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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…

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…

5 Ways to Stay Connected with your College Kid

We all know the dangers of helicoptering and over-parenting, but just how does a parent stay appropriately connected with a college kid who’s living away from home for the first time? We’re starting our fourth year of having our three oldest kids away at school, and we’ve found a balance of communication and involvement that works for us. It’s certainly way more communication than what I…

Six Tips for Complaining Well: Guidelines for Parents

“Are you the person I file a complaint with?” Those were the man’s first words to me as I stepped out of the van I had just driven for five hours, following the bus carrying kids home after their stay at camp. “Umm, yes, sure,” I said. I was a bit taken aback. After 30…

Parent Top 10

As I prepare for next month’s camp counselor training, I find myself reflecting—once again—that parents should get at least this much preparation before they start the job of raising kids. After all, just like camp counselors want to have a positive impact on their campers and thrive in their work, parents, too, want to have…

5 Steps to Help Kids Resolve Conflicts

The Conflict Resolution Wheel I’ve always considered myself non-confrontational and I do my best to avoid conflict. In researching ways to teach kids conflict resolution skills, I’ve discovered that avoidance is actually a choice on the “Conflict Resolution Wheel.” I’m primarily a “walk away” or “go play with somebody else” conflict resolver. And, perhaps because…

Embracing Risk: Savage Park

“Americans, I beseech you, it is not as impossible as it seems. We may have an ocean on the east and west, we may have borders on the north and south, but we are not an island; we are in the world. There is no escaping it: we have been born, we are going to…

Super Mom or Super Bomb? Modeling a Balanced Life for our Kids

“First and foremost, we need to be the adults we want our children to be.” Brené Brown Books have an amazing way of dropping into my life at exactly the right moment. There’s usually one thing that really stands out to me, even from books that offer more than just one tip. Maybe it’s my…

3 Ways to Make Family Dinner like a Campfire

Most of us know the importance of family dinners: Kids who regularly eat dinner with their families are more emotionally stable, are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, get better grades, have fewer depressive symptoms, and are less inclined to obesity or eating disorders. It’s certainly a compelling list. But what can you do if your family dinner isn’t…

Raising a Book Lover

When I was four years old, I amazed my Pre-K teacher by flawlessly reading aloud Are You my Mother? by P.D. Eastman. Not only did I read every word correctly, but I had appropriate inflection in my voice. Child prodigy? Um…actually, no. My mom had read that book to me so many times that I…

10 Parenting Tips from Camp Counselors

At one time in their lives, many of the parents I know were camp counselors. Those same people have told me that their time spent as counselors was great training ground for parenting. Among other things, they learned to comfort, encourage, set goals, and resolve disputes — all things we experience daily in our lives…