That’s My Kid!

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I was so blessed by the mom of a preschooler who posted on Facebook this picture of her son in the very front row of his preschool concert, sitting on his bottom refusing to sing a note. Apparently he had warned his mom, “If you come to my concert then I am sitting down and read more…

Nurturing True Friendships over Popularity

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Perhaps the greatest challenge of being “popular” or “cool” is maintaining honest, loyal friendships. By its very nature, cool is fickle. It changes with regularity and to stay cool you have to work to be able to keep up. For two decades, I’ve been observing friendship dramas in middle schools and little has changed over read more…

Keeping my Kids Uncool

cool kids

I’ll never forget the advice I heard from a mom of teens when all four of my boys were not even in school yet. She told me, “Trust me, you don’t want your kids to be popular.” At first this surprised me. Of course I wanted other kids to like my boys. I sure liked read more…

No, It’s not OK to Make Out on the Middle School Bus

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Yesterday I overheard an 8th grade girl trying to convince a middle school administrator that it was “appropriate” to makeout on the middle school bus since “it is not the same as school and there is nothing wrong with kissing.” Where to begin, precious young teen? Let me start by addressing the teen herself since read more…

Stop Letting School Sabotage Your Relationship with Your Child

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Stop Letting School Sabotage Your Relationship with Your Child   I’m not sure how many times I have said this, but the most important part of parenting is the relationship we have with our kids. Is it honest? Loving? Respectful? Joy-filled? Secure? If it is, then parenting will be much easier–maybe even fun!  But I read more…

January: National Preschool Freak-Out Month?

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Warning: Rant Ahead! Did you know that January is National Preschool Freak-Out Month? Seriously, January is the month that many preschools begin registering kids for the fall. That means that FIRST TIME PARENTS might not have a clue that in the dead of winter they need to be making plans for the end of summer. read more…

Sometimes It’s Cold AND Rainy–and That’s OK!

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It’s 2:11 on Halloween afternoon and I just checked the Look out My Window weather app–it’s windy and rainy and I just saw three snowflakes! Not the perfect Halloween weather is it? And that’s when it struck me. It’s not perfect. Not even close to perfect. It’s actually more like  “add layers over your costume and read more…

This Christmas–Give Your Kids the Gift of Enough

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I’ve noticed on a couple different web sites recently that moms are beginning to fret about Christmas presents for their kids. One worried mom posted, “Any ideas for Christmas presents for my two year old? I’m really struggling.” Really? Two is the age where a child thinks that pooping in the tub, shredding napkins, and read more…

Does Your Teen Want to be Rich? Have them Read This:

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Hi tween or teen! I get it. Chances are you’re reading this, but it’s not something that you really want to do. I’m sure you’d rather be unloading the dishwasher or folding the laundry, but I’m happy that you are at least giving this blog a chance. I wrote it to help kids like you not read more…

I’m the “mom with four boys who didn’t do sports”

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               As soon as my first-born was old enough to toddle, people began asking what sports we planned on signing Michael up for. Because Bryan was born only 16 months after Michael, I didn’t even consider signing him up–not because I had a huge objection, but simply because it seemed like it would be read more…