Happy Mothers Day from Mad Bomber®!

Mothers’ Day is fast approaching and I thought it time to reflect on MOTHERS.  It’s not hard to speak about moms if you grew up lucky like me with a great mom, great Aunt’s, great grandmothers and Great Aunts.

I’m not sure how I hit the genetic lottery but all the Reynolds and McKinstry women seemed to be alpha-females with a great social sense, accommodating, welcoming, gracious and ready for a party: dancing and singing.  Mom’s and women can be powerful influences.  With one look, a raised eyebrow, a comment in a certain tone…and with barely a move they can get the men in their life moving for them.  But the best mom’s do this with little notice and with the family’s good interest in mind.  My mother was always there for us, home but busy, engaged, attentive, available, listening, supporting and encouraging but there was a line and boundaries too.  Mom never had to touch or spank to punish.  Just her disappointment was deep punishment when we failed or crossed a line with school (or police!).

Did anyone know before they had kids what mayhem kids can cause, what stress, what challenges daily/hourly? I certainly didn’t.  And to think in the good old days when I grew up moms were mostly home everyday with kids without a break. Yet they cooked, cleaned, prepared meals and lunches, helped with homework all with a smile and tons of patience.  If I had to summarize my mother (and most of the “mother” figures in my life) I’d say she is gracious, welcoming, warm and fun, and above all well respected.  What a lucky guy I was and am.

Thanks MOM.

Brent Reynolds - Chairman

Easter time is the time kids remember by the sweet chocolate eggs hidden around the house and garden. The Wobbly Wide Web is a wonderful place to find sweet things, and I found this hidden little gem with less calories than a US Standard chocolate easter egg; a story about hats you can read to your kids. Here is my mini version. For the real story go to Juliana Carter’s original: www.storyrhyme.com/stories/originals/charlies_hats/

Charlie with his Mad Bomber® King of the Forest Hat. Photo from http://flic.kr/ps/LErg9

Charlie was a collector of hats. Now, they weren’t displayed neatly on hooks in his bedroom. You see, Charlie was a collector of many things, so his room was a bit of a jumbled mix of stuff. For instance, rocks. Charlie had rocks ranging in size from the smallest pebble to some that were as big as his hand. … In fact, Charlie had so many collections that when Mom and Dad walked past his room, they shuddered. Charlie’s room was a mess!

But let me tell you, Dear Reader, about Charlie’s hats. These were special hats, at least to Charlie. When he put one on, he became whomever he wanted to be at that particular moment.

Charlie had one very special hat. Well, it was more than a hat for Charlie, it was his pet rabbit as well. When Charlie was in bed he could cuddle it as it was warm and furry, but when he would put it on he would be transformed into the King of the Woods. This was his favourite Mad Bomber® hat which was handed down from his big brother Jim.  Standing tall up on his pillow wearing this Mad Bomber® hat he would be transformed into the King of the Woods, and he sang praise to the plants for flowering and for the deer for bringing little Bambies into his land. He would yell at the introduced weeds and tell them to go away, or else he would get off his pillow and rip them out with the super powers his Mad Bomber® hat gave him, the powers he had the right to as he had inherited this hat from his big brother.

When Charlie gets tired of being King of the Woods he would lie down in his bed, pet his furry hat and cuddle up to sleep, sometimes accidentally sucking and chewing on one of the supplex ear flaps. With his Mad Bomber® hat he would dream about the woods and how he stood in the middle of a circle of fairies, listening to their stories and telling them how to make the world a better place. Charlie never had bad dreams with his furrty friend, the worst would be when he had a stubborn gnome who wouldn’t pay attention to him.  One morning after a night full of such  stubborn gnomes he found he had gnawed the button off the earflap. Thankfully his mother fixed that before she went to work. Charlie knew his mum could do everything, so this did not surprise him in the least…

Now go read the real story!!!
www.storyrhyme.com/stories/originals/charlies_hats/

Six things to keep you from being a happy parent

By SARAH NEWTON

Hybrid Mom

Happy Parents? Yeah, Whatever! Positive happy parents, is it even possible? I ask the question because if you look around you, how many parents can you see that really look like the happy families we see in magazines? The reality appears more like a washed-out, exhausted looking mom throwing not-so-happy looks at her children. This got me thinking, why is that? How and why are we blocking being happy with our children? What gets in the way of happy parenting?

Here is what I came up with:

1. Worrying

Most parents make up some very elaborate story about what something means … for example, I have worked with parents who believe that their child’s messy room means that are going to be unsuccessful, or their inability to organize themselves means they are going to fall into the pits of despair. Even parents who believe that an off-the-cuff comment from their child could mean that they are going to become a drug addict. We judge what our children say so much and make up all kinds of other meanings for what is going on. We cannot, however, judge our children on how we may have behaved, or how someone else we knew behaved. Sometimes things just are! So when you find yourself worrying, here is a simple thing you can do:

Get a piece of paper and split it into half. On one side write the facts of the situation, e.g. Johnny shouted at me this morning. Then write down your feelings on the other side. What you will realize is that most of what is happening you are making up. Then deal with the facts first, as they will make you feel more in control.

Then look at all the feelings and ask yourself, what story are you making up? What significance are you putting on that event? Is that really true? Knowing what you know about your child, would that really happen? What would you do if that happened? Could you and they handle it?

Try and see things from your child’s point of view. What might be the reason they did what they did, other than the fact they are on a road to nowhere . . . what if it was just something that happened with no significance to it at all? Think of some of the things you say and do – do they mean you are going to end up in prison? Be realistic about the situation in front of you.

2. Trying to change your children

Most parents are unhappy because they spend their entire time trying to get their children to do something they want them to do, and then, of course when it does not happen, they feel dreadfully disappointed. The only person you have control over is yourself, and if you try to change someone else to make you happy, then this results in unhappiness. Instead of asking, how I can get my child to do what I want them to do, ask how can I change my reaction to this? When you know you are in ultimate control of yourself and your reactions, then you are more able to be free and consequently happy.

Make a list now of the top three things in your home that are causing you problems. Be honest and ask yourself if it is because it is not being done your way. What would happen if you could let go and give them more responsibility?

3. Living in the past

Parents judge how their teenager will behave in the future based on what has happened in the past; and while there is some truth in there for some, it is not a great picture. What I prefer to ask parents to do, is to concentrate on future possibilities. Make a space for your child to step into. If you see your child as truthful and honest, then they are more likely to be that. If you see them as distrustful, then you will get more of that! Be careful of the self-fulfilling prophecy that you may be opening yourself up to. How would you rather have someone see you for, your past mistakes or your future possibilities?

What possibilities are available to your child and how could you change your thinking around that?

4. Thinking the grass is greener

There appears to be so much competition around parenting. It is not a race, and partaking in competitive parenting is bound to make you unhappy. There is no such thing as perfection when it comes to parenting. There also appears to be a thought amongst parents that you are the only one having any kind of challenges and that everyone else and everyone else’s children are perfect. Well let me tell you, this is not the case at all. No parent is perfect and they all have challenges.

Where are you striving for perfection and where could you let go a little?

5. Lone Ranger syndrome . . . ..

Most parents think they need to go it alone and not ask for help or even expect it. It is this that makes our lives so stressful and hectic. Parenting it not something that is supposed to be done alone. Even as little as 30 years ago, parenting was the job of the community, but for some reason, we seem to think that to even ask for help and admit a challenge means we are weak. Parenting is a tough job and we need help and support, so don’t be afraid to ask.

6. Unconscious parenting

I think this can make us dreadfully unhappy. Spontaneous, gut reactions to our child’s behavior without any forethought can make us always in conflict with those we love the most. When we can look at a situation from a non-judgmental viewpoint and take a step back, everything becomes slightly easier and we ease up on ourselves and in turn become happier.

It is your right to be happy and enjoy your children and to do that you may have to look inward first . . . happiness is a state of mind, not a place to arrive at or eventually reach . . . .the journey should be exciting as the destination itself.

Sarah Newton is one of the world’s leading teen coaches. She enjoys a high profile and is one of the only teen coaches to have hosted her own eight-part TV series, “My Teen’s a Nightmare I’m Moving Out.” Her first book “Help! My Teenager is an Alien – the Everyday Situation Guide for Parents,” was launched in March 2007 by Penguin and rarely drops out of the top-10 parenting teenager books.

What in the world are we; AMERICANS, thinking when we continue to back brutal monarchs and dictators throughout the world?  WE need to completely overhaul our foreign policy and EITHER base it publicly on geopolitical strategy (meaning we’ll back whoever is in our interest no matter how bad (Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi, etc) OR we truly support the aspirations for freedom adapted to local cultures.

If we truly support “democracy” then we need to quit selling AMERICAN military hardware to these nasty rulers and put our money where our mouth is and actively support and promote local efforts worldwide for freedom of speech, of the press, true elections and independent judiciary’s. How would you feel if your Bahraini family got run over by an American tank or your kid got shot by a Bahraini soldier with an American rifle?

“But we should signal more clearly that we align ourselves with the 21st-century aspirations for freedom of Bahrainis rather than the brutality of their medieval monarch. I’m not just deeply “concerned” by what I’ve seen here. I’m outraged.”  Nick Kristof

I have spent 40 years traveling the world as a cultural, business and diplomatic bridge to others who see us in a sometimes very poor light.  I TOO AM OUTRAGED.  Congress, past, present and future Presidents and the State Dept should all vow to implement a courageous and consistent foreign policy focused on human aspirations.  Thomas Jefferson would be proud.

1. Stop home foreclosures including homes belonging to the 20,000+ military families, and make it mandatory to rent the property back to the occupants until it sells.
2. Banks should cut commercial and personal mortgage principal across the board by 30% and term out for 30/40 years fixed at 5.0%. The Fed to give those banks a tax credit over five years.
3. Banks should stop charging anything over 9% for credit cards, loans or move to New Jersey and register as Loan Sharks.
4. Jobs jobs jobs….we need to create jobs.
5. Raise taxes for the wealthy… If that includes me somehow I would be glad I have a job and can contribute
6. Stop American arms exports. Don’t guns cause some wars?
7. Invite my Chinese friends to build us 10,000 kilometers of high speed rail quick. Have the visionary James Oberstar oversee the effort.
8. Give Obama six more years to prove he can drag us out of the wringer….didn’t we give George Jr 8 years to create the mess?
9. Stop the housing crash and contribute to new jobs. Without housing we don’t have a recovery from 20% unemployment. Federal Govt and Congress led by our talented Virginia delegation; Senator Warner, Senator Webb, Congressman Connelly, should enact laws which require banks getting Fed housing guarantees (90% of home financing now) to cut those mortgages by 30% and re-finance for 30/40 years fixed rate. If they did that many homeowners could keep their homes and the market would stabilize sooner. My mortgage would go from $5000/month to $2600/month and we’d start renovating and spending more plus saving for kids education.
10. Break up some of the Big Banks starting with the worst: Bank of America.

The Eagle Lake Dog Sled Races were cancelled this year due to lack of snow. As Mad Bomber was one of the major sponsors, sponsoring the  The Mad Bomber 30 race, he decided to take a look himself as the party must go on.  And so the Mad Bomber crew landed with six kids and two dads. They booked into Moose Point Camp for some dog sledding. No one was disappointed with the snow!

Brent's twelve year old prodigal Hip Hop girl

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Over the years, lots of interesting people (Brent took his very own twelve year old prodigal Hip Hop girl) visit Moose Point Camps. Many are students from foreign lands, Slovakia, Czech Republic, countries in Africa, etc. Many are repeat guests.  Moose Point is a vintage, old-style cabin, where the Lodge and kitchen become the place to be.

John Martin our camp Meister managed to sled about 30 miles over to Moose Point to help prepare steak dinner for about 15.  These guys make Evel Knievel look lax and make the camp in about 25 minutes on two hot hot sleds.  Once they started their snow rockets we barely heard a roar and they popped a wheelie and were gone into a million reflective snowflakes across the frozen lake. It would take our crew about two hours. They cooked, worked, ate then cleaned in total for about three hours.

Another example of southern hospitality Maine style:  Our favorite dog sled driver gets out the canines to mush the kids around the cold bright Maine woods. They ran around in the sleds as if there was no tomorrow. Snow aplenty. Round and round the camp they go, and when they stop, everyone knows, rearrange positions (new slider new rider new driver) with only one goal…share and have fun.

Dawgs love kids and the kids love the dawgs.

(CLICK ON PHOTO FOR SLIDE-SHOW)

First day off to St Froid Lake 14 mile ride on sleds to visit Roy’s fish shack.  Trail is tough and rutted but as usual in Maine beautiful. Temperature a balmy 20 degrees F.  It was a good trip getting there, with a warm youth pile-up cuddle at every break on trail. Scott who was the dog sled driver got everything out for us when we arrived. Roy the shack master shows us how a real man drills ice, inside the shack with the aid of a little gasoline.

After fishing in Roy’s shack for awhile we’d caught nearly 100 smelts (small bait fish) and one nice trout. With two sticks of salter butter and skillet we made lunch at 3 pm. Smelt was fine fish, better than trout. Most kids enjoyed smelt with burger or hot dog as well. Everything tastes good as temp drops towards zero.

Sledding home Brent, the Mad Bomber himself, cranked a low speed turn and flipped his sled landing on the ice.  Forgot they didn’t have three feet of snow on the ice and landed on head and shoulder with a resounding WHACK.  He jumped up to check on young Niki who cleared the sled by pushing off as we went down.  He couldn’t speak and had his breath knocked out, but was okay.  Brent did circles on the ice huffing and puffing as his shoulder throbbed.  Thanks to Zeuss helmets for saving what brain he does have left in his skull and thanks to Arctic Cat for their great durable (proven to be unbreakable) sleds….Scottie and the other youth turned the sled back upright and Brent whispered to get moving back to motel having this chilling feeling he had broken his shoulder.  Niki (10) drives 14 miles back to the motel through rough, rugged terrain.  Brent was sure he’d tilt and flip him off again and this time he would have to be a landing on a hurt shoulder.  But Niki is the master of the sled and drives just fine.

Brent’s injuries were not  too bad, his shoulder was OK, but his collar bone was broken! As long as the others were safe and warm Brent was happy, and nothing made him happier than seeing the entire crew with warm heads, wrapped in various Mad Bomber style hats!

Factory Lunch in China: Frog 'n Broth, Fish, Rabbit plus another 10 dishes!

Lunch at the factory in China. A royal reception as per usual! Above is the picture of the abundant lunch dishes, the factory leader, his wife and Brent’s two favorite factory technicians who have worked there (and worked on  MadBomber production) for over 20 years! Brent regards these lunches as definite perks of the job.

 

 

Eagle Lake - going dog-sledding!

Ok we are on Eagle Lake and plans continue to change all for the better. We are waiting for the sleds to be delivered the boys and Sasha will sled a bit this afternoon. Tonight it is dinner at John’s restaurant – more sled ding. Tomorrow we will sled 10-12 miles to another lake to ice fish ($20 goes to kid with biggest fish).

Saturday the kids will all take off on the back of a sled with 12 dogs pulling. After dog sliding one of John’s hands will load up our sleeping bags and drive them to Moose Point Camp the kids will in turn sled the 15 miles to Moose Point where John’s cooks will have ready a steak dinner.

Camp owner, John Martin, seasons the steaks before taking them to the outdoor grill.

Much to my pleasure we will spend Saturday night at Moose point and all the kids will get a real sense of what it was like living 100 years ago (minus the private cook and snowmobiles) no electricity, no phones, no TVs – any water we need will come from the lake. Don’t worry too much John’s hands will have the fires going in our cabins before we get there – the kids however will need to keep them lit during the night.

Uncle Brent—-

Sasha and Nicky were still getting into their snow gear when the photo was taken… pays to be on time!

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“Another magical Christmas holiday filled with joy, romance and massive debt, lurches precariously to a standstill.   For weeks to come, you will find small sparkly bits in places they shouldn’t logically be.  The five kilograms of chocolates you have been given will transfer themselves to parts of your body you thought incapable of further expansion. This will happen even if you don’t open the box.  You have a strange craving for normality…”.

Dini – Devonport Hash House Harriers, Tasmania

MadBomber wished that Dini would enter the MadBomber twitter poetry contest even though Tasmania is currently in summer and nice cozy Mad Bomber hats are probably far from her mind. Tweet poetry @themadbomber for last-minute late entries!! Or if you missed the deadline for a MB video: Get videos up on YouTube now and post the link on our FaceBook page to still be in the running! Remember that at MadBomber we don’t like rules.

Final week to win with MadBomber!

Starting now and running till December 25 (midnight in the country of your choice) – the MB Fasion photo contest. Set a trend wearing your Mad Bomber hat and look good. Win $200 in the last of our Christmas photo contests by posting your favorite photo of you or anyone  wearing a MadBomber hat on our FaceBook page (and ‘like’ us): www.facebook.com/pages/Mad-Bomber/43407761726.

Self Portrait Take II by Sophie Elgort

Results for the Mad Bomber in Sports contest coming soon, check our FaceBook page regularly.

Also dont forget we are still running these two contests over the next few days:

• Mad Tweeting at MadBomber. Best rhyming tweet about MadBomber wins $200. Tweet poetry @themadbomber before December 25 and win!
• Submit your best MadBomber video to win big this Christmas! Get videos up on YouTube and post the link on our FaceBook page to win.

Season Greetings to everyone from Brent!
Ho ho ho!