Big Kid
The Unbearable Rightness Of Being
One of the hardest lessons for my teens is that, sometimes, there are some things more important than being right.
Big Kid
Parenting Big Kids When You’re Depressed
Depression, like any other medical condition, can impact your ability to parent the way you want to. You and your kids can get through it, I promise.
Big Kid
Beyond Allowance: Teaching Teens Money Management
How to make the transition from full dependency on parents to becoming a young adult who can manage money? Here’s how to start. With allowance and More.
Big Kid
My Rules vs. My Teens’ Style
Whenever I think one of my kids is leaving the house looking… not quite the way I might’ve hoped, I try to remind myself that they’re teens now, and it’s good and right for them to make their own choices. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any “rules.”
Big Kid
End The Chore War With Your Teens
Get more chore help from your teens while nagging less? It’s a pipe dream… or is it? Maybe not!
Young Child
How to Raise a Spoiled Brat to Adulthood in 18 Easy Steps
I have done some of these things. Some I have done more often than others. Haven’t we all? Because we are human and flawed and sometimes want to take the easy way out of a situation. Or because we really don’t want to make our children upset. Or because we are just weary.
Big Kid
Fuel For Feeding Bottomless Teens
If, “Mom, I’m hungry!” is a common battle-cry in your house, check out these tips for creating nutrient-dense snack options to soothe the savage teen.
Big Kid
Special Needs, Yes Indeed: Find Your Family’s Tribe
When you’re parenting kids with special needs, finding another family who gets it is invaluable, for both kids and parents.
Big Kid
A Tale Of Two Teens Headed Back-To-School Two Ways
When back-to-school means different things for different teens in the same family, the name of the game is making sure that everyone gets what they need.
Big Kid
Dysfunction Junction: Improving Executive Function In Challenged Teens
A disorganized teen can make for an unhappy family. A few good coping strategies for improving executive functioning, everyone ends up happier, more productive.
Big Kid
Dear Cal: Advice To My Teenage Daughter (Part 3)
A couple of life lessons I want to pass down to my 13-year-old daughter, Cal, about the importance of a positive body image and the consequences of surrounding herself with people who hurt, not help, that image.
Big Kid
Well-Adjusted Teens, Sans Team Sports
Team youth sports are a fantastic way to nurture multiple avenues of personal growth, but what about when your teen isn’t into them? Relax, it’s okay.
Big Kid
Need Quality Time With Your Teens? Go Camping!
I never thought I’d grow to love camping, but with a few creature comforts we’ve discovered some of our best family time with the teens, out on the road.
Big Kid
When Your Teen’s Friend Has Mental Health Issues
No one wants their kid to be unkind to others, but when it comes to issues of mental illness, are you teaching your kid kindness or fear?
Big Kid
The Best of the Internet: When Your BFF’s Kids Embrace Your Own
What happens when you internet BFF’s kids meet your own? It’s really a best of the web type story. Seeing our teens become fast friends proved to be an unexpected gift to a dear far-away friend and me.
Big Kid
A Guide To Thrifting With Your Teen
Think clothes shopping with your teen has to be excruciating? Thrifting together is a great way to save money and have fun while you do it.
Big Kid
Letter To My Son On His High School Graduation Day
Tomorrow afternoon you are to going stand in an auditorium with a thousand other kids your age. People will speak. Some parents will dab tears. Others will be elbowing their way to a prime position in order to take a photo with their zoom lens. I don’t need to tell you which group I will be in.
Big Kid
Dear Cal: Advice To My Teenage Daughter (Part 2)
A couple of life lessons I have (not) learned and want to pass on to my 13-year-old daughter, Cal, before she enters high school about basic life preparedness.
Big Kid
When A Cell Phone Is Something More
My neurotypical teenager has had a cellphone for years; deciding to get a cellphone for my autistic teenager was a very different proposition.
Big Kid
A Summer Manifesto For The Big Kids
There’s a no-man’s land, I think, in those big-tween/young-teen years, when it comes to summer break. Here’s my current Summer Manifesto for this summer. What’s yours?