Texas Dad Who Does It All!

"The Wood Family"

This Texan is interesting, smart, educated, a family man, a preacher and teacher, plus he lectures to companies and civic organizations. He works with figures, he helps figure out how to guide his children, and he offers us good advice about getting by in the real world. His blog “Josh’s Blog” gives us a sweeping view of how he sees the world, loves his wife and kids, and yet has time to try and show everyone reading helpful ways to improve their lives. He is opinionated, soft-spoken and inspirational. He’s Josh Wood.

Me: In your about section, you say that the primary category for your blog is more than likely as a “Dad Blogger”. When did you write the About Section, and are there things in there that you have a different perspective on today than when you first wrote it? You do have an interesting page dedicated to the one-year anniversary of your blog where you go into more depth about why you decided to write your blog. Do you have any different perspectives to share today about blogging and perhaps an anecdote about how blogging has impacted your life?

Josh: I just re-read my “about” section for the first time since I wrote it. Surprisingly, I’d say that my perspectives about blogging are pretty much the same with one little exception: I am now a believer that everyone should blog. I have tons of reason for this belief; but here’s the main one: your old blog entries are a God send for your survivors should you pass away. Even if you only have time to compose a quick annual update, do it. Pass away prematurely; your survivors will thank you. Survive; your old self will thank you for preserving the memories.

"Organizing Outfits"

Me: I enjoy your answer to the question, on your about page, about why you blog. You say: “Because I love my life. I wanted to always remember the reason that I love my life.” What a truly refreshing and beautiful way to feel about life, because it seems (and perhaps I am incorrect and generalizing) but many people don’t get to say this, and this leaves me fascinated by your sentiment. Help me out. Is it something that you’d already decided … that you love your life, or have you always held this happy view towards life?

Josh: I guess I’ve pretty much always had a borderline-annoyingly optimistic attitude about life. Several years ago I had the opportunity to spend seven weeks in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Throughout the trip, one thing amazed me more than anything else: many (if not most) of the inhabitants of the slums seemed happier about life than most Americans I encounter. I remember seeing a young child (probably orphan, around the age of seven or so) happily climbing a mountain of trash to dig out food for a meal. I contrast that with, back in the states, watching a kid scream at his mother because he was displeased with the toy he received in his fast-food kid’s meal. If these malnourished, poorly clothed, disease-ridden people can be genuinely happy about life, I have no excuse to complain. I am blessed beyond anything I deserve.

"One-On-One Time"

Me: You also claimed that your belief when you started your blog was that you would likely say on your third post, “Find me on Twitter.” Why do you believe this didn’t happen?

Josh: I can point to one main reason that my blog survived: I’m a selfish blogger. Like the rest of America, my life is busy. I’ve got a thousand projects, a hundred commitments, six kids, and about 5 seconds to spare in a given day. If I were to write every blog post based on the preferences and requests of others, blogging would become a “job”. I don’t want another job. Selfishly writing whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want, and about whatever I want is what keeps this thing going. I imagine that I would probably gain more readers if I would yield to the blog preferences of society, (writing less than 300 word posts, using high-quality photos, focusing on only one niche topic, etc.); but, I would also burn out after about three posts.

This is my advice to other bloggers: I know you spend your days refreshing your analytics pages every hour. That you sit on the edge of your seat, neglecting real work, waiting for someone out there to like, comment, or tweet your post … then proceed to give your mental-self a high-five when this happens. Ignore your stats for a week. Concern yourself solely with creating quality content that is meaningful to you. You’ll be a much happier blogger, and likely blog more regularly.

Me:How many kids do you have and how do they contribute to your blog?

"Six Is A Great Number"

Josh: My wife and I are blessed with 6 kids. They are the primary reason that I blog. Life goes by ridiculously quickly when you have kids. I didn’t want to forget what life was like when the kids were little. I’ve spoken to tons of parents of grown kids who say that they can’t remember most of the decade in which their kids were young. I’m hoping that, when I’m older, my present blogging will provide me with little glimpses of my history. It’s a tragedy to lose great memories.

Me:  Your blog is dedicated to 4 primary categories and includes a resource section.  What are they and how did you decide to focus on those 4 specific categories?

Josh: The four primary sections of my blog are: Kids and Family, Money and Finance, Politics, and Religion. I chose these categories because these are the things that I am most passionate about at present. To put it a better way, I mentioned that I’m hoping my present blogging will eventually provide me with glimpses of my history. These are the four perspectives from which I primarily want to remember my history.

Me:  What three words best describe you?

Josh: Dad, nerd, sleepy.

"Josh Wood"

Me: On your blog you have a section that says: “Book Josh to Speak.”   Who generally contacts you to lecture and what topics do you typically speak about?

Josh: I primarily speak to local civic organizations and churches. At civic organizations I speak on a variety of topics. Usually they all relate in some way to the topic “Simplifying the complex language of money” (my day job is in the financial world). Recently, I’ve also begun speaking about blogging and social media. As for the churches, I preach a couple times per year. Although I absolutely love getting opportunities to speak, I don’t advertise (aside from on my blog). Perhaps in the future when I have some additional time. (Chuckles)

Me: It is amazing to me how many people are religious about blogging and have blogged now for years on a very consistent basis.  At one point pundits had declared the death of blogging.  What are your views or feelings about this and if you had a crystal ball, or pretend for a moment you have the liberty of an economist, what will blogging morph into over the next five years?

Josh: Wow! Good question. First of all, pundits love to declare the death of things. In fact, I think that’s probably a pundit’s sole job: find something popular and declare its eventual demise. My best bet: blogging will continue because, in my opinion, people desire for their blogs to be the center of their online personas. A personal blog allows more individuality than being branded by Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus. I do, however, believe that blogs will continue to become more social … more interactive by way of the continued integration with the various social networks. In short, blogs will survive. Pundits will die.

Me: Is your bio up to date or do you have more than six kids under the age of seven now?

Josh: I think it is up to date … still six kids ages seven and under … although I haven’t spoken with my wife yet today, so who knows?

Me:You have a large number of hilarious quotes from your kids.  Would you mind sharing one or two with us?

"Clean Up Time"

Kids are hilarious. They always make me laugh. I started a separate Twitter account just so that I could remember a fraction of the funny stuff they say. I would encourage all parents to do the same. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:

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6 y/o: “Boys can’t go to a nursing home.”

(After a little discussion, we discovered that she thought nursing homes were communities of breast-feeding old people.)

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4 y/o: “I think the snail is dead.”

6 y/o: “It’s alive.”

4 y/o: “How do you know?”

6 y/o: “It just tooted.”

4 y/o: “That wasn’t the snail.”

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4 y/o: “Daddy, I never get in trouble when I go to school.”

Daddy: “That’s great!”

4 y/o: “But this time I did.”

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Daddy: “Where did you get that peanut?”

3 y/o: “From under the couch.”

Daddy: “Gross! Don’t eat things from under the couch!”

3 y/o: “But I got all of the hair off of it.”

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Me: Where do you find the time to blog?

"Mission Accomplished"

Josh: My day job requires me to spend a lot of time on the phone. I work on most of my blogs, if not all, while I’m sitting on hold. Some of my blogs are a couple months in the making … Five minutes here … five minutes there. Sometimes I’ll work on a blog during lunch. It is very rare for me to work on a blog after business hours. Family time is too important to our family. Plus, I’d run out of things to write about if I’ve spent most of my family time writing.

The time has just flown Josh and I’ve really enjoyed spending this time with you. Your blog is family oriented with a lot of good topics for our readers to enjoy. I sure hope you’ll add in even more fun things your kids say. Perhaps some of your advice will fall on the ears of people seeking guidance in one area of life or another. BlogCatalog is a great place for you to share your insights, both professional and personal. Thank you for showing us the lovely way you and your wife make family life look so easy.