By Ana Roque
Photography courtesy of Nuno Pinto Martins

Nuno Pinto Martins, a 43-year-old man from Portugal, played several roles in his life until he found the one that really suits him. Once a lawyer and a journalist, his life changed when he became a father. “I always wanted to have kids and when I accomplished that dream, I realised that I lacked the tools to educate my children effectively.”

He is father to a ten-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, and told Lemon Magazine that when they were younger, he used to oscillate constantly between two traditional educational styles: authoritarianism and permissiveness. “I felt that we were in a constant power struggle and that was when I decided to seek help.”

He came across Positive Discipline in 2016 and quickly sought to find out more. This educational model is completely different from the traditional ones, and allows adults to act on the children’s behaviour in a more positive and effective way. “Control and punishment don’t work. They may seem to have short-term results, but in the medium-long term, the effects are negative. An education based on fear, which is different from respect, doesn’t help form emotionally healthy adults nor does it contribute to making them happy.”

What Positive Discipline teaches is exactly the opposite: through a set of simple and practical strategies and tools, it seeks to facilitate the understanding of what is going on in a youngster’s mind and promo

te better interaction with them. “Positive Discipline allows us to win children over instead of just defeating them. It helps us build a real team with them.”

The method combines bot

h firmness and affection in the educational equation. “When we are talking to a child or teenager, we can be assertive, but if we shout or lose our heads, the message probably will not get through. Tone of voice and non-verbal communication are essential. It’s not always easy, but unconditional love and respect must always be present in the relationship between adult and child. This doesn’t mean being permissive. Firmness allows us to balance the scale, helping to establish rules, limits and routines, which are also essential for kids.”

When he started testing his new tools at home and saw amazing results, Nuno wanted to share what he had learned with other parents and educators. With two international certificates in Positive Discipline that enabled him to operate as a trainer, he was exactly where he wanted and needed to be. In 2017, he founded Academia Educar pela Positiva (Postive Education Academy), where he also works as Parent and Classroom Educator. “Since then, I have continued to deepen my knowledge in the area of education and, recently, I specialised in the areas of emotional intelligence and child coaching.”

With just three years of hard work and dedication, Nuno has had the opportunity to take his project throughout Portugal using lectures and face-to-face workshops. More recently, he has managed to take his project to the international stage and has been giving online classes to the four corners of the world. Teachers, educators and parents are the ones who most seek out his help. As for the latter,

he explains that there are two perfect moments to ask for the help of a professional like him: in advance, in order to acquire adequate tools and goals to effectively educate children from a young age; or when kids begin to behave in ways that the parents do not understand and do not know how to cope with. “Our face-to-face or online training is very practical an

d allows participants to put themselves in their children’s shoes, understand what they think and feel. In parental coaching meetings, I work on setting goals with parents and children, focusing on solutions and helping them find answers to their educational challenges.”

After the great success of his first project, in 2019 Nuno launched a new one: a guidebook for families and education professionals. In Educar pela Positiva: um guia para pais e educadores (Positive Education: a guide for parents and teachers), Nuno’s goal is to continue to spread his message: “Bringing kids up is so difficult, but simple gestures make all the difference. With the help of the tools of Positive Discipline, we can develop better connections with children and help them become more autonomous, responsible, cooperative and confident.”

educarpelapositiva.pt
@educarpelapositiva
@academiaeducarpelapositiva

The post A Father With A Super Mission: Turning Kids Into (truly) Happy Adults appeared first on My Lemon Magazine.

By Bárbara Perino and Lara Franco Gomes
Photography courtesy of Tony Hawk

In his personal life everything seems pretty solid. This cool dad is now married to his fourth wife Cathy Goodman with whom he says he connects on a deep level in terms of their approach to life. They truly enjoy the challenges of raising children and giving them the tools to make good choices. That must be the key to all the happiness we see this big family sharing on social media.

LEMON Magazine [LEMON] – You recently posted a picture on your social media of your first time ever on a skateboard. Once you started did you ever stop?
TONY HAWK [T.H.] – Not for any extended period of time. The only things that have kept me off my board since then are substantial injuries. But I keep coming back.

LEMON – What skateboard model was your first favourite?
T.H. – Sims – Dave Andrecht (1979). It was the first professional-quality skateboard I ever owned.

LEMON – When and how did you find your own style as a professional skateboarder?
T.H. – I’m still discovering it as I get older and focused on different techniques.

LEMON – Which tricks, out of those you invented, took you the longest to train?
T.H. – Ollie 540 took a couple years, but 900 was a decade-long chase. There are plenty of tricks that I’ve done in recent years that took a long time (weeks / months) to figure out, and that I’ve only done once.

LEMON – You always say you find freedom while on a skateboard, is there any other activity that can make you feel the same way (or at least to some extent)?
T.H. – Snowboarding in deep powder feels like floating through clouds. It’s equally peaceful and exhilarating.

LEMON – If you had to define your career in 3 words, what would they be?
T.H. – Surprising, exhausting and rewarding.

LEMON – What is the best life advice you can give to a child?
T.H. – Follow your passion. Doing what you love is the ultimate success.

LEMON – Where did you find inspiration to create your signature moves?
T.H. – Watching my peers and tinkering with new variations of existing tricks. Combining moves has been my biggest motivation.

LEMON – How is your family routine?
T.H. – Relatively normal, although we have our college-aged kids living with us which has been a big change. My wife and I get up early and see the younger ones off to school, I catch up on correspondence, skate (hopefully), then get home after the kids return from school. We try to have dinner together to finish the day.

LEMON – Do you cook for the kids?
T.H. – The extent of my cooking is making egg & cheese bagels for them in the morning.

LEMON – What defines a cool dad for you?
T.H. – One that is supportive of their kids’ interests without being too invasive.

LEMON – Tony Hawk’s pro Skater 1 and 2, remastered came out on September 4. You brought back two games that had a huge impact on gaming and that inspired a whole generation of skateboarders and at the same time you mixed them with enhanced creative tools which allow gamers to invent brand new ways to play the games they already love. What’s your favourite new feature in the games?
T.H. – The graphics! Gameplay feels very much the same as our original series but it looks incredibly real on the newer consoles.

LEMON – This year, skateboarding would have had its debut as an Olympic sport at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. What are your thoughts on the subject?
T.H. – It will be a great boost for the international growth of skateboarding. Countries that have not been supportive or that have been altogether discouraging of skating will come to embrace it, and hopefully build facilities for their youth.

“Follow your passion. Doing what you love is the ultimate success.”

Quick Questions

Favourite color? Teal

Favourite statement piece in fashion? Ollie holes in your shoes

Favourite band? The Clash

Favourite skating shoes? Vans SK8-Hi

Favourite quote? “There’s no birthday party for me here!”

This or that

City or beach? Beach

Sunrise or sunset? Sunset

Idealistic or realistic? Realistic

Summer or winter? Summer

Sweet or salty? Both! Ever had a chocolate chip cookie made with sea salt? You’ll thank me later.

The post Tony Hawk | The Cool Dad Of Skateboarding appeared first on My Lemon Magazine.