Parents Storytellers:
Tim D., Father of two
Maybe it's the way I grew up, but I just can't bring myself to talk about really personal stuff. Feelings, family relations, etc. In my family, no one ever spoke about one's feelings, mental state, or similar. Now I feel I'm bringing this fear of communicationinto my new family.
However, I'm totally fine with writing. Writing has an edit button. You can do your writing in peace and quiet, weigh out every word, take breaks to collect your thoughts. I don't feel the pressure of an immediate reaction of the person I'm addressing.
I was thinking that it would be nice if there was a way to somehow write down all I have to say for my kids to read. Letters are of course not that fun anymore, it has to be something technological. StoryTold turned out to be an app exactly how I imagined it! I write down stories, some they send to my kids right away, some will be sent in years to come (you can put in any date you want!).
However, I'm totally fine with writing. Writing has an edit button. You can do your writing in peace and quiet, weigh out every word, take breaks to collect your thoughts. I don't feel the pressure of an immediate reaction of the person I'm addressing.
I was thinking that it would be nice if there was a way to somehow write down all I have to say for my kids to read. Letters are of course not that fun anymore, it has to be something technological. StoryTold turned out to be an app exactly how I imagined it! I write down stories, some they send to my kids right away, some will be sent in years to come (you can put in any date you want!).
David R., Father of three
I'm in real estate development, and I travel more than I'm at home. Obviously, I barely see my family and I miss them a lot. And I can't even begin to imagine how my kids miss me… Maybe the younger twins don't understand it yet, but my 12-year-old daughter takes it especially hard.
We can't really call each other or Skype, because either she's in class, when I have the time to talk, or I'm in a meeting when she calls. It's even worse when I travel to Europe, we keep missing each other's calls because of the time zone difference. Of course, we talk when I come home, but that's not enough. Whenever I come back, it's like she grew even more… Time flies, kids grow, precious moments are missed…
I tried many tricks to make our communication more exciting and meaningful, I even tried writing my daughter real letters on paper, but with all the flights and meetings, I failed to do it regularly. After another failed attempt to make it to the post office, a co-worker got me into this StoryTold thing, where you write stories for your kids to read, and you can even set up specific dates for the app to send your stories to your children. What a great idea, right? He also has a young daughter like me, and they use it all the time. Now I'm a trained champion of storytelling, using StoryTold prompts I write stories from my youth, for from all the cool places I visit, or we just tell each other about our day. I think in the past month we learned more about each other than in the past couple of years!
We can't really call each other or Skype, because either she's in class, when I have the time to talk, or I'm in a meeting when she calls. It's even worse when I travel to Europe, we keep missing each other's calls because of the time zone difference. Of course, we talk when I come home, but that's not enough. Whenever I come back, it's like she grew even more… Time flies, kids grow, precious moments are missed…
I tried many tricks to make our communication more exciting and meaningful, I even tried writing my daughter real letters on paper, but with all the flights and meetings, I failed to do it regularly. After another failed attempt to make it to the post office, a co-worker got me into this StoryTold thing, where you write stories for your kids to read, and you can even set up specific dates for the app to send your stories to your children. What a great idea, right? He also has a young daughter like me, and they use it all the time. Now I'm a trained champion of storytelling, using StoryTold prompts I write stories from my youth, for from all the cool places I visit, or we just tell each other about our day. I think in the past month we learned more about each other than in the past couple of years!
Mark T., Father of 11yo son
So, like, two weeks ago, my 11yo son comes from school and says, "My friend Mike's dad writes him mad cool stories into this app and they kind of look like Snapchat Discover Stories! Mister Randy is so cool! He writes Mike stories about how when he was our age, he went out into the sea with his grandfather, and they caught a shark thiiiiis big! I bet you don't have cool stories like this to write about, huh?"
And at that very moment, I was like, "Challenge accepted!". A couple of clicks later, and my Parent Manifesto was done, and after another hour I had my first story. Every since then, I write stories every day. It's like a chain reaction: one story inspires or helps me remember another, and so on, and so on. Who's the cooler dad now, huh? It's all fun, of course, but I might have to ask him not to retell all of my stories in school haha.
And at that very moment, I was like, "Challenge accepted!". A couple of clicks later, and my Parent Manifesto was done, and after another hour I had my first story. Every since then, I write stories every day. It's like a chain reaction: one story inspires or helps me remember another, and so on, and so on. Who's the cooler dad now, huh? It's all fun, of course, but I might have to ask him not to retell all of my stories in school haha.
Nick D., Father of 7yo
My daughter found Wikipedia on the Internet. Myth about the all-knowing daddy is over!
Now all the hope to remain connected through storytelling with you guys ;)
Now all the hope to remain connected through storytelling with you guys ;)
Victoria, Mother of 9yo
I love Evernote very much - 900 notes with 1000 words on average! Never thought I could generate so much content... It's like an external hard drive for my brain!
But recently I found a reason to write even more stories. I started to write for my 9yo son. StoryTold is the app that motivates me to write short stories. It's not an empty page with blinking cursor, but a huge motivational engine, making my stories "worth reading" for my son.
With Evernote I CAN write,
with Storytold I'm ACTUALLY WRITING
But recently I found a reason to write even more stories. I started to write for my 9yo son. StoryTold is the app that motivates me to write short stories. It's not an empty page with blinking cursor, but a huge motivational engine, making my stories "worth reading" for my son.
With Evernote I CAN write,
with Storytold I'm ACTUALLY WRITING
Amanda P, Mother of two
Thirty years ago I saw my father once a week, even though we lived together: me, mom and dad. Now it's apparently my turn. When I go to work, my kids are still asleep, when I come back, they're already in bed…
On weekends, we mostly talk about who washes the dishes and what new clothes the kids need for school. No time to just talk about things that are fun, about what bothers us, makes us sad or happy. I tried making notes so when Saturday comes I don't forget what I wanted to talk about with my girls, but it sounded non-sincere and quite awkward. And there's so much I wanted to say…
I remember how happy I was to have girls, so I can share all my girl stuff with them, tell them about my books from when I was little, share my love for knitting and traveling with them! Anyway, what really helped me was StoryTold – it's an app perfect for stuff like this. I may not always have the time to tell my stories in person, but it allows to write down all the stories you want to tell your kids, and if you can't write it on your own, they will help you. No messengers can compare to this one! I can't wait for them to add video-stories, this is going to be amazing! My girls will love it!
On weekends, we mostly talk about who washes the dishes and what new clothes the kids need for school. No time to just talk about things that are fun, about what bothers us, makes us sad or happy. I tried making notes so when Saturday comes I don't forget what I wanted to talk about with my girls, but it sounded non-sincere and quite awkward. And there's so much I wanted to say…
I remember how happy I was to have girls, so I can share all my girl stuff with them, tell them about my books from when I was little, share my love for knitting and traveling with them! Anyway, what really helped me was StoryTold – it's an app perfect for stuff like this. I may not always have the time to tell my stories in person, but it allows to write down all the stories you want to tell your kids, and if you can't write it on your own, they will help you. No messengers can compare to this one! I can't wait for them to add video-stories, this is going to be amazing! My girls will love it!
John T., Divorced father
I've been divorced from last year, and since my wife got custody, I saw my son Kevin a couple of times a month, and all the other times we communicated via messengers. He's 9 now, and like all modern kids he enjoys all the latest technology, but to me all this is a darn nightmare. Calls get interrupted, the conversation history gets lost, ugh. It makes me anxious. I'm afraid to lose touch with my child. Sometimes I can't sleep at night, because I'm thinking about how I might lose him for good, and then he will forget me. Also, my wife has a new boyfriend, and I'm afraid my son will choose him over me.
But then a friend recommended to me StoryTold to communicate with my kid. I mean, people come together and later split up, but children suffer the most in the aftermath. And we have to make the separation as painless for them as possible.
So basically it's all about writing stories that stay with your kids for years. I never thought I'd be able to write so many stories! 30 stories in 2 months, how about that! And my son actually loves reading them and commenting them. The StoryTold folks did a really great job putting together prompts and tips for the stories – they really help.
And after a month, the anxiety was gone, I could breath freely again. Conversations with Kevin got easy and fun, and we're pretty much best pals now. We share a lot, and I love how close we are despite being apart.
But then a friend recommended to me StoryTold to communicate with my kid. I mean, people come together and later split up, but children suffer the most in the aftermath. And we have to make the separation as painless for them as possible.
So basically it's all about writing stories that stay with your kids for years. I never thought I'd be able to write so many stories! 30 stories in 2 months, how about that! And my son actually loves reading them and commenting them. The StoryTold folks did a really great job putting together prompts and tips for the stories – they really help.
And after a month, the anxiety was gone, I could breath freely again. Conversations with Kevin got easy and fun, and we're pretty much best pals now. We share a lot, and I love how close we are despite being apart.
Jane, Single mother
I divorced my husband five years ago, and I take care of my son alone. I'm handling it pretty well, but then again, my boy is 10 now, and I can see he needs his father. To be honest, we're not really on good terms, so I didn't really want to talk to him directly. I mean, I didn't want to seem desperate, but I had to find a way for him to talk to our son regularly.
I don't remember exactly how I came across StoryTold, but it sounded fun and had so much positive feedback. So I asked my mother-in-law (I think I'm still better friends with my ex's mother than with him, ha!) to tell my ex about it and ask him to install it. For my son, it's much more fun than just plain Skyping or emails, and it allows my ex-husband write down stories for our son to read and re-read whenever he misses his father.
Ever since he started using it, my son checks his phone every morning to see if there are new stories from his father, and after reading one, he's always in a good mood, and it's not that much of a pain anymore to get him ready for school.
However, he doesn't tell me about everything he and his father discuss! But boys will be boys, right?
I don't remember exactly how I came across StoryTold, but it sounded fun and had so much positive feedback. So I asked my mother-in-law (I think I'm still better friends with my ex's mother than with him, ha!) to tell my ex about it and ask him to install it. For my son, it's much more fun than just plain Skyping or emails, and it allows my ex-husband write down stories for our son to read and re-read whenever he misses his father.
Ever since he started using it, my son checks his phone every morning to see if there are new stories from his father, and after reading one, he's always in a good mood, and it's not that much of a pain anymore to get him ready for school.
However, he doesn't tell me about everything he and his father discuss! But boys will be boys, right?
