Graduating from high school can be one of the most exciting times in a young child’s life, but it can also be one of the scariest! All of a sudden, your teenager is thrust into the world. They have to make decisions with potentially life-altering consequences. So how do you make sure your child does it right? The first step is avoiding some of the most common mistakes college freshmen make. Go over the different 6 points on this list as…
When I’m in a hurry and trying to get somewhere quickly, nothing irritates me as much as a speed bump—especially when it comes out of nowhere and takes me by surprise! While flying through life, attempting to balance the countless things on my plate, I sometimes get hit by a speed bump that reminds me I have to slow down. They’re never fun, but these speed bumps in our lives offer a perfect opportunity for reflection and evaluation. Over the…
I’ll never forget the look on my fifth grade daughter’s face when she told me that her friend was dating a boy in their class: eyes wide, scrunched up nose, grimacing mouth. “They’re dating, huh?” I asked. “Well, where did they go on their first date?” “They sat together at lunch yesterday,” my daughter explained. “Did he buy her lunch?” I further questioned. “Well, noooo…” she said. “Then there’s your answer! Honey, I hate to break it to you, but…
If someone put a marshmallow in front of your child and told them to wait to eat it…for 5 minutes…for 10 minutes, could they do it? What if they were promised double the marshmallows if they waited successfully? Delayed gratification. Just the sound of those two words may make you want to run out and grab everything you possibly can now…before it’s to late! Recently, Grow Up: Parenting Wars with John Stossel aired an episode on the FOX News Channel about…
“Life is about finding the joy in the chaos and the crazy.” -Sondra to Ally, Moms’ Night Out What happens when moms are swallowed up into the chaos of life? They (or at least I) go bonkers! Funny? Only in hindsight. My life becomes messy when I can’t control the circumstances my family is in and I start reacting in an often unbecoming way. Then I get discouraged with myself and spiral downward into dejected despair. Finding joy in the…
It doesn’t matter how old or young your child is, they can run into trouble. The problem is that kids have easy access to trouble. The online world leads to activities and people that they normally wouldn’t be exposed to. I have 5 kids all within 6 years of each other, so I know lots of kids and lots of parents. I have noticed that there are paths that lead a child down the slippery slope to trouble and that…