Adventures in Parenting

Catching up on some reading, here are a few good reads for parents:
*At the 10th anniversary of the Columbine shootings last week, Lisa Belkin writes a thoughtful article on why we wish we could blame the parents of the two young killers.
Do We Blame the Columbine Parents?

*Have you heard of this term “slow parenting”? This [...]

This is the third and last in the series we started on Monday on Rites of Passage.
(Click here to read the first in the series, and click here to read the second in the series.)
My guest blogger is Pete Aldin who just took his 13-year-old son through a rite of passage into manhood!
We conclude here [...]

Yesterday, we started a series on helping our children transition from childhood to manhood/womanhood (a scary thought, I know!).
My guest Pete Aldin began the series with an introduction to the artificial lifeform – the teenager.  He points out that the adolescent angst is often due to a lack of two factors:
First, solid mentoring that empowers [...]

The title Rites of Passage, sounds strange, doesn’t it? Let me give you a little background.
Just yesterday, my sister-in-law asked me for some ideas to transition her daughter from elementary school to junior high school next year.
Wow! It’s hard to believe my little niece is going to junior high!! This is a big deal, not [...]

Are you surviving TV Turn-Off Week so far?
Whether or not you are committing to having no TV this week, having plenty of family time is what I would like to encourage. Fun family time is one of the primary ways to convey your values to your children, affirm your love for each other, and supply [...]

Kids are not the only ones who need to drink milk. You’re probably getting your calcium without knowing it from the lattes you drink each day.
Drinking lattes is a ritual millions of Americans look forward to every morning. But at about $3 dollars for a small cup, it’s a luxury that could cost nearly $1100 [...]

This week is National TV Turn-Off Week. Are you joining in the challenge?
Our elementary school gives incentives – small prizes and a popsicle at the end of the week for the students who can keep their TV off for the entire week – parents can’t watch either!
When my daughter was in 5th grade, it was [...]

As my children are older, I realize that much of our time together is merely “parallel” together. We are in the same room at the same time… each on our own laptops – I’m blogging, of course, my kids are doing homework, or updating their Facebook.
While I think it’s a good thing for us to [...]

Thank you all for participating my giveaway of activity toys and gift card sponsored by Subway, to encourage TV Turn-Off Week.
The winner chosen by Random.org is  Rhonda Hoy!
I hope everyone is encouraged to participate in TV Turn-Off Week this week – April 20-26, 2009.
What do you do when the children says, “I’m bored!” ?
Here are [...]

I love to read. I just finished reading a book that my sister recommended, Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah, a true story of her life.
Adeline was born in the 30’s and grew up in an affluent family in China.  As the youngest of five, their mother died after giving birth to Adeline. Carrying the [...]

Everybody talks about her even though they are sick of hearing about her.
Nadya Sulman just confirmed that she will be doing a television show with her 14 children. No surprise there. It’s suppose to be a documentary, not a reality show, where the TV crew only comes to film 6 times a year.  (Source: Life&Style)
I am not [...]

Next month I will be speaking to a youth group on the topic of modesty.  I wrote a series on modesty, and had the privilege of interviewing Dannah Gresh for a podcast on “Is the Fashion Industry Sexualizing Our Kids?”.
I perused the blogosphere for more perspectives on this topic and came across a few sites [...]

John over at Modern Parent wrote a post on Live a Green Life that made me think about being more green.
I am not wasteful, but I’ve never purposely taught my children to be responsible with earth’s resources. My husband is always good about reminding the kids to turn off the light when they leave the [...]

Interesting Facts:

Number of 30-second commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5
Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
Percentage of children ages 6-17 who have TV’s [...]

Almost daily I hear of a friend or a friend of a friend losing their jobs.
My husband and I are in real estate, so you know we are as financially stable as the next bank …
I want to share with you a resource I just came across.  I have no vested interest in this organization, [...]

With parents getting laid off work, teens are working to help the family pay bills. 
“On top of a busy school calendar that includes homework, extracurricular activities and friends, Moyo works as much as he can. He’s not bitter, just grown.
‘I think it’s preparing me for the real world.’’”
This is one of the positive effects of [...]

Family Life Today is one of my favorite radio programs. (You can listen to it online, or download the podcast to listen to it any time.)
On the program few days ago on “Launching Your Teen into Life”, Dennis Rainey, the host, said something that resonated with me. 
“…I think there’s a tendency with all parents to [...]

The Bible tells fathers not to irritate and provoke their children to anger (Ephesians 6).
Children are naturally selfish, undisciplined and irrational. They want to play all the time, they don’t want to share, and they rarely act rationally.
It seems to me that to be a good parent, given the job of  teaching our children to [...]