Helping Families Find Freedom
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 gave a talk this morning at a mom’s group about sibling rivalry, and I realized that EVERY talk I give no matter what parenting topic it is, always includes a few thoughts on the role of television in the home. Even my marriage talk has comments about TV time. In order to empower parents in these read more…
Perhaps the greatest change in my parenting from first child to last child was the power that kids’ tears and tantrums had over my life. As a new mom, I was afraid of Michael’s emotions. Literally afraid. If he whimpered, cried, or pitched a fit, I snapped to attention, trying to address whatever issue he had. read more…
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…
Lately, I have been wanting to scream from a mountaintop to all the parents in the world, “Stop letting social media suck the joy out of your parenting!” Daily, I hear the insecurity in the voices of young moms who tentatively ask, “Am I a bad mom if…” I see dads screaming at 5-year-olds on read more…
I had all the boy’s physicals this month. It reminded me of this post from a few years ago. We were ready THIS year. Summer 2011 Yesterday Matthew (9) and Christopher (11) had their annual physicals. It has been awhile since we have had one for any of the boys so I had forgotten the read more…
I think the biggest reason that we have trouble saying “no” to our kids is because we are afraid of their reaction or because we don’t want to hurt them. But what if we KNEW that we weren’t hurting them and were actually helping them learn to be content and grateful for what they read more…
It was not until Michael was eight years old that we fully realized we could not go on living with a monster in the house. That reality did not set in until we were on a three week vacation, living in a small cottage with the six of us. After about four straight days of read more…
Last week I wrote about the parental power of scooping up an out of control child and carrying them to a car rather than yelling at them to obey you and walk. A couple moms asked me to discuss the very real scenario where the child is too big to be carried. What then? The reality read more…
To the dad screaming at his son in the Noblesville Pizza Hut parking lot this week, Let me start by saying that I’m sure you love your son. And I totally understand how frustrating a four year old can be sometimes. And I bet you think that what you were doing with the harsh, loud read more…
