Finding Confidence in Parenting
There are a lot of things I’m confident about. I’m confident that my 3-month-old hates sleep. I’m confident that my kitchen will remain a mess until the year 2050. I’m confident that I’ll never ever like sushi. And I’m confident that I will always choose the slowest...
Honesty: A Big Thing That’s Built In Small Ways
Restaurants are one of the greatest places to teach your kids honesty. Amusement parks are good, too. A movie theater will work in a pinch as well. How? What do those three things have in common? Age restrictions. Restaurant menus, amusement parks, and movie theaters...
This Time Next Year
As this year's graduates said their goodbyes, I watched with a renewed attention. This will be us next May. Celebrating. Dreaming. Planning. So much of what I thought I knew about parenting has unraveled over the past few years. My oldest son is truly the test subject...
5 Mantras to Discipline: How Zipping My Own Smart Mouth Changed My Parenting
Remember that one time when you swore you’d never grow up to be one of those parents who used “Because I said so” as a defense for discipline? Remember that time not too long ago when you said those exact words to your kids thirty-seven times in one day? Yeah. Me,...
Making the Most of Summer: Get Adventurous
Summer is here! And we all want to make the most of it! All year long, we've been keeping to the rhythm of school schedules, last minute deadlines, and survival-mode routines. And while routine and predictability are important, they can become exhausting and mundane...
Celebrate Your Family Wins
You and your family have made it to the end of another school year. Regardless of your school situation, it feels like an achievement for all of you, doesn’t it? Think of all those early morning wake-ups, those last minute projects, the forms, and the guilt-induced...
I’m a Parent Who Struggles With Depression
Hi, My Name is Brandon O’Dell. I am a husband and a father of three young children. I am a writer, an actor, and a Christian. And I suffer from clinical depression. Let me give you some background. I was a happy kid, raised in a Christian home by two loving parents. I...
One Marble at a Time
Nine hundred thirty-six. Does that sound like a lot to you? I guess it is if it’s the number of dollars you earned at a yard sale. Or the number of hours left until the weekend. But 936 doesn’t sound like a lot when I think of it as the number of weeks my child spends...
Making the Most of Summer
For families, May is arguably one of the busiest times of the year: Mother's Day celebrations, recitals, end of the year parties, teacher appreciation, graduations, finals . . . Mostly all good things, but also enough stress and busyness to have you...
10 Parenting Hacks to Make Life Easier with Little Kids
“I don’t know what to do with all this time on my hands,” said no parent ever. Once you become a parent, finding time to do the things you want and need to do is similar to catching Harry Potter’s golden snitch—nearly impossible, but incredibly rewarding when you do...
A Story Worth Telling
Everybody loves a story with a great plot line. We applaud the hero, sitting mesmerized at the edge of our seat while good battles evil, or while right struggles with wrong, hoping for good to win. We cheer when good prevails and even get emotional when the victim...
5 Things You’ll Never Regret
Yes, it really was a bad idea to give your six-year-old access to the finger paints while you did the laundry. Or to let your fourteen-year-old son stay overnight at his friend’s place without triple checking to make sure his parents were home. And maybe it wasn’t all...