10 Page Parenting Framework

Hello Dads, Expecting Dads, Future Dads -

My name is Ed Chao. I’m 36 years old, live in Dallas, Texas, and have a boy that’s 18 months old and a baby girl on the way due in mid-March. I work at a startup in the basketball analytics industry as the COO.

I was born in Houston, Texas to Taiwanese-American Immigrants in 1984. My dad first arrived in Binghamton, New York with a few dollars in his pocket, worked as a busboy, eventually got his masters degree in Accounting, and became an entrepreneur. My mom was a piano teacher in Taiwan and became a hotel maid when she and her family arrived in Texas. My parents were quintessential tiger parents with extraordinarily high education standards. My mom used to teach me piano and would hold a ruler over my hand to whack me with whenever I made a mistake. My parents showed their love through acts of service. They wouldn’t allow or ask my brother and me to do any chores so that we could study more. They worked so incredibly hard so that my brother and I wouldn’t have to. They taught me a lot of lessons I will be passing onto my children but a few that I definitely won’t be. All in all, I am incredibly grateful to be their son.

My business mentor, Rich Allen, uses a bicycle as a framework for running businesses that I have adapted for parenting purposes. I’m not here to tell you that there is a right or wrong way to parent. My wife and I certainly had and continue to have our struggles and understand the survival mentality. We have figured out a few things though. I simply want to provide you some structure to help you think through all of the different areas of parenting. When things are humming, it sure is nice to stop pedalling every once in a while and enjoy the view.  

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Here are the components of the bicycle and how they relate to parenting:

• Handlebars - Vision
• Frame - Family Roles
• Front Wheel - Knowledge, Experiences, Relationships
• Back Wheel - Operations
• Seat - Dad's Physical and Mental Health
• Brakes - Family Finances
• Sprocket - Life Engagement