Quieting The Christmas Gift Expectations

We live in a give, give, and give some more culture–especially when it comes to our kids.   I’ll be the first to admit that I lavished gifts onto my kids.  After all, I wanted them to have all the things that I just knew would make them delighted. And then there were all the activities.  […]

What is Keeping You From Connecting With Your Teen on a Deeper Level?

It was a Thursday evening. I had just gotten off a plane, exhausted and hungry. My husband offered to take me out to dinner and I was more than willing to let him pick the restaurant so that I could go home and crash. Sitting in the booth telling my husband about the trip to […]

What if I Mess My Kid Up?

Dare 34 - Our Parenting Fears

As I talk to mothers across the country, I hear it more and more, “I’m afraid I’ll do something to mess my kid up”.  I want us to take a step back from that statement and think deeply about what that real fear might be. Do we think that we might say something that will […]

Learning to Anticipate What’s Next

Dare 23

I spoke to a mom of a new college student just a few weeks ago.  Her daughter had just come home from college for Christmas break for the first time.  The mom was joy-filled at getting to see her daughter for a couple of weeks, but she talked about how stressful it was on the […]

6 Things You Can Do When Your Teens Don’t Listen

Dare 14 - Pushing the Reset Button on Parenting

Do you ever feel stuck with your kids?  Are you tired of hounding them to do something only to find that you have become the barbaric person you swore you would never be?  The volume in the room raises, your voice takes on a gruff “I mean it” tone, your hands are on your hips in a power stance, […]

Too Tired to be Thankful?

I don’t know about you, but at my house as the holidays approach, it is sometimes hard to be thankful.  Let’s face it, if we are mom, the holidays can be work–significantly extra work. I remember a period of several years when  holidays became a chore rather than a celebration.  After spending more time in the grocery store […]