Replies to '08/24 The Dr. Phil House: “Make My Kid a Star,” Part 3'

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale!  We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we found ourselves processing individually and a family.  I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family.  In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to "make it" than we were previously aware.  Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot.  There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicole and I) owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional.  We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination.  Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress (or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become.  Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations.  We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaining a perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family!  We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied.  The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life.  Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts.  To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths.  If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised!  Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows. 

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected.  After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome and a final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale!  We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we found ourselves processing individually and a family.  I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family.  In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to "make it" than we were previously aware.  Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot.  There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicole and I) owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional.  We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination.  Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress (or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become.  Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations.  We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaining a perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family!  We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied.  The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life.  Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts.  To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths.  If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised!  Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows. 

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected.  After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome and a final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale!  We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we found ourselves processing individually and a family.  I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family.  In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to "make it" than we were previously aware.  Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot.  There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicole and I) owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional.  We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination.  Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress (or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become.  Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations.  We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaining a perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family!  We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied.  The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life.  Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts.  To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths.  If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised!  Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows. 

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected.  After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome and a final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale!  We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we found ourselves processing individually and a family.  I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family.  In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to "make it" than we were previously aware.  Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot.  There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicole and I) owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional.  We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination.  Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress (or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become.  Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations.  We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaining a perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family!  We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied.  The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life.  Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts.  To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths.  If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised!  Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows. 

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected.  After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome and a final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale!  We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we found ourselves processing individually and a family.  I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family.  In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to "make it" than we were previously aware.  Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot.  There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicole and I) owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional.  We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination.  Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress (or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become.  Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations.  We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaining a perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family!  We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied.  The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life.  Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts.  To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths.  If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised!  Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows. 

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected.  After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome and a final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale!  We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we found ourselves processing individually and a family.  I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family.  In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to "make it" than we were previously aware.  Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot.  There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicole and I) owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional.  We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination.  Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress (or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become.  Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations.  We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaining a perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family!  We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied.  The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life.  Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts.  To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths.  If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised!  Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows. 

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected.  After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome and a final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale!  We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we found ourselves processing individually and a family.  I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family.  In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to "make it" than we were previously aware.  Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot.  There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicole and I) owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional.  We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination.  Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress (or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become.  Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations.  We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaining a perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family!  We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied.  The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life.  Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts.  To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths.  If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised!  Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows. 

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected.  After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome and a final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale!  We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we found ourselves processing individually and a family.  I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family.  In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to "make it" than we were previously aware.  Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot.  There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicole and I) owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional.  We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination.  Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress (or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become.  Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations.  We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaining a perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family!  We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied.  The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life.  Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts.  To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths.  If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised!  Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows. 

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected.  After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome and a final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale!  We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we found ourselves processing individually and a family.  I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family.  In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to "make it" than we were previously aware.  Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot.  There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicole and I) owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional.  We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination.  Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress (or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become.  Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations.  We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaining a perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family!  We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied.  The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life.  Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts.  To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths.  If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised!  Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows. 

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected.  After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome and a final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)

Everyone's really excited for Monday's big finale! We've all had a couple of days now to digest Parts 1 & 2 along with the all the emotions and thoughts we foundourselves processing individually and a family. I can say to Dr. Phil's viewers without hesitation that this experience has been a very valuable learning exercise for Gracie and for our family. In our conversations, Gracie, Kiki, Steve, Warren, Nicole and I all agree that the show brought out some very important issues for us to address as a family if we truly want to be the kind of loving and supportive family that we want to be.

First, we've heard right from Gracie's own words and emotions that she's feeling much more pressure to 'make it' than we were previously aware. Sure, we certainly know that Gracie has a natural tendency to take things a little harder and more seriously than other 11 year old kids, but, we had never been confronted with the harsher reality of the self-pressure that she's experiencing now that she's really out there giving her dream her best shot. There's no doubt that we (Kiki, Steve, Nicoleand I)owe it to Grace to do a much better job of reinforcing to her that her value as a human being and as our child has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that she's our child and that our love and support will always be absolutely unconditional. We also are going to do a much better job emphasizing to her that the real value of any heartfelt pursuit is always in the journey itself rather than the destination. Trust us, we are just as imperfect as any parent out there watching this special or reading these message boards and we are doing our best to absorb the lessons that Dr. Phil's opporunity has for us and then to apply them in a way that not only helps Gracie be a happier and healthier kid, but, that helps us each be a better parent and a better person.

One interesting by-product of this experience is that I've been able to have great conversations with Warren about the clear risks of seeking fame for fame's sake versus seeking a deep satisfaction from the the craft of being the best actor or actress(or engineer, or attorney, or physician, or fireperson, or financial advisor, or parent et al) that you can become. Kiki and Grace are having similar conversations. We are going to put a lot of effort over the summer when they will both be spending time together here in Kentucky into gaininga perspective on how to have unlimited dreams and ambitions while maintaining a healthy life perspecitve.

Overall, this has been a wonderful, timely and valuable experience for Gracie and for our family! We'll be watching Monday's show with great expectation and a fixed determination to not let the lessons of this experience go unlearned or unapplied. The truth is that each of the kids on this show have lots of talent and given the right set of circumstances and a bit of luck, they will each achieve great things in life. Of course, isn't it that way for most of us in life?

So, we'll all be watching with great interest to see how these great kids perform their own chosen material in front of a live studio audience as well as a panel of industry experts. To this point, remember that the kids have had to perform material that didn't always play to their individual strengths. If you think you know how this whole thing winds up, you might be very surprised! Producers don't like to give away their big endings and great plot twists are par for the course with these type of shows.

Gracie's already had more success during Part 1 & 2 than we could have ever expected. After Part 3 has aired, I'll post my final thoughts about the outcome anda final thanks to Dr. Phil for the opportunity along with our congratulations to the overall winner!

Stay tuned, Part 3's going to be a lot of fun....

Gracie's Dad (and Warren's Too!)