Bill Mercer | RealiTeen

Tia Bandavanis

My name is Tia and I'm very excited to join the Realteen team. I am a fun-loving, caring, and colorful person. I begin and end everyday with a smile. There is only one man in my life and that is my 15 yr. old son John. It's been my job to raise my son from a young age through his teen years. I am a single mom and I feel as though I have done my best to help my son become a responsible young man. I was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in the Maryland and D.C. area. I moved to Jacksonville, North Carolina in 1992. I now consider myself to be a native. I miss family dearly but find ways to visit often. My home and heart is here in Onslow County. This is pretty much due to the fact that I have raised my son here and found it to be a great place to live. I currently teach preschool at a local preschool. I have been teaching for over 20 years. I love children of all ages and could not imagine myself doing any other profession. I enjoy outings with my son to the movies, watching football, visiting local spots such as the Lynwood Park Zoo, going to the beach, and canoeing along our local rivers. I look forward to writing and reading the blogs. I feel this is a great opportunity to explore my parenting role and others. Parenting my teen son has been very rewarding and challenging. However, I have learned that being an effective parent is about learning and growing along with my son!

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My name is Bill Mercer and I am the father of three children. Two sons, John and Drew, age 17, are my teens. My daughter Molly is a college student. They are great people and I am very proud of them. I am a widower for nearly 7 years. I am in a relationship with Betsy and Will Heath (her 12 year old son) and we are all family. I am an insurance representative with Mass Mutual Financial Group in the offices of Bartley Insurance Services here in Jacksonville, N.C. I have lived in Jacksonville since 1986. A native of Richlands, N.C. I graduated from Richlands High School and East Carolina University. I attend Trinity United Methodist church, along with a Mens Bible Study that I depend on. I am grateful for my family and friends and I'm ambitious about the future. Some very important people have played major roles in the lives of my children. I look forward to sharing this adventure with the readers of Realiteen. We are shaped by our experiences. Hope you enjoy. Talk with you soon.

Sunday Routines: Continued

March 12th, 2012 Bill Mercer

Kris Kristofferson wrote "Sunday Morning Coming Down"

If you haven’t read the first part of this post, check it out here.

There is a lesson in every situation, lessons that can be used to build a solid …
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Sunday Morning Coming Down…On Dads

March 9th, 2012 Bill Mercer

Living Dangerously

I’ve spent many a Sunday Morning coming down from a wild weekend. Our life experiences keep us tethered to the truth, freeing us or serving as excuse for our shortcomings. You can’t hide from reality. I …
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The Real Court

March 8th, 2012 Bill Mercer

I enjoy reading my fellow bloggers articles and I try to read them all. Many times I will try to clandestinely expand on their themes in my own blogs, does that make me a plagiarizer? I’d rather think of it as flattery …
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Molly and Drew

March 6th, 2012 Bill Mercer

Drew

Drew is a trip. He is living in the slot between boyhood and manhood and he has a certain “joie de vivre” that is “catching”. I am certainly not allergic to …
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Wistful Thinking

March 5th, 2012 Bill Mercer

Will is in the green shirt

Do any of you parents ever just sit around and think about your kids for no particular reason? I do and I bet you do too. That’s exactly …
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