Clik here to view.
Protecting Kids From the Inside Out
Unlike consumer products, parenting comes without instructions or guarantees. We all want our children to grow up happy, healthy, successful, and involved with positive-minded family and friends....
View ArticleClik here to view.
From the Mouths of Babes
This from a 6th grade teacher who I respect a great deal: I teach a class titled Emerging Leaders, and we talk about “self awareness” to start the quarter. For the lesson I was doing, I decided that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Embracing Parenting
Here is a sample from my latest project. It’s a chapter from my not-even-close-to-being-finished book. Feel free to give me some feedback. Be the Parent I believe that there is neither “The Way” nor...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Speak Your Kids Up
Here is a sneak peak at the book I am writing about parenting: Kids need to see and hear their parents doing hard things, persevering, and being resilient. So, discuss life’s issues with your kids, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New Book: Growing Up Well in the 21st Century
Coming Soon: Fall 2013 Growing Up Well in the 21st Century: Raising Today’s Middle School Children Middle school is a time in life when many parents adopt a hands-off parenting style. They shake their...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Sacred Honor of Being a Parent
A Unique Relationship Parenting is a unique relationship, wherein the parent is authorized by law and by God to protect, provide, nurture, and discipline. Ultimately, the parent must somehow control...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Preparing for the Storm
If you have ever sat with a weather radio in a dark basement or closet during a tornado warning, or if you have ever hastily prepared for an oncoming hurricane, you know the anxiety that an approaching...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Storm Preparation
A Creeping Crisis Some crises develop gradually. Some are excruciatingly slow. Perhaps it is the approaching death of a parent with terminal cancer. Or it is the military dad/son/husband who will be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Living in Crisis
Our family is in crisis. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last. Three weeks ago, our severely disabled 13-year-old daughter, Kathryn, had a full spinal fusion surgery. According to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Helping Your Teen Deal with a Sports Injury
So, your teenager is injured and is out for the rest of the season. Of course, his or her initial reaction will be anger, sadness, self-pity, confusion. That is normal, since this is a form of grief –...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Connect With Your Young Teen
First Connect, Then Guide The best parents are the ones who are deeply connected with their children and offer support and guidance all along the path of life. They’re the ones who care enough to say,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Story of the Book
Everyone has at least one book in them. Critical Connection is mine. Ever since I was ten, I wanted to grow up and have a happy family. Since I was sixteen, I wanted a career in which I could help...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Phone for the Holidays
Watch this video first, then read on. I applaud Apple for making a video that affirms the family. This ad does an excellent job of showing how wonderful family can be. Yes, it’s sentimental and pulls...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Helping an Orphan Grow Up
A friend of mine told me that, while reading my book this week, she had a random idea come to her about how to help her 15 year-old goddaughter who is an orphan. As she told me her idea, I was blown...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Book Review: Hands Free Mama
Hands Free Mama is for parents who can’t seem to get enough kid time because of the relentless distractions from all the screens and undone tasks surrounding them. It is for busy parents who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Connected Family
2014 is the first year in American history in which everybody has a mobile device. We are at the saturation point with smartphones, tablets, laptops, and TVs. They are in our pockets, purses, cars,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fun = Connection
Have Fun with Your Child ASAP Good parenting has an order of operations. Insides come first. A child should feel connected to his or her mom or dad in a profound way, first and foremost. Then, and only...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fear Less, Parents
With the tragic news of the abduction and murder of ten-year-old Hailey Owens this week, many parents are afraid that the same thing may happen to their children. And many are wondering if they should...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Raising Resilient Children
Resilience is the capacity to recover from adversity and return to well-being. Paul Tough, in his book How Children Succeed, explains that even kids who grow up in the most difficult situations of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ordinary Parenting
Parenting is messy. It’s often a blender full of emotions, tasks, and conflicts. That why we so often feel pureed by our family life. Parenting is mundane. It requires incessant planning, cleaning,...
View Article
