I am a planner. I know what our family is having for supper for the next seven days, what I am buying for Christmas gifts, where we are going on vacation the first week of June and what laundry I will do each day of the week.
Anne Blankenbiller
Have You Heard of Catfishing?
If you are the parent of a teen, you need to know about it. A few weeks ago, my 15-year-old daughter said to me, “Mom, I’m watching a TV show that I think you would like. It’s called Catfish.” My response: “Why are you watching a fishing show?”
It’s Time to Think About Colleges
If you have a junior in high school, it’s time to start seriously thinking about colleges. Yes, I’m serious. It isn’t like it used to be when we parents were younger and started thinking about what colleges we were interested in around Christmas time of our senior year.
Teaching Your Kids to Lose With Character
Fall sports season has arrived, which means parents will be settling into bleachers, hauling collapsible canvas chairs across soccer and softball fields and racing across wooded trails at cross country meets—all to watch their offspring compete.
Help Your Teens Avoid Social Media Oversharing
Recently, I’ve noticed my girls being more and more annoyed (and even sympathetic) for teens who seem to always overshare online, mostly through Twitter and Instagram.
Helping Your Teen Learn How to Manage Money
My two teenagers recently received postcards in the mail from our bank. The cards offered special checking accounts with a $50 bonus and trendy debit card designs. Yikes. I still like to keep track of my kids’ Christmas gift checks, and I can’t imagine them carrying around their own checkbooks or debit cards.
The Awkward Phone Call
About a year ago, my freshman daughter told me that a friend of hers (who happened to be a boy) had invited her over to his house on a Saturday night along with a handful of other freshmen kids to “hang out.”
How to End the School Year Strong
By May 1, my attitude toward everything related to school gets sadly apathetic. I have grown weary of dirty backpacks, papers, worksheets, homework folders, science projects, forms to sign, end-of-the-year parties, concerts to find black pants for and the never-ending donation requests.
Are We Making Things Too Easy for Our Kids?
We love our kids, and it can be hard not to do things to make their lives easier. But, as a parent, we aren’t doing them any long-term favors by making everything easy. Life is hard. Life is expensive. Things don’t always go our way.