Teaching Texting: The Parent’s Responsibility
Parents gain wisdom from experience. Children make foolish mistakes. One of the fundamental responsibilities of parents is to teach lessons from our wisdom in hopes to prevent foolish mistakes. Most of us like to think we champion this responsibility with excellence. Unfortunately, too many lessons happen in the silent recesses of our brains known as […]
What Every Parent Needs to Know About the Updated Instagram
Battling For Souls There are a few gigantic corporations brutally fighting it out in order to win the souls of our children (and money in their pockets.) By ‘souls’ we mean their entire livelihood and by ‘money’ we mean many millions. Aside from Google, who is a clear pack leader with their efforts to take […]
Post. Shame. Delete. Repeat: The Way Social Media is Changing Friendship Among Teens
The Pattern “Ask me who are the 3 people I hate and I’ll tell you” the girl’s Instagram post starts out. Quickly, fellow high school students jump in guessing who, preferring this gossip rich distraction to their teacher’s lesson or assignments. Before long, the girl reveals the names on her new “hated” list. “Wait – […]
4 Ideas To Create a Culture of Service and Empathy This Summer
School is almost out. Summer is approaching in all its glorious heat, pool days, beach trips, late nights around a campfire, and catching lightening bugs! All the good things of summer everyone looks forward to. With all these good things comes a lot of free time. So, the question every parent asks is: what to […]
Saving Childhood: Bringing Back Free Play
Once upon a time I had a darling little three year old and I nearly ruined our relationship. I made choices that left no room for her needs and stubbornly decided that because I was a mom I knew best. My child knew what was best, but I ignored her. It was our first year […]
3 Key Ways to Balance Summer Freedom & Structure
Summer is such a sweet release for both parents and children alike. Absent are the alarm clocks blaring us into a new day while the sun remains hidden from our sky. Homework and projects do not dictate our evening schedules or dampen our spirits with looming dread. So what will your children be doing with […]
A Simple and Effective Way to Protect/Monitor Your Child Online
*Disclaimer: My family purchased Circle independently and we use it as a primary internet control in our home. Because we love it, we have become an affiliate partner with Circle.* As a parent, do you believe you should monitor your child’s screen time but don’t know how to? Have you thought you were monitoring and restricting […]
Kids are Savvy and Sneaky – Here’s Why You Should Care:
You aren’t going to like hearing this, but your children are most likely doing things behind your back you don’t know about. WAIT! WHAT!! Did you know? A better question, do you care? If their grades are not affected, do you care what they do at school? If their safety isn’t in jeopardy, do you mind […]
Killing the Silence: 3 Ways You Can Prioritize Face-to-Face Communication in Your Home
If you go to a Middle School party, you’ll be sure to find huddled up pre-teens, still small in their stature yet confidently boasting large smart phones. If a moment gets awkward or when 2 minutes have past (whichever comes first) they’ll reach for this technological security blanket. They’ll be messaging their friends who stand […]
How to Make ONE WORD Change Your Family’s Life
My husband and I recently had a discussion with our adult child about the difference between DREAMS and GOALS. She boasts of her dreams for a great life. A life of success, joy, and peace. A life that eludes her, as it presently appears her life is directed by the shake of a Magic 8 […]
Big Dreams: The One Thing Children Desperately Need From You
Children love to dream. Whether they dream about life, the future, or fantastic stories from their imagination, they know how to dream big. From the moment they begin speaking and through their adolescence they blissfully proclaim their desire to be a princess, a doctor, the President, or the next big NBA basketball star. As parents, […]
How to be BRAVE on Black Friday
Gratefulness is the hot button word of the day. If you aren’t reading something encouraging you to give thanks for all you have then you’re reading the Black Friday ads looking for deals. Isn’t it interesting how we give thanks for what we have one day and then the next buy a bunch more stuff […]
Digital Amnesia and Why You Won’t Remember These Moments
Have you been at an event and witnessed someone experiencing life and capturing the moment solely through their phone? The evolution from film to digital has changed our lifestyle and most importantly our memories. We photographically document our lives extensively and excessively. From “why is my toddler crying” (*snap*) to “this awesome meal we’re about […]
Forget About the Character of Our Candidates and Focus on the Character of Our Children
My 15 year old daughter often melts in frustration under the weight of our family rules. “MOM! I am the only Freshman in High School without any social media!” I listen then give her the same calm and confident reply every time: “That may or may not be true, however, your character will make you […]
CHARACTER Driven Read Aloud BOOK LIST
Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links to products for which we may receive a commission. There are 168 hours in a week. On average this is how our children spend these hours: 6.5 hr school x 5 days = 32.5 hours 4-9 hr media consumption x 7 days = 45.5 hours (avg) 2-3 hours extracurricular […]
5 Crucial Answers You Need Before Sleepovers
The silent buzzing of my phone against my nightstand assaulted my consciousness. Terribly confused why my phone would be ringing at 4:30am, I fumbled to answer the persistent caller. The voice on the other end was a parent friend, her voice was somber and serious. “There’s been an incident at the birthday party involving your […]
The Instagram Games Girls Play (And Why My Answer is No)
For the thousandth time, my daughter breached the topic of social media with me. This time, however, I saw it coming. I knew she had a big question on her mind to ask me. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be following me around as I cleaned. As she worked up the courage to ask, I decided I […]
4 Lies Your Teens Want You to Believe About Social Media
*updated for 2019 Honesty and Social Media….do these two coexist? By the most recent statistics, 76% of teens in the US are using social media. Similarly, 77% of adults are using social media. If we are equal consumers, is it safe to assume we all use it the same? No way. We may represent an […]
The New Silent Killer of Relationships: Multitasking
Last night I burned dinner while I was texting. I was embarrassed admitting to my family why dinner was less than my best. Have you ever done this? A “quick” look at Facebook and your water has boiled over? An email about a great sale happening sucks you in and you’ve forgotten what you were doing. Multitasking […]
Don’t Believe the Lie: Monitoring is Not Spying
I often hear parents and news articles refer to monitoring their child’s phone as “spying.” Most often this is referred to in a negative light, “I don’t feel right spying on my kids to see what they’re doing on-line.” While the definition of the word spying can mean (1)to observe secretively, which certainly can feel […]
#Flawless: How a Hashtag is Destroying Our Daughters
The evening sun was still blazing hot as my daughter and I found the tiniest patch of shade to settle our chairs in. We had 1.5 hours ahead of us while we watched my youngest son’s football practice. Without consideration of what my daughter planned to do, I selfishly and quickly settled into the book […]