Back-to-School Chats

This book is written for anyone trying to figure out good advice to give their sons, or for anyone trying to help someone else come up with advice for their sons, or for anyone looking for a great gift for someone with a son or the potential of having a son.  It is a collection of advice from fathers to sons.

The genesis of the book came during one of the author’s back to school chat with his own son, Peter.  During that chat, Peter made the author promise to find him or call him up every year, wherever he is and give him a “back-to-school chat”.  The author thought he could do even better – hence this book.

This book is a compilation of eight years of back to school chats and stories and quips the author collected over the same period from people around the world.  Each year, the author asked people to send him the best advice they ever got from their fathers.  The best of those responses are grouped into the eight central themes of the book:

• Conditions, choices and consequences
• Notice and appreciate
• Trade offs
• Finish the job
• Run through the tape
• How stupid would you feel?
• Tools for the task
• Sometimes the road isn’t straight

If you read this book, hopefully it will bring to mind a wonderful back-to-school chat you had with your own father or with someone that meant a lot to you.

This book is written for anyone trying to figure out good advice to give their daughters, or for anyone trying to help someone else come up with advice for their daughters, or for anyone looking for a great gift for someone with a daughter or the potential of having a daughter.  It is a collection of advice from mothers to daughters.

The ideas in the book came for a wide collection of women who were asked only "What was the best advice you ever got from your mother?"  Interestingly, we were able to group the individual pieces into three categories:

• Take care of yourself.

• Take care of your family and friends.

• Take care of others in the world around you.

Not a bad mantra.  Not bad overall advice.

If you read this book, hopefully it will bring to mind a wonderful back-to-school chat you had with your own mother or with someone that meant a lot to you.

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"Never refuse a date with someone named Vanderbilt or Rockefeller."

"Trouble always happens after midnight."

"Friends come and go, but family is forever."

"It's not what happens to you that is critical.  It's how you handle what happens."