Learning Domestic Discipline's Weekly Recap: April 8th - 14th

  
  Learning Domestic Discipline has a lot of new content to share with you this week!  We had some great questions asked in this week's Mailbag Monday, Learning Domestic Discipline turned two years old, and Chelsea talked about a little hiccup in her year long "No Spanking Challenge" in this week's Five Things post.  If you missed anything, we've got the links below for your convenience.

Mailbag Monday: Week 2 - Questions about Clint's favorite spanking implement, spanking too softly, and the beginner "adjustment period" were answered this week.

Happy Birthday Learning Domestic Discipline! - Learning Domestic Discipline turned two on Wednesday and we're doing something unprecedented to celebrate!

Five Things Friday: A Mix of Good and Bad - Chelsea's "spanking challenge" hiccup, a couple of memes, and a first for our 21-month old son.

• The Learning Domestic Discipline April promotions were scheduled to launch on Monday, however due to editing delays they have been rescheduled to launch on Saturday, April 20th.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone.

• Our Learning Domestic Discipline retreat website will be launching this upcoming week! If you missed the big announcement, click here and scroll down.

We hope you all have a wonderful upcoming week!

The Learning Domestic Discipline Five Things Series: Spring Fever Edition!

Can y'all believe today is officially the first day of Spring? This year is already flying by.

If you're new to The 5 Things Series, here's how it works:

Write about 2 domestic discipline related things

Write about 1 personal thing

Link one other DD blog

Link one website of the week (either DD or non-DD..doesn’t matter)

• Our new posting schedule starts the first week of April. If you haven't seen it yet, you can read all about it (and find out how to get involved) by clicking HERE. As part of the new posting schedule, The 5 Things series will be a regular rotation (every other Friday starting the second week of April!).
• March is Q&A Month in Blogland! We do Q&A's a little different here at Learning Domestic Discipline. If you have a question that you'd like answered, feel free to send it in! Your question will be featured (anonymously) as part of our Mailbag Monday series!
• Random Personal Facts Time: We haven't done a Five Things post in awhile, or really any type of personal post, so here's some random tidbits to catch you up on what's been going on in our lives:
  
  • Our son is now officially 20 months old, and so smart.I feel like we talk about that in every entry, but it's true. He really is our entire world. His latest phrase is "ready, set, go!". Yeah. He's perfect.
  • If you've never been spanked with a tilt-wand, let me just tell you. They hurt! Like, really hurt. Like, really hurt way worse than I ever thought they would. Thankfully, I only got a few (about 2 or 3..) swats with one (because our wooden cane mysteriously got lost in our move last month. Whoops.) but the tilt wand is fully something I expect to avoid in the future.
  • We're getting ready for summer vacation time! We have 1 trip booked for this spring, and are hoping to take a Hawaii vacation in late summer or early fall, schedule permitting. This is, by far, my favorite time of year.
  • We've been loving our new neighborhood, and city. I was a little stressed last month about how this move, to a whole new location, would go, but it's been great. We love our new house, and surroundings. The best part is there's a lake nearby (with parks surrounding it, open fields, miles of walking trails, etc.) and we pretty much live there on the weekends.
  • We're excited it's March Madness time! We live in a huge "basketball capital" with major basketball schools like NC State, Duke, and UNC all near us. So, basketball is huge here. As my husband put it the other day, this is one of his favorite times of the year.
  • I actually asked for a maintenance spanking recently. All my friends probably think I'm crazy, but really, it helps with stress. I still don't think I'm ready to make it a regular part of DD for us (and thankfully, my husband isn't either) but they do help with stress from time to time.
• This is a fantastic post by another domestic discipline "blogland" member, Callie from About Us in Oz. It's called Submission vs. Fear and is not only thought provoking, but extremely well written. Awesome work Callie!
• If you're ever in need of something that will make you smile, restore your faith in humanity, and make you feel good this post does just that. It's called 26 Moments That Restored Our Faith in Humanity (with pictures). Needless to say, it's worth reading/looking at. In a world full of crime news, sad stories, and war, this post is what every person needs to read.

Happy Spring, everyone!

-Clint & Chelsea

$100 Amazon Giftcard Winner Announced!

February was a huge month for Learning Domestic Discipline. We reached some incredible milestones, launched dozens of new features, and ran our first promotion. We’re happy to report that our first promotion was not only a big success, but has led to us deciding to run multiple promotions each year. Our next one will begin on April 15th, 2013 and will run for about 6 weeks featuring all new items, packages, and more incredible deals.

But, back to the fun stuff- as part of our February promotion, we also included a raffle, and today was the big drawing. If you’re curious how the raffle worked, we broke it down for you.

• Your raffle ticket number is your customer order number that was on your receipt when you purchased a package.
• If you purchased packages 2, 4, or 5 your packages contained multiple raffle tickets. So, your order number was entered into our system multiple times. For example, if your order number was 10, and your purchased package 5, the number 10 was entered into our random number generator 4 times (since package 5 came with 4 tickets).
• We used RandomPicker, which is a random number generating software used specifically for giveaways, raffles,etc. We entered in all the information, and the system randomly generates a number. This saves us from having to do the old-fashioned way of writing everything on paper and drawing out of a hat. 
• We are giving away a $100 Amazon gift card and a free year to the LDD Social Network.

and the winner is….

Order #295!

If you were order #295, we sent you an email. You have until Monday March 11th, 2013 to respond to our email. If there is no response, we will pick a new winner on Tuesday March 12th, 2013 and this post will be updated.

Congratulations to our winner!!

-Clint and Chelsea

What's New at Learning Domestic Discipline

Note: You can also read this entry on our new Learning Domestic Discipline site.

February has been quite the month for Learning Domestic Discipline. Honestly, it has probably been the busiest month we've had since we launched our blogs (in 2011), and definitely since we launched our website (just a few months ago). You might want to get comfortable, because this post is most likely going to be really long. But, it's also really exciting! We have done so much in February and the best part is that we're just getting started! :)

Newsletter

In the upcoming months, the first Learning Domestic Discipline newsletter will be launching. The newsletter will include a featured article, FAQs and all sorts of domestic discipline related content. It will be delivered once a month to your inbox and that will be the only email you will receive from Learning Domestic Discipline each month. We won't spam you, we promise. :)

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER

Subscribe via Email

We now have a feature where if you would like to subscribe to our blog, via email, you can using the sign-up form on the right sidebar of our Learning Domestic Discipline blog. By subscribing via email you will receive an email when we post new content on our blog so that you can be kept "in the loop".

We Have a New Website: Beginning Domestic Discipline!

This has been a giant work in progress and we are so excited to present to you our brand new site, Beginning Domestic Discipline, which was created for those who are new to the lifestyle, or considering it. We wanted to give beginners (and soon-to-be-beginners) a place of their own.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT OUR NEW SITE: BEGINNING DOMESTIC DISCIPLINE

The New Beginning Domestic Discipline Blog is Also Ready!

While creating the new Beginning Domestic Discipline site, it dawned on us that, really, beginners should get their own blog too. So, we built a Beginning Domestic Discipline blog. Similar to our Learning Domestic Discipline blog, the Beginning Domestic Discipline blog will be updated with content, and will follow the same posting schedule as the Learning Domestic Discipline blog.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE NEW BEGINNING DD BLOG

Brand New FREE Downloadable Beginner Packets

Sticking with our idea of providing more information to those beginning, or wanting to begin the domestic discipline lifestyle, we have put together a beginner packet for you to download. The beginner packet downloads in PDF format right to your computer and can easily be read on your mobile device, iPad or other tablet, Kindle or other eReader, or right from your computer. It can also be printed out. The downloadable beginner packet is over 50 pages long and features everything you need to begin the lifestyle from how to talk to your partner about domestic discipline all the way to lectures, spankings, rewarding, and much more. Best of all - it's free!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE BEGINNER PACKET

If You Missed the February New eBook Promotions Don't Worry!

First, we will be running another promotion starting on April 15th featuring all new material, and all new packages. But secondly, if you missed your chance to get our new eBook, Domestic Discipline Boot Camp for Beginners, you can join our wait list. By joining our wait  list you will receive access to a one-day only private pre-release sale (date to be determined, but you will receive an email) as well as a discount.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WAIT LIST!

Learning Domestic Discipline Got a Makeover!

We're sure you've noticed, by now, that the Learning Domestic Discipline blog looks completely different. We re-designed it in an effort to make it more stream-lined and easier to read, as well as easier to find the content you are looking for. We hope you love it!

In addition to the blog, we've also completely redone the Learning Domestic Discipline homepage to match with a more stream-lined and easier to read look.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LEARNING DOMESTIC DISCIPLINE MAKEOVER

The Learning Domestic Discipline Blog is Now Available On Your Mobile Device!

The Learning Domestic Discipline blog is now compatible to be viewed (in a really easy to read format!) on any mobile device or tablet. Other entities of Learning Domestic Discipline, such as the Learning Domestic Discipline main site, Beginning Domestic Discipline site, and Beginning Domestic Discipline blog ARE able to be viewed on your mobile device currently, however certain parts may appear jumbled. In the near future, ALL entities of Learning Domestic Discipline will be extremely easy to view, and read, on your mobile device, but for now, the Learning Domestic Discipline blog is ready to go.

To view the Learning Domestic Discipline blog's new mobile version, simply go to the homepage (learningdd.com/blog) on any mobile device or tablet.

We Have a New Posting Schedule

Beginning in April, the Learning Domestic Discipline blog will be on a posting schedule. The posting schedule will mean that new content will be posted on the Learning Domestic Discipline (and Beginning Domestic Discipline!) blog FOUR days a week!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR NEW POSTING SCHEDULE

We are Looking for Guest Bloggers!

As part of our new posting schedule we will be featuring submissions from guest bloggers to feature every other Saturday starting in April. We will pay you for each entry that we publish.

CLICK HERE TO READ OUR POST SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION

We are Taking Your Questions!

Also as part of our new posting schedule we will be featuring your questions (and our answers!) every Monday beginning in April, but feel free to submit your questions now! You can ask us anything you'd like, domestic discipline related questions or otherwise.  Although if the questions get TOO personal, chances are they won't be answered.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS

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 Wow, that was a lot to type! And, probably even more for you to read. If you missed anything, don't worry. All of these features are conveniently located around the Learning Domestic Discipline homepage, the Learning Domestic Discipline blog, the Beginning Domestic Discipline homepage, and the Beginning Domestic Discipline blog.

We also did not forget about the following:

• The comment archives. The comment archive page will feature all of the comments from our previous blogs (Learning Domestic Discipline, and Knowing Your Roles) in a categorized, easy to read format. 
• The HOH Headquarters, which will feature an "HOH only" area including chat nights, Q&A section, and much much more.
• The DD Wives Club, which is similar to the HOH HQ except is only for submissive partners. The DD Wives Club will feature chat nights, forums, book clubs, and a TON more.

So, there is an overview of everything we have done this past month. Don't forget, we also have a social network, forums, and lots more on the way.

We are JUST getting started, and have dozens of things in store for Learning Domestic Discipline over the next few months, the year, and beyond. We hope you are as excited as we are!

-Clint and Chelsea

Resources to Strengthen Your Domestic Discipline Marriage

NOTE: This entry is also available to read on our new site by clicking here.

Happy Valentines Day everyone! In honor of Valentines Day and our domestic discipline-versary (which was last weekend!!) we have put together a list of resources to help you improve your domestic discipline relationship.

COUPLES CHALLENGES

In 2012 we posted one couples challenge per month on our original blog (Learning DD) in an effort to help strengthen domestic discipline relationships throughout the community. The Couples Challenges were (and still are) a huge hit with both beginners to the lifestyle, and those who are more experienced. Below we have listed the 12 couples challenges, and invite you to check them out.

January: Compliments

February: Addressing Faults

March: Appreciation

April: Spreading the Word

May: The Rules

June: Great Qualities Part I

July: Great Qualities Part II

August: Confessions

September: Planning Improvement

October: Spontaneity

November: Gratitude

December: Charity

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BOOKS

Below are a list of books (both domestic discipline, and non domestic discipline) that we feel may really help you with domestic discipline, being an HOH, being a submissive wife, or with your marriage/relationship in general. Whether you're new to domestic discipline or have practiced for many years, we hope you find this list helpful.

• Domestic Discipline Boot Camp for Beginners: This is our new eBook that is only available right now on a pre-release until February 28th. You can purchase it by clicking here, and every purchase enters you into our giveaway for a $100 Amazon giftcard. 
• Domestic Discipline Boot Camp: This eBook is geared more towards experienced domestic discipline couples. Like the above book, it is available for purchase here and each purchase will also enter you into our Amazon.com giveaway.
• The Love Dare:  We are big fans of Alex and Stephen Kendrick's book The Love Dare. The Love Dare is a 40-day journey to strengthening your marriage and although it does not specifically pertain to domestic discipline, a lot of the 40 day challenges will strengthen your core marital values which will transition over into domestic discipline. Whether you have been married 1 month or 50 years, we highly recommend The Love Dare which you can purchase (or read more about) by clicking here.
• The Excellent Wife: Written by Martha Peace, The Excellent Wife is a scripture based book that focuses on improving your relationships with your husband, your children and God. You can purchase the book here, or if you have an Amazon Kindle email me (using the Contact Us page) and I'd be happy to give you my copy (directly to your Kindle) for free using the Kindle Lending/Sharing program.
• The Surrendered Wife: Like The Excellent Wife, The Surrendered Wife (written by Laura Doyle) explores what it means to be a submissive wife, ways to strengthen your marriage, and teaches/walks through how to give up the unnecessary control (which is important in a domestic discipline marriage). Although there are some parts of the book that I don't agree with, overall it's worth reading if you're starting (or are experienced with) domestic discipline. You can purchase it here, or email me (by clicking the Contact Us page) if you have an Amazon Kindle and I will give you my copy for free directly to your Kindle.
• Family Shepherds  Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes: If you're a Christian this book is great. It focuses on examining why being the Head of the Household is important, how to lead your family, and how to improve or strengthen your marriage. There's also quite a bit about parenting, and the Bible, in it so if those both apply to you it's definitely worth reading. You can purchase it here.

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Websites/Other Resources

Below are a list of websites, articles, and other resources that may help you with your domestic discipline marriage. These are great if you don't have time to read a full book (like the ones above) or are just looking for a brief overview of certain domestic discipline topics.

• What is Domestic Discipline?
• Spanking vs. Abuse
• When the HOH Does Something Wrong
• The Spanking Implements Guide
• The Learning Domestic Discipline Forums
• Domestic Discipline Experience Project groups (Note: you can find others on The Experience Project by searching for domestic discipline in the Experience Project search box)
• Releasing Tears During a Spanking 
• HOH Emotions in Domestic Discipline
• Husbands Getting Started at Taking Charge
• The Learning Domestic Discipline Social Network
• Frequently Asked Domestic Discipline Questions (and you can find many more by clicking here)
• The Art of the Lecture

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If you have any website links, blog links, books, etc. that we missed, feel free to submit them to us! We would love to include them. You may do so by leaving it in the comments here, or by emailing us. 

Happy Valentines Day! We have an enormous amount of appreciation, love and respect for all of our readers. We hope that you have a wonderful Valentines Day!

-Clint & Chelsea

5 Things: It Has Been Awhile

*NOTE*: You can also read this entry on our new site by clicking here!*

Awhile back I started The Five Things series. It’s since been picked up (and modified) by a few other bloggers and those are really fun to read.  I haven’t meant to totally abandon this idea though- life (and other Learning Domestic Discipline things!) just got really hectic. But, I vow to make more of an effort.

If you’re new to The Five Things series, here’s how it works:

• Write about 2 domestic discipline related things
• Write about 1 personal thing
• Link one other DD blog
• and link one website of the week (either DD or non-DD.. doesn't matter)

Those are my 5 things “rules” but a several people have adapted them to fit their own blogs and it’s awesome! If you want to join in the fun, send me an email at contact {at} learningdd.com (or use the Contact Us page) with your blog link so I can check it out. Eventually, when The DD Wives Club is up your 5 Things category will be added to that.

Usually the entire entry isn't this personal but that’s ok. Alright so let’s get started..

1. I hit my 3-month challenge mark on February 1st. And while that’s super exciting and great-unfortunately I have to restart this month. Apparently the stresses of moving (and everything else like unpacking our new house, chasing around a super active little boy, and more) have gotten to me and so now I’m getting spanked (tonight actually. Wish me luck everyone, because I’m totally dreading it). By the way, I highly don’t recommend launching a book promotion on the same day that you move into your new house at the same time that you have numerous people (TV, internet, etc. companies) setting everything up, while unpacking, while chasing your son, while trying to find time to go to the grocery store, while having your phone ring off the hook, etc. Let’s just say this past week has been chaotic. We haven’t even lived in our new place a week yet (in fact, it will be one week tomorrow!!) and I’m so ready for things to settle down. I guess, in the middle of the chaos, my behavior fell off track. It’s a bummer that our implements didn’t get lost in the move, huh? But that’s the beauty of domestic discipline- get punished, slate is wiped clean, and we all move on.  
2. Our DD Anniversary is in 2 days! Several years ago my husband and I embarked down the road of domestic discipline and haven’t looked back. It has done amazing things for our marriage, and it’s crazy to think how fast time flies. I’m still not sure yet what we will do to celebrate our DD-versary (or whatever the correct term for that is) but it’s exciting nonetheless. 
3. Our son is a genius. No, seriously, he is. He has learned so many words in the past few weeks it’s not even funny. He can say Target (because that’s one of my favorite stores so, obviously, I had to teach him how to say that), kitchen, hold me, and snack- those are his latest words for the week.  I’m a pretty proud mom. 
4. This one isn’t technically a DD-blog link, but have any of you read The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace? I’ve heard from several people that it’s a great book and it’s on my Kindle (along with like 70 other unread books that I really need to get to at some point or another) but I haven’t gotten too far into it yet. In the upcoming weeks I’m planning on putting together a resource page for books that are helpful to DD wives (such as The Submissive Wife and The Excellent Wife). If anyone has any to add please let me know! Also, if you want to join in our book discussion on the forums, feel free! We would love to have you. 
5. Raspberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes are totally not the healthiest thing in the world, but tell me that these don’t look amazing for Valentines Day? 

A Brand New eBOOK is Here!!

  For weeks the Learning Domestic Discipline staff has been planning and preparing several special promotions for the readers and supporters of the site and its entities.  In fact, one could even say we've been working on them for months, considering a number of the promotions include a BRAND NEW eBOOK!!

TAKE ME TO THE PROMOS!

  My wife and I are pleased to present our brand new domestic discipline eBook, "Domestic Discipline Boot Camp For Beginners", on a PRE-RELEASE special for a limited time only.  After February 28th, the eBook will not be available again until the middle of spring.

  For the entire month of February ONLY, our brand new eBook, "Domestic Discipline Boot Camp For Beginners" will be available in three of five promotional packages offered exclusively through www.learningdd.com. 

  All five packages will be offered at a ridiculously low DOORBUSTER price until 11:59pm EST on February 1st ONLY.  After that, the packages will be offered at the discounted promotional price.  Don't be late and miss out on the best price of the month!

  Upon purchase of any of the five packages, you will be emailed a download link for the book(s) and instructions for your new LDD Network membership.  You will also be automatically entered into a raffle drawing for a $100 Amazon.com giftcard + a free 1-year membership to the Learning Domestic Discipline Social Network.  The five packages offer anywhere from 1-4 raffle tickets, depending on which package is purchased.  The more raffle tickets you acquire, the better chance you have at winning the prize!

Additional Raffle Information:

• The raffle drawing will take place on March 8th, 2013.
• The raffle winner will be announced via Twitter and LDD blog.  The winner will be personally notified via email, and wll have 48 hours to claim the prize.  If the prize is not claimed within 48 hours, a new winner will be selected and the same process will be repeated until someone claims the prize.

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER THE RAFFLE DRAWING!!

• 1 Raffle ticket will be given to anyone who shares the LDD promos via any social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) EXCEPT a blog or a website. (Proof required via email to admin (at) learningdd.com)
• 2 Raffle tickets will be given to anyone who shares the LDD promos in any form via blog or website (written post, widget, sidebar link, etc.). (Proof required via email to admin (at) learningdd.com)

  ***If you have any questions or need any help with your purchase, the LDD customer service team is standing by to help.  Email contact (at) learningdd.com and our customer service team will be happy to assist you as soon as possible.***

  We're so excited about the pre-release of our new eBook, and we hope you are too!  This eBook would not be possible without the readers and supporters of Learning Domestic Discipline and its entities.  Additionally, these promotions would not be possible without the dedicated LDD staff members working tirelessly on them.  My wife and I would like to personally thank our readers and our tremendous LDD staff members for everything they've done to make these promotions, and this book, possible.  Thank you all so very much.

-- Clint & Chelsea

TAKE ME TO THE PROMOS!