Audrey Monke

All Posts by Audrey Monke

Conversations Before College: Preventing Sexual Assault

This is the third installment of my “Conversations Before College” series, written in honor of my daughter and her friends who graduate from high school this Sunday. My hope is that this information will spur parents to have these important conversations with their high school and college-aged kids. “It is estimated that the percentage…

5 Reasons NOT to Worry While Your Kids are at Camp

Worrying when our kids are away from us is normal for parents. Every time I’ve ever dropped my kids off for a new adventure without me, I’m excited for them. But I’m also concerned about their safety, secretly wishing they would just STAY HOME, then counting the days until they return. I know it’s not…

The Uncool Mom

One of the numerous times I’ve made my son mad this year was the day I told him he had to go to school when a bunch of other parents were not making their kids go. Here’s the story: My son’s soccer team had a tournament on the last Friday of school before a break.…

Learning to Breathe

I learned to breathe a few weeks ago. Let me explain. While I’ve been breathing my whole life, I found out a few weeks ago, during a counseling session with a neuro-therapist, that I haven’t been doing it correctly. I spent a lot of my time doing shallow breathing, often while simultaneously feeling agitated. I…

5 Parenting Mistakes to Avoid

Before I was a parent, I worked with hundreds of kids as a camp counselor and then as a camp director. As an idealistic youth development professional, I was very opinionated about parenting techniques, and I was critical of what I saw parents doing and saying to their kids. I had a lot of “always”…

Conversations Before College: Honest Talk about Alcohol

“3 Things to Teach Your Kids about Alcohol,” the most important thing I’ve ever written, was a plea to parents to talk with kids about alcohol and prevent the kind of tragedy that a family close to ours experienced in 2004. This is a topic that I will continue to revisit until we stop losing…

The Perils of Perfectionism

When we can let go of what other people think and own our story, we gain access to our worthiness — the feeling that we are enough just as we are and that we are worthy of love and belonging. -Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection Several months ago I was having coffee with a…

Surviving and Thriving (in High School and Life)

Many kids struggle with their sense of worth and forget who they really are during high school. For high achieving kids, some get so caught up in the tests and grades that they start believing that they are not good enough if they don’t get accolades from their teachers. Many adults. I would argue, get caught up…

Tips from a Natural Hawaiian Mama

My family has been on a relaxing, beach- and sun-filled spring break this week on the Big Island of Hawaii. This is our favorite vacation spot, as we truly decompress and relax here. I haven’t been doing much writing. Instead, I have been reading, sitting in a lounge chair listening to the waves, swimming out…

Conversations before College: WHO you are matters more than WHERE you go

I just spent spring break with ten high school senior girls and some of their moms. Several of these girls know where they’ll be heading to college in the fall, but others are still anxiously waiting to hear about acceptances. Since it was spring break, we stayed off the dreaded college topic as much as…

The Power of Compliments

I saw this video last week, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the power of compliments: Isn’t it amazing? This teacher spent just 10 minutes a day complimenting his students, and he completely changed the culture of his classroom. The kids started being more kind and complimenting each other. Amazing! Well, of…

5 Taco Tuesday Twists: Super Easy Family Dinners

While I’m not a food blogger or an accomplished chef, I am a mom who—like most moms—must figure out what the heck to feed my family EVERY SINGLE DAY. I’m always on the lookout for simple, delicious meal ideas. I especially like using my crockpot, as the afternoons get so busy and my kids are…

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