4 Ways to Focus on our Kids’ Strengths
One of my highlights of last week was meeting with our Junior Counselors (17-year-olds heading into their senior year of high school) and talking about their strengths. After spending a morning sharing the strengths they saw in each other, reading about the strengths their parents see in them, and viewing their results of the VIA…
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Helping Kids Find Their “Green Zone” (and Finding our Own!)
The simple concept of red, green, and blue zones from The Yes Brain has stuck with me and is helpful to anyone who is a human being or works with them. The red, blue, and green zones describe the emotional characteristics or states our children (and we!) are in at any given time. The “green…
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7 Ways to Help Kids Through their Teen Years
A focus of our staff training is helping counselors learn to connect with kids, empathize with them, and give them positive, supportive guidance. A powerful exercise we do is to ask our staff (19-24 year olds) to reflect on what they remember as being their most difficult time growing up. This summer, as has been…
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With Gratitude to My Dad, “Poppi,” on Father’s Day
Four years ago, with the help of Chuck Radke, my dad, Peter Kremer, wrote a book about his life called Isn’t That Nice? Reflections on a Blessed Life. I wrote this as the foreword to the book. It seems fitting to share on Father’s Day about my dad and the positive influence he has had…
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Raising Girls
The happiest moment of my life was when my daughter was born. But it was also the scariest. Raising a daughter is requiring me to be courageous in the midst of facing my own challenges and fears through her eyes and her experiences. Clara, mother of a 10-year-old girl Ask any mom about the first…
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What do Kids Need at Different Ages?
In preparation for training our camp counselors, I’ve spent some time revising and updating our materials and resources about the different characteristics and needs of the age groups we serve at camp. This information can be helpful for parents, as well. In this post, I’m including the chart of Age Group Characteristics and Needs, as…
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Understanding Kids’ Comfort, Growth, and Blackout Zones
“I DID IT!” Many of my favorite moments at camp are when I get to witness a previously fearful and hesitant camper in the moments just after they’ve tried something new. Their confidence and joy are at a high as they tell the story of how scared they were, how they tried anyway, and how…
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3 Reasons to Give Your Kid a “WOW” Today
Would you consider taking a few moments –less than ONE MINUTE — to say or write something positive to your kid? It can be just a quick verbal compliment, like “I noticed you helped your brother with his math problem. That was kind.” Or it could be a positive note left on her pillow about…
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Ep. 31: Listen: 5 Simple Tools to Meet Your Everyday Parenting Challenges
You’re not alone. Whatever struggle you’re facing and however hard it feels to you right now, I’m confident that with support you can get through it. And I’m 100% confident that you’re not the first or only parent to have slipped up in all the ways you have slipped up, nor are you the only…
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How to get Closer to your Kid in 5 Minutes a Day
One-on-Ones On our counselor job description, one of their duties is to “check in with each camper, every day.” We call these check-in meetings “One-on-Ones.” Counselors ask campers specific, open-ended questions to elicit how campers are feeling. The counselors ask about their friendships, activities, how much they’re missing home, what’s going well, and if they…
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How Can I Help My Kid Make Friends?
One of the most basic and often overlooked social skills our kids need to learn in order to be approachable and available to make friends is to greet others appropriately. Last summer, when I taught campers how to introduce themselves to others, step 1 included smiling and making eye contact. That step holds true for…
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One Simple Thing: Monthly Parenting Challenges for a Happier, More Connected Family
Each month this year, I’m sharing One Simple Thing to try to create a happier, more connected family! January: Daily Family Sharing February: Calm the Morning Chaos March: Discovering Your “Authentic” Self April: How to get Closer to your Kid in 5 Minutes a Day May: 3 Reasons to Give Your Kid a “WOW” Today:…
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