early hours of the morning and was lucky
enough to watch Michael Phelps win each of his gold medals. For me those Olympics were part of one of the
most memorable moments in my life.
The reason? Well of
course it was not because of Olympic Champion Michael Phelps but rather my very
own little champion, 6 week old little Molly Bennett who finished every bottle
in record time as I fed her her midnight feed. It was truly amazing as I
watched history being made in between back patting, tummy rubbing, nappy
changing and the odd burp as trapped wind escaped from her tiny tummy. Little
did I know at the time how happy Molly would make us all today.
4 years later by total coincidence Molly was sitting with me
on the couch and I flicked on the Olympics only to see Phelps in the pool again.
With Molly snuggled into me I began to tell her the story about when she was a
baby she got very hungry in the middle of the night and how I would have to get
up and give her lots of kisses, feed her a bottle, change her nappy and settle
her down in the stillness of an early summer morning so she could get her
beauty sleep just as the two of us watched the man on the telly win all his
gold medals.
Then something really lovely happened, Molly decided to
simply pretend she was a baby again and I acted out the routine of feeding her
in my arms rubbing her tummy patting her back and giving her hugs and kisses
just the way I did when she was a baby. She loved it and we had magical moment
as Phelps raced up and down the pool chasing another gold medal.
Why am I telling you this story? Well simple really. I have
discovered that the kids no matter how old love to hear a little story about
when they were babies, what they did and what they said. They particularly love
the funny stories involving wee, poo, barfing or how they totally embarrassed
us poor old parents. Harry’s favourite story is the one of him escaping from a
dressing room as mum was changing and streaking around a department store when
he was 4. Hilarious!
So to create this week’s Magical moment and get those extra
giggles hugs and kisses tell the kids a little story about when they were
smaller, they will love it and get the chat and communication going from an
early age.
Let us know your stories and the reaction you got from the
kids when you tell them their little story. You can post them below, or on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/AdamsCloud, or you can email them to me directly at benjisblog@adamscloud.com.
Don’t forget we need your help so please share the Magical Moments
blogs with your friends and help make a hug.
Just in case you are interested here is a vid of Phelps
winning his medals in China.
Well when I started writing this blog on Monday the weather
was OK and looking good but the drizzle is back so while trying to keep the
faith I am still hoping that you will all get a chance to get out and about this
weekend in some nice weather.
So, with this in mind I thought I would suggest a couple of
fun things to do on the beach. Don’t worry if you don’t get to the beach because if you improvise
slightly you can play all these games in the park, back garden or pretty much
anywhere.
OK we all know the standard games that are great fun for the
beach. Football, building sandcastles
and digging holes. But here are a couple of extra ones that I have played with
the kids that are great fun and I have included a couple of short videos so you
can get the idea.
As always we love to hear your ideas and thoughts so keep
them coming so I can share them with all the other Mums and dads and generate
hugs and kisses through Magical Moments.
So here are my
suggestions with instructions:
1. Beach Busy Dizzy Whizzy
Bury a packet of crisps, shell or other item that could be considered treasure and mark it with an 'X'.
Get a stick and draw a spiral in the stand. Start at the X in the sand and work your way out, the bigger the spiral the better. When you think the spiral is big enough continue on with your line and loop and bend it around the beach. When you have finished the end of your line is the start line for the kids.
Bring the kids to the start of the line and tell them there is some treasure buried at the end of the line but they have to follow the line and stay on it or the treasure will disappear. Add some more excitement by telling them that the treasure keeps moving around and they have to hurry before it disappears.
Let them off and have great fun watching them follow the line and get dizzy as the end up in the middle of the spiral with a bump and find their reward.
Check out this vid of my kids doing it, I forgot to put the treasure in but they love this game:
2. Beach Ball Bulls Eye
Ok this is really simple but great fun.
Draw a bulls eye target on the sand the centre circle is 100 points the middle 50 pts and the outside is 25 points.
Build a big cone of sand about 5 meters away from the target and place a football on the top.
The kids get 3 goes to kick the ball off the cone onto the target to get their points.
3. Beach Cone Dibble
Dribble
Develop those soccer skills with this fun beach game
Make 6 or 7 big cones out of the sad about 2 meters apart
Set the timer on your watch and see who can dribble a football in and out of the sand cones to the end and back fastest time wins.
You can add on 2 second penalty for hitting a cone or going the wrong way through the cones.
Here is Harry doing it
4. Olympic Beach Long Jump
Make a line in the sand.
Flatten the sand after the line so you can mark where the kiddies land.
Longest run and jump wins.
5. Beach Buggy Buildathon
Let your design skills run riot with this
Dig two rectangular holes to fit two people in the front and two in the back you can go that extra mile and dig a step in the hole so the kids have a back rest to lean on and a foot well for their feet.
Add the steering wheel using a bucket decorate the bonnet with seashells and add those go fast stripes using seaweed don’t forget the gear stick using your spade.
When it’s all done see where the kids take you on your beach buggy journey.
6. Beach Hopscotch
I presume this needs no description but just in case all you
need is a shell and your hopscotch mat drawn on the sand.
Draw your hopscotch boxes from 1 to 10 on the sand.
Throw your shell on box no 1 and hopscotch to the top and back without touching box no 1 with your feet.
On the way back standing on one leg you have to pick up our shell without falling over and hopscotch back to base.
On your next go have to throw your shell into box No 2 and do the same again.
The person to get the shell in all 10 boxes and hopscotch to the top and back each time without falling over is the winner.
I hope you have fun on the beach and if you've had any magical moments of your own that you'd like to share, (from the beach or anywhere), just post them below, or on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/AdamsCloud, or you can email them to me directly at benjisblog@adamscloud.com. Bye for now.
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