I’m not a huge fan of exaggeration, so let me say as clearly as I can, “The entire world changes when your kid gets a smart phone.” You think you know, oh you’ve read some articles or heard chit chat at dinner parties, but you have no idea what happens when your parenting goes digital. Up…
This week we are recapping our most-shared culture blog posts to-date in 2016. *The following is from February 2, and was excerpted from an online article posted on PsychCentral. While many assume that the most taxing years for mothers are when their children are infants, new research has found that the middle school years are…
Lately, I have been in so many situations where God has been speaking to me about trusting Him, giving it to Him fully, and not letting the devil get in. What about you? Have you been getting those same messages? The devil wants us to give up. Give up with our parenting. Give up…
Splink 1: Forgiving Even When It’s Hard Watch a 2.44-minute video of Amin, a boy from Iran who was faithful to the Gospel even after being persecuted. http://www.kidsofcourage.com/?p=8096 Talk about it: How do you think you would have felt if you were Amin? What does it mean to be persecuted? (Treated badly because of…
Raising a daughter is one of the scariest endeavors I’ve ever faced. Once we got past the toddler phase with our son, I had a fairly good idea of what to do; we played catch, we talked about sports and we laughed at body noises. I made my share of mistakes raising our son, but…
*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on NPR. Teens are driving unsupervised too late at night, a recent study suggests, and expanding restrictions on their nighttime driving to include the hours before midnight could save lives. Ruth Shults, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, says…
*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on PsychCentral. Teenagers who have easy access to drugs and alcohol in the home are more likely to drink and do drugs in their early and late 20s, according to new research. The study, by Michigan State University’s Dr. Cliff Broman, also found that the effects…
Imagine a parent of a child you know approaching you. “Can (insert their child’s name) and I speak with you and (insert your child’s name) privately for a minute?” Maybe this kind of “confrontational” conversation raises your blood pressure? I know it raises mine. Thoughts spiral and I become anxious: “What did my child do?”…
*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on PR Newswire. Teens have been inundated with messages about the dangers of texting while driving over the past several years—and while this message is still vitally important, texting is not the only danger popping up on their smartphones. According to new research conducted by Liberty Mutual…
The first few days and weeks of school are a big deal for kindergarteners and their parents. It may feel like nothing has changed since preschool (because the last year flew by in the blink of an eye), but 5 and 6-year-olds are actually entering into a completely new phase. This is the phase…