When trouble comes, will your house stand strong? Every household is going to face difficulty at some point. It may be a job loss, a relationship crumbling, sickness, or financial stress. It may be as tragic as death or as simple as annoying neighbors. Whatever the problem is, it rattles your peaceful home and can…
10 Small Ways to Show Love to Your Children
The task to show love to your children every day can sometimes be easy and other times be one of the hardest things you will do as a parent. Kids are cute and wonderful when they are lovable and cooperative, but when they’re ornery and resistant, you may be tempted to ship them off to…
Is Your Child in Trouble? Here are 10 Warning Signs
Is your child in trouble? Most pre-teens and teens face common challenges—bullying, peer pressure, finding their identity, stress, poor body image, or low self-esteem. We all remember the struggles that come with growing up; life for middle and high schoolers gets harder and harder in a world that is pulling them in so many directions….
How to Avoid Crapshoot Parenting
Do you often feel like each day is a parenting guessing game? A crapshoot of trying to figure what works and what doesn’t when it comes to getting your kids to cooperate? When my oldest was born, over 33 years ago, it only took a few weeks for me to reach a point of frustration,…
How Do You Handle Parenting Challenges?
How are you doing at handling parenting challenges? Answer each of these 20 questions based on how much you agree with the statement. Scoring and evaluations are at the end. The purpose of this is not to shame you, guilt you or discourage you; it is to encourage you, give you an idea of where…
Do You Know How to Do the Parenting Dance?
Parenting is not like math or science where black is black and white is white. It is more of an art that shifts and changes with the circumstances, and with the needs of your children. Actually, parenting can be likened to a dance that has three basic steps: The leading step where the parent is…
6 Ways to Connect With Your Teen
Whether your child is just becoming a tween or is a full-fledged teen, you most likely have noticed some attitude changes. Your sweet baby may not be so sweet any longer and you may feel on some days like you are navigating an emotional mine field. The emotions of a teenager can be compared to…
5 Things to Keep Telling Yourself While You Watch Your Child Play Sports
My kids are no longer playing youth sports. But two of them are coaching it, as well as my husband. Our youngest played her last college volleyball game over 7 years ago, so I’ve had some time to recover from being a competitive sports mom–or so I thought. While attending my son-in-law’s basketball games this…
How to Negotiate with Your Child
Are you are quick to protest, “No Way! I’m in charge!” and insist that you will never negotiate with your child because you are, after all, the parent? Before you dismiss the idea of negotiating with your child, ask yourself this: Does it seem like every time you say “No,” it turns into an argument…
If You Do These 3 Things, You Can Parent with Confidence
Being a parent is complicated. It is hard work. There are no one-size-fits-all answers because every family dynamic is different, every child is unique and every home faces its own special challenges. But at the same time, there are over-riding principles that can apply to every household, whether you are a single parent, a blended…