Photo by DeWitt Clinton

Apartments differ from family homes because in apartment buildings you share essential spaces with the other tenants in the building. You do not have complete control over your surroundings in an apartment. On the plus side, you do not bear sole responsibility for the entire premises. In a city apartment building, many people have an interest in keeping the common areas, such as lobbies and laundry rooms safe.
Protecting yourself while living in an apartment in the city should be an element of your daily routine. The steps you take to address your safety concerns are most effective when you do not let them interfere with the things you need and want to do while living in the city. The most important thing to remember is that there is no one-time fix to resolve all of your safety issues. Your safety depends on you staying alert, practicing common sense, like keeping fire extinguishers etc. and taking responsibility for the condition of your environment.

Know Your Surroundings

Look around and take note of the people and things close to your apartment. Your goal is to be able to know when something is out of place. If something is out of place, it may indicate you are in danger. As an example, if there is a utility closet in your building that you pass on the way to your apartment; take note of whether the door is usually closed and locked. An unattended storage room or utility closet gives criminals a place to hide.

Know Your Neighbours

Know the people who should be in your area so that you will be able to identify quickly those who should not be near you. You do not have to form deep friendships with your neighbours but you should be able to identify them by face. Ideally, you should exchange emergency contact information with a neighbour next door or across the hallway. If something happens to you, they can contact someone on your behalf. If something happens to your apartment while you are out, a neighbour will be able to reach you so that you can take action.

Lock Your Doors

Change the locks on your front door, if your lease allows. Hire a licensed locksmith to install the locks. Select the best quality lock that you can afford. Lock your door, even if you only expect that you will be away for only a few minutes, such as when you take out the garbage or go to the mailbox to pick up your mail. If you install a slam lock, you will know that the door is locked, even if you are in a rush or if your mind is elsewhere. Keep your door locked while you are in your apartment.

In the common areas, do your part to keep yourself as well as your neighbors safe. Do not prop open security doors while you carry packages in from your car. Anyone can slip into the building undetected in the moments when you are away from the door. Do not hold doors open for people you do not recognize. It is prudent, not rude, to require all visitors and residents to follow established security procedures. If your apartment complex has an open structure, without a central security door, stay alert to recognize if a stranger is behaving suspiciously.

Take this short quiz and enter to win a $50 gift card from Amazon.com. I’m sure any of us could use a little extra holiday spending cash. This is your chance to earn some.

• All of the entries with the most correct answers will be entered to win.
• Among the entrants with the most correct answers, the winner will be drawn randomly.
• As usual, in the interest of fairness, those of you who share a mailing address, DNA, or W2 form are forbidden to enter. Former co-workers are welcome to ente the giveaway.
• The winner will be notified via email. If there is no response within 3 days, another winner will be chosen. The same due process will follow until the prize is awarded.
• The contest will conclude at 11:59:59pm on December 16th, 2011. This is a short one. This will allow enough time to deliver the card, do your holiday shopping with it, or have a gift already picked out for someone. With Channukah starting on December 20th, my Jewish readers will have enough time to pick out gifts for the latter part of the celebration of lights.

Take the quiz for your chance to win! Your name and email are required. I promise you won’t be spammed by me.

State Farm Holiday Safety Quiz

Every $1 spent at Kroger earns you 1 fuel point and every 100 points earns a $0.10 per gallon discount at Kroger Fuel or participating Shell stations. You earn double fuel points when you purchase gift cards at Kroger. The selection of gift cards available is extensive. You can buy gift cards for major retail outlets and restaurants. If I am planning to make a purchase at one of those retail outlets, I will buy a gift card in a denomination closest to what I will need to spend at that particular store.

• I buy a $15 Starbucks gift card for myself once a month. I figure that’s a reasonable amount of money to spend at Starbucks in one month. That’s 30 fuel points that I would not have earned if I just forked my cash over to the green mermaid.
• A friend helped me move last month, so I treated him to lunch at Ruby Tuesday. I picked up a $25 gift card and earned 50 fuel points.
• I went to Home Depot to buy plastic sheeting and staples for my staple gun to mitigate the energy-leeching effects of drafty single-pane glass windows in my apartment. Buying a $25 gift card prior to shopping at Home Depot earned another 50 fuel points.
• Panera Bread has some excellent vegan-friendly items, none of which is a plain baked potato and side salad. $25 is a reasonable amount to spend there over the course of two months. 50 more fuel points.
• Do you shop on Amazon.com? Amazon gift cards are available at Kroger too.

Fried okra, done my way

Today’s guest post is from Rebecca Jones. Rebecca is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on luxury and health. Beside this she is fond of automobiles. These days she is busy in writing an article on latest fashion tips.

Having a healthy food habit can help you lead a good and healthy life; however, the habit has its roots in infancy. Children who eat healthy can get real energy in them in the form of a healthy mind and moods. Ironically, despite having all benefits, kids are lured in to the idea of having junk food, while adults too join this race. Children and young people often get carried away with regular TV commercial ads; this in fact, nullifies the efforts of giving them the right food habit. However, by trying simple steps you can inculcate the healthy eating habit and dispel the excessive junk eating habit in children. The following are some useful tips for parents who are worried about their children’s eating habits:

Make sure you have regular family meals

This is a great method of creating the right kind of appetite among your family members, especially among children. When your family members know that they all meet at particular time for dinner on a daily basis, they would certainly anticipate for such time. Similarly you can start the habit of family breakfast times, children who have their regular breakfast often do well in their schools.

Prepare a variety of meals at your place

Having food at home regardless of what dish you want to eat is always a healthy option as compared to having at the restaurants. Hence being a homemaker or a responsible parent, you should make more and more dishes at home so that your family do not tempt to go out and have those unhealthy and junk food. Food at restaurants has more fat, salt, and sugar; hence it is better to avoid going out and prefer your home cooked dishes at home.

Involve your kids

Children love to get involved while going to grocery shopping, or choosing their lunch box menu, and love to help you during your dinner preparation, and so on. Take the advantage of these acts and make them learn about the different nutritional values of various dishes and items; and to kids who are old, ask them to read the food labels.

Try a wide range of healthy snacks rather than giving kids calorie free stuff

Make sure you keep a wide range of fruits, whole grain snacks, vegetables, and other healthy beverages like pure fruit juice, milk, and so on in your place. Make them easily accessible to your kids so that they can find them own their own and try out freely and help them get into the habit of eating healthy things. Avoid keeping things, which are calorie free, for instance soda, cookies, chips, etc.

Final Word

Trying these simple steps can make you instill the habits of healthy eating among children rather than asking them to have healthy food in the name of bribes or rewards. The habit of healthy eating can promise good and healthy life not only for the adults, but also for children. Eating good and healthy is important and mandatory to get away from various ailments and disorders. Therefore, make sure you try hard to create a good bond between your child and all sorts of healthy and nutritional food.

This contest could not be possible without all my readers – those who have been loyal since day one, those who just stopped by, and those who have fallen victim to information overload and have since moved on. Not even your Google Reader can help you stay on top of every awesome blog you’ve ever encountered.

I’ve been a State Farm policy holder for quite some time now. My agent, Josh Ellis is great. If you need car insurance here in Knoxville, go see Josh! He didn’t ask me to say this.

I want to make sure to thank Katie Hunckler of the Zócalo Group who connected with me to get the ball rolling with this.

My truest of true loves turns 4 today. In years past, I recounted how fast time flew by and how wonderful it was to see her make the strides she has made. Every year, around her birthday, I look at old photos of her. Most of the times I browse my photo library, I also look back one, two, three years ago to the day and see what she looked like. Even when she was just a few months old, I could see how “grown up” she looked, especially while sleeping. We would see the “Future Twilli” when she was asleep. Now, when she sleeps, we see the “Baby Twilli.” When she is awake, she looks so small, but sprawled out and asleep on the bed, she looks so huge.

It’s very clear when we decided she would be referred to as “Twilli” online and Ariana in person, but it’s a little fuzzy as to when Twilli became her de facto name. While Ariana is a beautiful name, it’s a little strange to hear it and even stranger to call her Ariana. When I’m mad at her, I still call her Twilli. One of my co-workers sounded disappointed when I told him it doesn’t say “Twilli” on her birth certificate.

On her 4th birthday, I am going to do something a little different than what I have done in years past. This is my first letter to you.

Dear Twilli,

If you are reading this, you probably found your way here via Google. I hope I don’t embarrass you too much. After all, fathers of beautiful girls by default embarrass their daughters to no end. It is my sworn duty to embarrass you, scare off unworthy suitors, and keep you on a path that’s true and good. You might think I’m an old fuddy-duddy, and I’m OK with that. As a matter of fact, I am a bit of a fuddy-duddy. You won’t catch me being an absent father, off re-living my adolescence (or continuing to live it) like many men do. Just ask your mom about her dealings with PapaStan. I’m sure your friends will also agree that their fathers embarrass them too. See, now you have empirical evidence.

It was obvious from day one that you possess a strong will. I cannot change that, nor would I ever want to. That is what makes you Twilli. You do not always obey me, but I take comfort in knowing that when the situation calls for you to be steadfast, you can stick to your guns and not let anyone take advantage of you. I’d rather you have a little too much grrr than not enough. Your “double fire” disposition will serve you well in life if you channel it the right way. Remember to do right by you, me, your mom, and the world. There’s an old book that your grandma and PapaStan love very much. I don’t read it as much as they do, but there’s some good advice in there.

Love,

Dad

That’s right, 21st Century Dad is doing our very first blog contest with a little help from State Farm Insurance. As a State Farm Insurance policyholder (my State Farm agent, Josh Ellis is awesome!) and a believer in having fun while staying safe, this is a natural fit for 21st Century Dad. Summer is almost over, and we’re all getting in our last hurrah before Labor Day.

What do you have a chance to win? A $100 gift card from Home Depot.

But first, the real meat of the post. As you know, I always try to bring real value in my content, and safety is important. None of my readers are candidates for the Darwin Awards. Summer is almost over, but the need to keep your family safe is never over.

Some of you may be planning one last road trip before school starts. Or you may be embarking on a road trip to drop off your child at college. Did you check craigslist for deals on microwaves, mini fridges and futons back in May? You’ll be out of luck now. May is the time to score those deals. College kids going home for the summer want a lighter haul, so that futon will be cheap or even free.

This blog’s life, and Twilli’s started in Florida. Summer safety tips apply year round. We used to enjoy poolside Christmas with 85 degree weather. Safety never goes out of style, and never becomes irrelevant.

Here are some additional tips from State Farm:

• Summer Driving Tips
• Summer Maintenance for you Home

The Prize

A $100 gift card from Home Depot

The Qualified Entry Process

• 1 entry: A comment sharing your favorite summer safety tip
• 1 entry: Liking 21st Century Dad’s Facebook page.
• 1 entry: A Tweet mentioning my blog and the contest (must be non-consecutive tweets but tweet as much as you want each day)
• 3 entries: A link back to this blog post and contest
• 5 entries: A guest post on 21stCenturyDad on family safety tips

The Deadline

Contest entries will be closed at 11:59:59 pm the day after Labor Day, September 6, 2011.

The Prize Delivery

The gift card will be delivered to any US address via USPS Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation. The gift card is issued in $US. Excluding entrants from outside the US or where it is not practical to shop at Home Depot is not meant as a slight. It is a matter of pragmatism. Why enter to win something you have no use for?

The Winners

The winner will be selected at random since multiple entries are allowed. To ensure fairness, a handful of people closest to me are ineligible to win, but still welcome to promote the contest. They know who they are. Contest entries by anyone related to me by blood, marriage, or W2 form (employees of Guitar Center in Knoxville TN) will be disqualified. I don’t think there’s a way to game the system and manipulate entries, but if such a scheme is ferreted out, you will be disqualified.

Winner Notification

The winner will be notified by whichever means of contact provided. You will have 3 days to respond and claim your prize. Please check your junk/spam email folders. I have to know where to send you the prize.

The Prize Acceptance

If no response is given within 3 days of the prize notification, an alternate winner will be chosen by the same method.

However, being the best dad I can be is the most important thing in the world to me. Every year, I reiterate that point in my annual Father’s Day post. One of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is to ask yourself, “what is the most productive thing I can be doing right now?” Even though Twilli is off visiting America’s heartland, I still ask myself, “what can I do right now that will make me the best father I can be?”

For dads who share custody, I can just continue crossing things off the to-do list. I don’t need to be burying my nose in my laptop while she engages in attention-seeking behavior, bringing her out with me to run errands, or desperately hope she’ll watch a DVD while I do chores around the house. I like to clear my plate (or at least make it a little clearer) before I spend my time with Twilli.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! Be the best dad you can be today, and every day!

Black Ops

Sometimes your child gets hooked on a DVD that you do not particularly like. Twilli has an off-brand no-name low-budget production of Cinderella on DVD. Twilli’s mom and I use the term “hecho en China” to describe it and other poorly executed knock-offs. It’s poorly animated and the dialogue at times sounds like it came from a web-based language translator. While Twilli is sufficiently distracted by some recent Little Einsteins DVDs, Cinderella will just vanish. It’s so bad, McKay‘s probably would reject it.

The Single Parent Dating Game

The last time I was an unrestricted free agent, a different collective bargaining agreement was in place. It was a simpler time, before Facebook and text messaging. The arrival of social media on our collective consciousness effectively abolished the “3 day rule.” The biggest change now is, I’m a single dad.

Circumstances also conspire against me here. I work an odd schedule and wrap shared custody around it. Many weeks, all my kid-free evenings are spent slinging pro audio gear to the masses who pass through the door at Guitar Center. I am socially liberal, politically moderate, spiritually ambiguous, and eat mostly vegan – definitely not the status quo here in in the Bible Belt.

Single parents are often summarily weeded out due to perceived “baggage.” Many people even state it explicitly in their online dating profiles.

The “us vs. them” sentiment toward non-parents also spills over into the dating world. I was on the other side of it and always respectful of family time and custody arrangements. Dating another single mom would mean I have to play the most epic game of Tetris with our schedules.

Father of the Year Award Goes to….

ME! Of course. When I started this blog, I wanted it to be a place people found knowledge and wisdom. All rookie parents hope they can pull it off and try their darndest. Then we come to terms with our limitations. Reality is the 18-wheeler and your dreams of being an All-Star Mom or Dad is a Mini Cooper. Which one wins in a collision? I’ve used the following tactics when faced by my limitations:

• Some breakfast ideas that come from outside-the-box thinking. As long as it has a good mix of simple and complex carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and fat, I’m good with it, especially if it can be eaten in the car… because I don’t get out the door early enough to make it on time for breakfast at daycare.
• Using several baby wipes in lieu of a bath.
• Letting the girl wear her Crocs in the dead of winter (while toting “real shoes” in reserve) because your resolve is already worn down after your futile attempt to coax her into proper footwear for the weather.
• One back-pocket option I have is a properly timed “sugar crash” to get the girl to bed at a reasonable hour. It’s not an option you can or should use often. It usually precludes the brushing of teeth.

These Aren’t the Droids You’re Looking For

You also surprise yourself sometimes. Who would’ve thought Jedi mind tricks would be a vital part of the parental repertoire? The Force is strong in this one.

Sometimes you wonder if you’ve crossed the line between modeling cooperative behavior and just giving in to the whims of a 3 year old.

Cooperation is abundant, but it has a spotty uptime record. When you’re racing against the clock, there isn’t time to go through an entire routine that weaves its way through myriad distractions to achieve your objective of buckling the girl into her car seat. Sometimes, you need to go with the “nuclear option.” Let her flip out because you’ve forced her against her will. But take solace in the fact that few have the capacity to go from pissed to blissed in a matter of seconds like a 3 year old.

One thing parents worry about a lot is dressing their children properly for the weather. One morning Twilli wanted to wear a particular sweater, but rebuffed my efforts to put on another layer underneath. I then put the inner layer inside the sweater.

Early bedtime and Twilli rarely cross paths. One night, I decided to try a new tactic. I told her, “all the kitties, doggies, and horses are waiting for you in dream land. You have to lie down and close your eyes before you can go be with the kitties. They’re all waiting for you to give them kisses.”

September is Live Insurance Awareness Month. September is almost over. Where did the time go? Just because Life Insurance Awareness Month is about to pass, it doesn’t mean we can stop thinking about it.

As a single man, I never gave a second thought to life insurance. Who would benefit from it? I wanted every penny of my paycheck that I was entitled to so I could spend it on fun things. Living in an epicenter of scam artistry raised insurance premiums all around. I had contentious sentiments toward the insurance industry. I only wanted the minimum to stay in the good  graces of the law.

All that changed after Twilli was born. I know how important it is, but I dragged my feet (and other body parts). I wondered where I would find the money in my already tight budget for a life insurance premium.

How to Buy Life Insurance

Life Insurance and the Stay-At-Home Parent

Where to Go For More Information