Sometimes it’s hard to know where to put my focus on the parenting buffet. There is so much on the table, so many choices, so many categories, so much to teach and so little time. I have to confess, sometimes my parenting is motivated by what I call The Daughter-in-Law Factor. I prioritize so I…
*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on CNN. Dead bodies. Bloodied faces. Tears. Terror. Those are just some of the things that children see when they view news coverage of violent events. Screen violence — which includes violence in video games, television shows and movies — is associated with aggressive behavior,…
“Read their mind” is just another way of saying every leader needs to understand what’s changing mentally and physically. Kids and teenagers don’t think like adults. So it’s the role of a leader to keep presenting, keep translating and keep creating experiences until someone has learned what they need to know. When you know…
*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on TechInsider. Snapchat was built on the appeal of photos and messages that expire and disappear. But in April of this year, the app evolved to include a new revamped messaging system that’s way more powerful than texting. Now, it’s become a core means of communication for some…
A recent report gave some startling insights about the tension between parents and their kids involving the use of technology. According to the report that was highlighted by the Washington Post, “Of the parents surveyed, 77 percent feel teens get distracted by devices and don’t pay attention when they are together and 41 percent of teens…
Just last week I talked to my wife, Lisa, about my ten year old daughter who seems to have changed overnight. Just as I was getting to understand how to interact and support her, I was suddenly interacting with someone else… She’s starting to look different, think different, act different, and even smell different! Whether…
There will come a time in your parenting journey when you will have to help a child decide if they should quit doing one thing so they can pursue another. How will you help them decide the best thing to do? Not a hard choice if they’re terrible at one thing and seem to have…
Splink 1: Amazing Metamorphosis Watch an amazing 4-minute video about the butterfly’s metamorphosis. Here’s a shorter 2-minute one for non-readers: What does metamorphosis mean? (To change, such as the change from a caterpillar to a butterfly) When the caterpillar appears from the chrysalis, it doesn’t look anything like a caterpillar. Instead it is a…
I’m learning that friendship, as a parent, is even more life-giving (life-saving?) now than ever before. And this says a lot coming from a friendship-nostalgia-freak who has a file box of every single note I received in middle and high school organized by name of the sender. (If anyone under 25 is reading this, a…