Is Vacation Really Vacation When You Have Kids?
I remember one of the hardest days I had when I first became a parent. It wasn’t watching my little guy get a shot and realizing that the world would hurt him in ways I would be unable to stop. It was the day we took our first family vacation. Let me tell you about...
When Making a Big Deal Out of Little Things Is a Good Idea
Okay, I admit it. I sometimes often overdo things. If I find a shirt I love that fits well, I’ve been known to buy it in two colors. If it’s on sale? … I mean, how many colors are there? Is there a price break for buying in bulk? A “cheat” meal has been known to turn...
Mother’s Day Gets Complicated
Mother's Day is over 100 years old. Although Anna Jarvis created the holiday in 1908, it wasn’t an official holiday until six years later when Woodrow Wilson signed it into law. It was a day created out of a prayer Anna overheard from her mom, that there be a Memorial...
Growing in Wisdom as a Parent
“If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He will give it to you. God gives freely to everyone and doesn’t find fault,” (James 1:5, NIRV). James wrote this verse for a very specific group of people. His readers were facing a myriad of challenges –...
The Truth About the Baby Phase
Becoming a parent is one of those experiences in life where basically every cliché is true: It goes so fast. You’ll miss this. Just wait until they’re walking/talking/teenagers. They’ll grow out of it. It will get easier. At Parent Cue, we say something...
3 Reasons I Can’t Stop Using the Parent Cue App
My son and daughter-in-law just had their third child. At the moment, their home is like a three-ring circus of juggling, stunts, and acrobatics. Even now as I watch my daughter-in-law wrestle with diapers, wipes and poop, my son is juggling after-school pickup and...
Resolving to Endure
I ran a 5k once. Once is the operative word. I might do it again some day when the faint smell of impending death finally leaves my nostrils. The race was fine, it was the runner who had a problem. I had always wanted to do it and wondered if I could. So when I turned...
5 Rules We Gave Our 13-Year-Old When She Joined Instagram
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I had a whole lot of ideas about raising a teenager in a social media world right up to the moment that I actually had a teenager in a social media world. When my 13-year-old daughter wanted to join Instagram, we didn’t treat...
What Story Do We Tell?
There’s a lot of my story that I never want my kids to find out. Like the time I cheated on a math test in third grade. I chose to sit out recess for a week just so my teacher wouldn’t call my parents. Or the time I tied sheets together with my friend and “practiced”...
A Book Review: Siblings Without Rivalry
“Someday when you guys are older you will like each other and be best friends.” They’d been bickering. Again. But did I really just say that? How can I possibly know that? Is that just wishful thinking for my oldest son and my daughter who is two and a half years...
Should You Let Your Kids See You Fight?
You may have already weighed in on the age-old parenting debate: should you let your kids see you fight? Clearly, the question springs out of the pain too many kids grew up witnessing. For sure, there are some things kids should never witness. And while God can use...
Winning at Parenting When You’re a Cake-Decorating Loser
“Could we sign up for a cake decorating class on Saturdays?” This came from my fourteen-year-old daughter as I stood at the sink up to my elbows in dirty dishes. I paused. The last thing I wanted to do was give up my Saturdays. I was already losing the war with dog...