Allow me to (re)introduce myself
If this is your first time visiting Life in the Fishbowl, welcome! We could have met at the Dad 2.0 Summit in Washington, DC. Or you could have found my blog through some form of social media (oh, hey…like my Facebook page and go ahead and follow me on Twitter and Instagram), or some random google search (Stevie shoot a three pointer is pretty popular with Mr. Google). Or maybe you’ve followed my blog religiously since the beginning more than 15 years ago (oh, hey…have you subscribed to my newsletter? You really should!). Regardless of how you’ve gotten here, I’m glad you’re here now!
I figure it’s time to introduce myself again. It’s been awhile.
A little about myself
My wife, Christy, and I have four kids: 19, 19, (almost) 18, and 12 years old. No, the 19 year olds aren’t twins. Their birthdays are about three months apart. How’s that possible? Adoption. Two of our children are adopted. The other two are biological.
We live in Greenwood, Indiana, just south of Indianapolis. The majority of our extended family is in Indiana. When we moved our family to upper East Tennessee for grad school, I started blogging as a way to keep connected with our families back in Indiana. I wrote about thoughts sparked by conversations in my classes. I also wrote about my kids. They were young. And cute. So, in reality, I primarily wrote about them.
After grad school, we returned to Indiana. I had accepted a preaching position outside of Muncie. We lived in the parsonage across the street from the church building. For many young families, living in a parsonage is not unlike living in a fishbowl – your whole live is basically on display and there’s not much you can do to hide from the public eye. Instead of running from that, we embraced it. After three years of blogging, I finally came up with a name for this space: Life in the Fishbowl.
What to expect here
I don’t write many cute kid stories anymore. As a rule, teenagers aren’t nearly as cute. Although, there are times when I do share the occasional story, like The Great Carrots Incident of 2001. I still frequently write about parenthood. I also continue to write about our youngest and the incredible adventure she had as a Wish Kid. She also has her own YouTube channel: Magical Mihret. I help her with that. It has allowed her to introduce herself to a different audience than my blog’s social media platforms. It’s just a fun little thing we do in our free time.
Around a decade ago, I was reading through some genealogical information about the Todd family. I discovered that our family used to have a motto: “It behooves us to live!” I like that. A lot. So I have reclaimed this motto for my blog. It is the theme for most of what I write. I have recently reassessed my writing to make sure that I focus on such things.
Partner with me
I want to help make the world a better place. That’s the main point of using the old Todd family motto.
In our personal lives, our homes, and our communities, we can do better. We can be better. From fixing convenient meals that allow you to have more family time, to creating memorable family vacations, to providing clean water to villages halfway around the world, there are many ways we can work together to help make the world a better place.
Here’s a sample of some of my favorite campaigns.
- An open letter to my children: Thanks
- 3 things they don’t tell you about getting older
- Celebrating the power of dad: Keep your eye on the ball
- Take the #40Pounds Challenge and change the world
Introduce yourself!
If you think we’d make a good match, email me at matt@mattdantodd.com or message me on Twitter. Let’s team up and start changing the world together!
Thank you for allowing me to (re)introduce myself. It’s a pleasure meeting you!
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