Fighting for the Heart of Our Adopted Son
Instinctively as parents we want to fight for our children. Fight for their rights. Fight for their health. Fight for their relationships. And most importantly, fight for their hearts. My husband, Ben, and I knew pretty early on as parents that we wanted to prioritize...
A 3-Pronged Approach to Solving Technology Issues With Your Kid
Your kids want to be on their devices all the time. They have figured out how to make an iPod, mobile device, or computer do things that you never thought possible. This has become a hot-button issue in your house. You wish they would just go outside and play sometimes. It is the majority of your confrontations at the dinner table.
4 Things I Want to Be for My Grandkids
Nobody is making me do this. I do it because my grandkids love it, and if it makes their sticky faces light up, I’m all in.
But my job as ‘Mimi’ is bigger than just bringing the fun. It’s not just about doing and buying, but also about the things I can be in their lives. Here are the four things I’m focusing on being for my grandkids.
Bigger Than Your House
I wasn’t expecting her joy to make me question mine. Part of my job as a youth pastor has been to rally parents to embrace the development and growing independence of their children. Especially as they enter middle school. I remind them of how important it is to widen...
How to Get Your Kids to Do What You Want
There was an article recently in TIME Magazine that revealed the results of an American Psychological Association survey showing that a third of teenagers no longer read books for pleasure. As parents, a survey like this may cause us to lecture our kids about the...
What Parenting Taught Me About Life
As parents, we are tasked to train our children and prepare them for the world . . . but sometimes those roles are reversed. Our children become the teachers, exposing us to our own weaknesses, allowing us to grow alongside them as we navigate the unknown together....
It Takes a Circle
Humans were designed to live within community, but I’d let my desire for adventure interrupt the foundational relationships my son would need, the very ones I’d wanted for myself as a teenager.
The Thing We Need to Give to Other Parents
It’s so easy to judge each other. It’s so easy to criticize or analyze another parent. “Can you believe they spent that much on their kid’s birthday? That’s crazy. It was so over the top.” It’s so easy to cut down.
21 Questions to Get to Know Your Kid Now
Want to know a secret? I don’t really like Butterfinger Bells. (Please don’t tell my mom.)
20 years ago, I told my mom my favorite Christmas candy was Butterfinger Bells. You know the ones. Bell-shaped chocolates with little bits of chopped up Butterfinger crunchies, individually wrapped in foil. And it was my absolute favorite… in middle school. But here I am, a college degree, wedding, and two kids later, still getting a bag of Butterfinger Bells in my stocking each and every Christmas.
A Few Things to Know About Preteens
This time of the year is filled with anticipation. By now some of you are well into the school year while others of you are just getting started. Either way, you’re probably wondering a few things: What will my child face? How will they change? What will they remember...
One Simple Way to Love Your Kids Better
I can be a sulker. When someone offends me, my natural response is to sulk, and give them the cold shoulder so they can figure out on their own how to make amends. I also tend to be a guilt-tripper, detailing grievances against me or behaviors that might be "owed" to...
How to Talk About Faith With Your Kids When You Aren’t So Sure Yourself
In the Jewish tradition, when someone is named, it’s believed that the essence of who that person is, is being named and drawn out. It’s why Abram, a name meaning exalted father, is changed to Abraham, meaning a father of a multitude, after God tells him of the...