Carey Nieuwhof There is a moment . . . okay, a series of moments . . . that test the outer limit of every parent’s patience. As much as I used the timeout chair on my kids when they were small, there were moments where truthfully I should have been sat on the time out chair when…
Leah Jennings I can count on one hand the amount of things I love more than I love Zumba. Zumba and me go way back: I started taking the fitness class at a point in my life when I was the most downtrodden I’d ever felt—I had been laid off from my first job after…
*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on ScienceDaily. Experts are urging parents to brush up on national guidelines following a rapid rise in screen time on electronic devices for children under two. A University of Queensland study found some young children might average 50 minutes per day, where the national guidelines called…
Diane Dokko Kim Autism. Diagnosis code 299.00 Our toddler could barely walk when his future ran out on him. The slippery slope from diagnosis to the dissolution of dreams is steep and cruel. Regardless how rare a child’s condition, the heart of every special-needs parent tumbles into a universal pit of despair, “He may never…
Chajay Wise Summertime is here—and that means more free time for the little people in my home. Between pools, playdates, camps, and finding the right time to just relax, summer can be another full time job. I don’t know about your kiddos, but mine are out of school for exactly 10 weeks which can seem…
Liz Hansen “Moooooom! I’m boooored!” I’d been bracing myself for this time-honored refrain for months as my almost-4-year-old’s naptime slowly transitioned to “quiet” time. I felt a deep stab of guilt. His toddler brother was sound asleep, and the nap block was sacrosanct for my work time. We had to solve this. “That’s a long…
Leah Jennings Confessions of an Introvert I am an introvert through and through. Although I love authentic relationships and conversations, people, no matter how much I love them, drain my energy. Do you know who else is a person (albeit little)? My three-year-old daughter, Arden. No one ever talked to me about what it would…
Doug and Cathy Fields Excerpted from Intentional Parenting, by Doug and Cathy Fields Have the words “Because I said so” ever come out of your mouth? This “quick fix” answer we sometimes give our kids when they ask “Why?” can ultimately undermine our authority as parents. “Because I said so” was never a satisfying answer when…
Sarah Bragg There’s been one thing that has become clear to me through having kids that is missing in my life (and the life of many other people I know). Sound sleep, money in the bank, and a leisure day at the pool are all missing from my life as a parent, but I’m not…
Tim Walker Growing up, I had a hard time connecting with my dad. Different Interests As a kid, all I could see were the differences between us.I liked to read comic books.I loved to draw.I would play with action figures for hours.Or make spaceships out of boxes.I loved TV, and I would anxiously await the…