Parenting Tips: Young Dad Podcast · Jey Young

258: Bedtime from a 1000 Miles Away- Randall S.

·53 min·3 clips

Randall says his mission is to get books into foster homes and hospitals.

Jay opens with a loose welcome for listeners who might be grilling, mowing the lawn, changing dirty diapers, or just trying to make it through the day. He brings on Randall, who is an Air Force veteran, a father of two, a children's author, and the founder of Neal Marie Publishing. Randall says he spends the day as a traveling salesman and the night as a storyteller trying to help parents stay close through bedtime stories. The bedtime books started as goofy ideas written in hotel rooms. They grew into a publishing effort with a clear purpose, including getting books into foster home. Jay keeps returning to fatherhood and the need to stay connected to kids. Randall talks about how little time parents actually spend with their children now. He contrasts that with the older memory of being told to be home when the lights came on. That leads him to a simple thought: being close to your kids can keep you younger at heart and keep your creative side alive. He says his brain feels different when he is preparing, recording, editing, and sharing the podcast. AI can help with some of the work, but it should not take over the creative part. Doing the work forces him to think harder and say things from more angles, which adds more color to life. Jay and Randall sit with the idea that adult routines can turn beige fast. Kids, by contrast, live in color. The job of parents is to keep that color moving instead of letting it fade. The conversation stays warm, unpolished, and practical, and it ends with the usual reminder to support the podcast, leave a review, give five stars, subscribe, follow, and check the links in the description.

As heard by us

A warm, grounded talk about bedtime stories, fatherhood, and keeping creativity alive after work.

This episode keeps its feet on the ground. Randall and Jay treat bedtime stories as a way to stay close when work pulls family life in another direction, and the publishing thread feels like something that grew out of habit rather than polish.

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Why you'd press play

For the nights when you want bedtime to feel like connection, not a chore.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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