I was pleased to learn a few weeks ago that I received the 2018 "Best Children's Song" Award from the Ohio Music Awards. The song was "Monster Under My Bed" a fan favorite and one that gets requested all the time. This is the third time one of my songs was chosen as Best Children's Song from Ohio Music Awards. I'm honored and super thankful with this news! What an exciting way kick off 2019.
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I really appreciate the support from so many friends and fans of my music over the years. The interesting thing about doing music for kids and families for as long as I have (over 20 years) is your audience replenishes itself. I've watched kids grow up and out of my music as other kids grow up and into my music. In the last few years I've started meeting parents at my shows who grew up listening to my songs and now they're coming to my shows with their own kids. I'll be honest the first couple times this happened it kind of freaked me out. But then I started getting used to it and the idea and even began to be excited for it to happen... I'm honored to be part of the growing up years of multiple generations. I also hear from parents and grandparents all the time who "confess" they listen to my music even though their kids are now "grown-up". That always makes me smile and it also brings to mind a Fred Rogers quote I love. Fred once  said, "The child is in me still and sometimes not so still." I think that's a good thing and something most adults should be reminded of.
 
I've included the press release we sent to media outlets below. I thought it would be fun to share it with our friends and also hoping you guys might be willing to share it with your friends or even local media types. You can download the PDF File by clicking the link below. It's because of the continued support of fans and friends who listen and share my music and ideas about kids, family, faith and parenting that has kept me going for more than two decades!

Happy New Year!
​Chip

​PRESS RELEASE: Local Children's Artist Receives 3rd Ohio Music Award!
​Columbiana, Ohio January 7, 2019: Chip Richter of Columbiana, Ohio was recently awarded “Best Children’s Song” for his song “Monster Under My Bed” by The Ohio Music Awards. This is Chip’s third year in a row to be recognized by the Ohio Music Awards for his music for kids and families. His songs “Let’s Dance” and “Jammy Day” received Best Children’s Song Award in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Other notable recognitions include being named Best Children’s Musician by Lake Erie Living Magazine “Best Of” Issue and a Parents’ Choice Award for his CD “The Dream Tree”
Chip is a veteran family entertainer writing, producing and performing music for kids and families for more than 20 years. Chip says, “I’ve come to a place in my career now where I’m starting to see young parents who grew up listening to my music now coming back to my shows with their own kids. That’s kind of crazy to me… but also very cool at the same time.”
You can find Chip performing at Schools, Churches, Libraries and Family Friendly Festivals such as St Paul’s Catholic School in Salem, Ohio and Heartland Christian School in Columbiana where he’s schedule to appear later this month.
The Ohio Music Awards is committed to celebrating and recognizing the rich and diverse music of Ohio’s artists by awarding Best of Ohio Music Awards in a variety of genres. The Ohio Music Awards are open to Ohio artists whose original recordings are either recorded, produced or mixed primarily within the state of Ohio.

This morning I was cleaning out some old file folders and found a folder marked "Parenting Tips" with some notes I jotted down from a radio interview and discussion panel on parenting. I honestly don't remember the radio show or source but I thought they were important enough to write down at the time and rediscovering them again today I think they might be worth sharing with other parents out there. 
Ephesians 6:4 encourages us with this: "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Another translation says, "do not provoke your children to anger". Seems like a no brainer doesn't it ? And yet I know in my adventures in parenting I've been guilty of doing just that. I think that's why I must have taken the time to take these notes when I heard that radio interview. I hope these will be an encouragement to you too.

8 Ways to Exasperate Your Kids:

1. Failing to allow them to be what they are.
2. Treating them with harshness or cruelty.
3. Ridiculing them in front of others. Especially in front of their peers. (Even when disguised as teasing or jesting.)
4. Displaying favoritism and making unhealthy or unproductive comparisons.
5. Failing to express our approval, even at seemingly small accomplishments.
6. Being arbitrary in the exercise of discipline, so they don't know where they stand.
7. Neglecting and making them feel like an intrusion in your life.
8. Seeking to make them achieve our goals and aspirations.

I'm sure, like me, as you read these bullet points you'll begin unpacking each one and considering how they may relate to your parenting style and relationship with your children. Someone once told me "we tend to parent the way we were parented". I think that's true for the most part. What's also true is that our parents were not perfect, in fact some may have been down right bad at it. So it makes sense for us to look out for those things that may creep into our parenting style that we may not even be aware of until it's too late and some damage is done. These eight points have been good ones for me to keep in mind as I've been trying to be a good Dad to my kids. Keep up the good work... and remember, you're a better parent than you think you are.

Are you feeling frustrated with the results you're getting in correcting and disciplining your children? I'm sure you've heard the old adage, you get more flies with honey? I think this is so true and when it comes to correcting and disciplining our children I think it would serve us all well to remember this. 
I was surprised to see in my own adventures in parenting how easy and often it was for me to be critical of my children rather than complimentary or positive in my comments. It's not how I wanted to be toward my kids, in fact I wanted to be exactly the opposite, encouraging them, always building them up. When my kids were young there were so many areas where they would be doing great. But I would often be quicker to see those situations where they might be striking out rather than when they were hitting it out of the park. When I realized this I decided I was going to try my best to think of at least two positive or encouraging comments I could offer my kids with every critical comment I was about to give. It took some time for me to break the old habit of simply firing off a critical comment without also offering something encouraging and positive. It required me to stop and think before I spoke. I needed to be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry".
As I began focusing on seeing and commenting on those things they were doing well the results were really amazing, not only did my kids respond better to the correction or discipline I was offering but I discovered I was finding less to correct them about. It was really working something in me and in them! So does that mean I never missed a chance to compliment my kids or never again corrected them without also giving them a positive comment as well? No, I still reacted in the moment and spoke without thinking at times but not as often and many times I would go back after the fact and correct that by adding those encouraging words as well. Words are powerful and will always leave of a mark of some kind. It's important for us as parents to understand this and to be thoughtful and purposeful in the words we choose to use with our children. Using honey instead of vinegar always attracts more flies or in this case better results in correction and discipline.
I hope these thoughts are helpful and encouraging for you and also a good resource I would like to recommend is The 5 Love Languages of Children by Dr. Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell.