Ep. 4: Giving Kids’ Phones a “Vacation”
“We want this party to be with all the girls being present and in the moment with their friends.” -Ashley, Parent Ashley’s Facebook post caught my attention – it was a photo of the text she had sent to the parents of the 22 (yes, you read that correctly, TWENTY-TWO!) girls invited to her…
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Ep. 3: Raising Resilient, Independent Kids with Sara Kuljis
In Episode 3 of the Sunshine Parenting Podcast, I interview my good friend Sara Kuljis about raising resilient, independent kids. Sara is a 20-year veteran camp director and parenting trainer who has great insights and ideas about parenting and counseling kids. Sara, with her husband Steve, owns and directs Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp, a Christian adventure…
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Thoughts on “Being 13”
“Most adolescents with access to smart phones are living their social lives online as much as they do face-to-face. Adults worry that teens are hooked on social media, but most have no idea what teens are actually doing online.” -Marion K. Underwood & Robert W. Faris, Being 13: Perils of Lurking on Social Media I…
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Good Things Come to Those Who Breathe
My 2016 ended with a bang – two trips to the ER on New Year’s Eve. My son needed a cast for a small buckle fracture in his arm from a snowboard crash (see Exhibit A), and we had a health scare with my dad that ended up being nothing serious. And that crazy evening…
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Feeling Thankful
Today is Day 31 (the final day!) of my Happiness Hacks series. Oh my goodness. I did it! I actually wrote and posted a happiness hack every single day this month. Hooray! For those of you who joined me on this journey, thank you for coming along. I appreciate you taking time from your busy…
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Reading Binge
Today is Day 30 of my Happiness Hacks series. Few things make me happier than some uninterrupted reading time, and an inspirational book makes for an especially amazing reading binge. While there was quite a bit of background noise (TV, people talking, rain falling hard outside) this weekend at our get-away, I was able to block…
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Quick Get-Away
Today is Day 29 of my Happiness Hacks series. Faced with an open Saturday (a miracle of sorts for our family), we decided at the last minute (as in, yesterday) to make a quick get-away trip to our local mountains. When we’re home, we tend to keep ourselves constantly busy with work and chores. There’s…
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Ep. 2: 10 Friendship Skills Every Kid Needs
10 Friendship Skills Every Kid Needs Listener Question: How do I help my 13-year-old daughter with her social anxiety? Social Anxiety Resources: What is Social Anxiety? Social Anxiety Disorder, WED MD Parenting News: New research on screen time’s impact on our kids’ ability to persevere through problem solving: “Turn it Off Right Now!” Great Schools Parenting Tip:…
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Finding my Lane
Today is Day 28 of my Happiness Hacks series. As I get closer to the end of this series, I’m needing to dig a bit deeper to find my daily hack. Many of the practices I’ve written about, like going for a run, hugging, reading, walking my dog, and getting things done, I do just about every day.…
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Listen to a Podcast
Today is Day 26 of my Happiness Hacks series. Today I found out that my husband has been placed on a jury for a long case, possibly until January. This was not good news for me and produced some decidedly unhappy emotions. Fortunately, this morning I took my dog out for a run and listened to an…
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Two “To Do”s
Today is Day 25 of my Happiness Hacks series. My simple happiness hack for today was having a realistic “to do” list. This morning, I looked at my schedule and knew that I would not have much time to get anything done between my scheduled meetings and commitments. And so, I only put two, very…
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Inspirational Quotes
Today is Day 24 of my Happiness Hacks series. Ever since I can remember, I’ve enjoyed inspirational quotes. As a young teen, I started a journal where I collected my favorites. Now I save them on Pinterest and create graphics for my website using the ones I like best. For me, a happiness hack is reading through…
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