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”…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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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Be a Better Parent by Doing Less
If you’ve read my posts the past few weeks, you know that I’ve been on a roll with thoughts about letting our kids fail more and preparing them to be competent adults. Reading Jessica Lahey’s The Gift of Failure and hearing Julie Lythcott-Haims speak on her book How to Raise an Adult spurred me to…
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Picking my Parental Battles
“Battle” is probably not the ideal metaphor when discussing parenting, but lately I’ve felt like it’s been one scuffle after another between me and my adolescent sons. As I have a chance to reflect each night, what unfurls is a day that seems to have been filled with a constant stream of nagging, niggling reminders.…
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5 Fun 30-Minute Family Activities
With more of my kids away at school than still living at home, I have lofty ambitions for our family together time over these coming two weeks – the only time of the year when all our kids’ vacations coincide. In my mind, I’ve built up an unrealistic vision of music playing in the background…
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“What Else Can I Do?”
This simple question is a parenting tool that helps grow kids into responsible adults who employers will be beating down doors to hire. Last weekend, I heard Dr. Deborah Gilboa speak at a camp conference about “the 3 Rs”: Respect, Responsibility, and Resilience. I’m a fan and have already visited Dr. Gilboa’s website “Ask Doctor G”…
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5 Tips to Start Running
“I’m not a runner.” “I can’t run.” I’ve heard variations of these statements many times when running comes up in a conversation. I try to respond in a convincing way that anyone can be a runner, because running has been such a life-changing sport for me. When given the opportunity (which is rare because many…
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Get Savvy: Letters to a Teenage Girl About Sex and Love
“As a girl, I was really trained and enjoyed playing a certain range of ‘keys’ – that was being nice, being successful, being a good student. And I think the same is true of how we use our voice in the world – we train girls to use the ‘acceptable’ range of keys. What I…
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Choose Wisely: 8 Questions to Ponder Before you say “I Do”
Do you ever get an anxious feeling when you’re on the way to the airport, leaving for a trip? You’re going through your mental checklist of what you packed, and you know you’ve forgotten something, you just don’t know what it is? I feel that way about my parenting. My three oldest—all girls—have grown up…
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