Scott Benner's Blog: Life Is Short: Book Blog, page 2

Video from my Katie appearance

Since we were away on a family vacation when my 'Katie' appearance aired, its possible that I was the last of us to watch it. I want to thank you all for the FaceBook messages and tweets that you sent during the show, they really helped me to feel like I wasn't missing it - you guys are the best!

Okay, well... my hair was a bit fluffier than I would have hoped and my (IMO) best and funniest answers were edited out (Likely because I strayed off topic) but here is my first appearance on nationwide television. I had the audience laughing a number of times with my pithy and sarcastic antidotes about married sex but since they didn't make the cut, I'm assuming that they weren't in line with the tone of the piece. I mean, I don't think that I was too dirty... I'll have to find another way to share them with you someday.

Radio Interview with NPR Philadelphia

Blurb from the WHYY, NPR Philadelphia Website 

The forecast looks favorable for Father's Day weekend, and whether you're the designated driver, griller, or just plain chiller with family and friends, you're hopefully not in the same boat as Scott Benner, tasked with the endless job of doing laundry — or so he claims in his ode to fatherhood, "Life is Short, Laundry is Eternal: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Dad." He spoke with NewsWorks Tonight Host Dave Heller.

 Interview: June 13, 2013

Being invited to do this interview was a huge honor! I couldn't believe Dave Heller read my book! The interview can also be found on the WHYY website.

 

Video: My Interview with Katie Couric

I had the chance to sit down last week with Katie Couric at the ABC News studio in Manhattan. We talked about life as a stay-at-home dad, my new book, 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal' and how I feel about family. The interview is live now on Yahoo News. I would really appreciate it if you could check out the video and share the link while you're there. Thank you so much!

My Diabetes Mine Guest Post and book GiveAway

A big thank you to Mike Hoskins and Diabetes Mine for featuring me today on the site for Father's Day! In addition to some nice words from Mike about my book you'll find a guest post from me titled, "The Outcome Is Not Important" and a giveaway.

I hope you get a chance to surf over and check it out... Diabetes Mine is one of the great sites and Mike's writing is top shelf - spend some time there (after you read my bit).

The day I made Katie Couric laugh

I gave my first on camera interview for my new book exactly one week before I made Katie Couric laugh. I was really happy with how that interview went considering that I never saw any of the questions before we began and, well, it was my first time. That first interview was a bit on the serious side so there weren't many opportunities to be lighthearted but still, I left the studio that day wishing that I would have found a way to represent my entire self and not just the part of me that earnestly loves being a stay-at-home dad.

When the first interview aired my wife Kelly said that it took me too long to "warm up" and that she wished that people could have seen more of my humorous side - I must admit that I had to agree with her assessment.

I never thought that I'd have the opportunity to take her advice so soon...

One week later I was approached by an ABC News producer who asked if I'd be interested in doing an interview with them and of course I was. I couldn't believe what I was hearing as the producer explained that I was going to be interviewed by Katie Couric! I remembered thinking, "There's only one Katie Couric, right?". The plans were made fast and furiously and six short days later I was standing in the ABC News studio waiting for Katie to arrive.

After I got out of make up (I know right?) I was escorted to the back of the studio where I watched Miss Couric conduct her first interview, I was to be third. As I was listening to the interview I began to think about all of the other interviews that I've seen over the years and I wondered why I could only remember a handful of them. I thought about the one that I gave only a week before and I realized that while it was good, and I was clear and engaging... it wasn't memorable. I wasn't me in that moment, I was the guy that I thought the interviewer wanted to talk to. Please don't misunderstand - my answers were completely genuine and I am one hundred and fifty thousand percent the thoughtful father that gave them but there is more to me that I didn't allow to come out. Maybe I was nervous that first time or maybe I was just being careful, but whatever the motivation, all it left the world with was a one-sided view of the man that wrote Life Is Short.

So while I was waiting to sit down with Katie, I decided. "I don't care if I go down in flames, but I'm not giving a one-sided view of myself today!". So I went for it, I swung really hard for the fence.

I decided that people could handle hearing a man who genuinely loves his family and respects his wife's sacrifices in one answer and the guy who talks freely about the world of married sex in another. I didn't strive to be funny, I just talked to Katie the same way I speak to my friends. I was myself - a bit irreverent, sometimes sarcastic and honest about my thoughts. Katie began with a serious question and I gave her a serious answer, but when she asked about the chapter of my book titled, "I Remember Having Sex... and the Baby Proves It!", I just let go and told a story. Part way thorough my answer Katie began to laugh, then she cringed and then she guffawed! Katie Couric was busting her gut and I could feel the other people in the studio laughing too.

When the interview ended Katie leaned over and told me that I was, "great!" and she continued our conversation as if we were long-time friends. We took a few pictures and I signed abook for her before I went down the hall to change and have my make up removed. I walked out onto the streets of New York City knowing that someone was going to remember that interview... hopefully it won't just be my wife's parents (who I apologized to on camera after telling the "sex" story).

The interview is scheduled to run the week of June 10th on Yahoo and ABC News dot com.

Perspective New Jersey Interview

Here I am talking about my book, 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal' with ABC Philadelphia's Nora Muchanic on Perspective New Jersey.

Oklahoma Tornado

Last night this photo of two teachers leading children to safety brought tears to my eyes and sent me racing to my computer to make a donation to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

Today, I've preempted my blog piece about delivering insulin in difficult carb counting situations to pass on information on how you can send relief to the people whose lives where destroyed in yesterday's tornado. I encourage you to make a donation of any size if you are able and please make your friends, both online and IRL, aware of how easy it is to send help. 

American Red Cross

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, donate online, or donate by phone at 1-800-RED CROSS.

Salvation Army

Text STORM to 80888 to contribute $10 to the Salvation Army's relief efforts or make a donation by phone at 1-800-SAL-ARMY. If you're sending a check make sure you put the words "Oklahoma Tornado Relief" on the check, and mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK., 73157. Online donations are accepted here.

Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold Recipient

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scott Benner’s Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal Honored with Mom’s Choice Award

May 16, 2013, Ann Arbor, MI

Author Scott Benner’s best-selling parenting book, Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Dad, has been named a 2013 recipient of the Gold distinction from Mom’s Choice Awards®. 

Globally recognized for establishing the standard of excellence in family-friendly media, products and services, Mom’s Choice Awards® honored Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal as an outstanding book within its “Adult Books: Parenting—Contemporary Families” category. An esteemed panel of judges that includes industry leaders in education, publishing, parenting, the performing arts, science, and medicine evaluated the book based on its   production quality, design, educational value, entertainment value, originality, appeal, and cost. Products that receive honors from Mom’s Choice Awards® help families grow emotionally, physically and spiritually; they are morally sound and promote good will; and they are inspirational and uplifting.

A pithy, modern parenting book written from the viewpoint of a seasoned stay-at-home father with an inspiring story and an irreverent sense of humor, Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal delivers both hilarity and perspective to readers everywhere. With a wide range of topics that anchor individual chapters (fatherhood, marriage, sex, gender roles, diabetes, laundry, “dropping the baby”), the book is an entertaining collection of stories about the mishaps and misadventures of parenting.

Through the lens of Scott Benner’s experiences, readers are reminded that the path to happiness is paved by figuring out how to turn life’s challenges into life’s rewards. Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal tells the story of an American family that has overcome an array of obstacles to discover peace and joy within their own home.    

According to Library Journal, “[Benner] asserts the secret to happiness is to never stop and never give up … his unabashed “dad humor” brings a distinct charm to his writing without being mawkish or overly sentimental.” The NYC Dad’s Group declared, "Scott Benner’s book, Life is Short, Laundry is Eternal, is a book that proves that the family route is one that is paved with bumps and washed with tears, but filled with fun and love."

How I See Mother's Day

I wanted to share an excerpt from 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal', in honor of Mother's Day. This slice is from Chapter 12 which is titled, "I May Be Growing Ovaries".

I saw a movie back in 1996 called Microcosmos. It’s a documentary about insects. The filmmaker used incredible close-ups and time-lapse photography that gave me as the viewer the feeling that I was standing next to some of the most amazingly varied and fascinating living things on the planet. Slowing down the filming let me examine each step of each frame in a way that left me feeling like I’d experienced the subject’s entire life in just a few moments. As truly awe-inspiring as the film was, my real takeaway leaving the theater was the knowledge that all of this was going on all around me and I never knew it.

It may sound a bit crazy, but that is how I see motherhood. Each day is full of wondrous and critically important moments. Endless decisions are made and carried out by our moms in homes all around the world. Each step holds the hope of survival, growth, and prosperity, but as important and plentiful as these women and their work are, it goes unseen by most. When someone does finally pay attention, it’s unlikely that the viewer will take the time to learn about the complexities of these seemingly simple tasks. You can watch bees collect nectar and dismiss it as just bugs eating, or you can spend a few minutes understanding how their repetitive act literally makes the world spin.

This chapter is dedicated to the women I know who asked me if my book was going to help their husbands to understand what they do all day. I hope this is what you had in mind, girls. I don’t just think that you are the center of everything, I know that you are. I may not be a woman, but I try very hard to be even half the mom that I know my gorgeous wife would have been if our lives would have gone a different way. I hope every day that I am making Kelly proud, while properly representing all that you ladies do, feel, and love so diligently when no one is looking. 

Goodreads Book GiveAway

My publisher is giving away autographed copies of 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal' to ten lucky Goodreads members... 

Looking forward to signing your book... Good luck!

-Scott

Goodreads Book Giveaway









Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal


by Scott Benner

Giveaway ends June 07, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win