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Teaching Teens Thankfulness

  When children are very young they tend to be very selfish and think the world revolves around them. If they do grow out of it, it seems to come back when they are teenagers. It can be difficult for teens to see past their concerns and circumstances. For some teens everything is a drama and everything revolves around them. The world can be coming apart at the seams but if they can’t find anything to wear, that is all that matters. Teaching teens to be thankful isn’t always easy. Many times all they see is what they don’t have … Continue reading →

Diffusing Family Drama during the Holidays

When my children were younger, it was so much easier to shield them from certain things…for instance, family drama. For the most part they weren’t aware of some of the “interesting” behavior that sometimes transpired between family members. Now that they are teens, well, they are more than aware of what happens. In fact, now they have an attitude of “So what is it going to be this holiday?” I really hate that. I mean, it grieves my heart that my children have to wonder what new drama will unfold. But family never lets them down…sure enough, our Thanksgiving started … Continue reading →

Enforcing Family Togetherness on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving get-togethers used to be so much easier when the kids were little. Well, not in the sense of getting them ready and carting them around. But you could always count on the little ones entertaining everyone. Now that my kids and my nephews are teenagers, what often happens is that everyone disappears. So I am purposing to keep everyone together as much as possible this year. It was kind of a last minute decision but my family has ended up with the joy of hosting Thanksgiving. Despite not being as prepared as I would like, I am going into … Continue reading →

Chores Can Prepare for a Strong Work Ethic

Fellow blogger Michele Cheplic recently blogged about “Slave Labor.” Or should I say, kids doing chores. I had to chuckle when I read that her 7 year old daughter’s response to making her bed was, “What am I a slave?” Chores are probably one of the least favorite things that any kid likes to do. And for some kids it only gets worse as they get older. Yes, my teens have tried to get out of doing chores but never could I imagine them doing what an 11-year-old German boy apparently did, by calling the police on his mother. As … Continue reading →

Teach Your Teen a New Skill This Summer

Every summer I like to take advantage of the extra time to teach my children a skill. Some years they all learn something and other years the focus is on just one child. This summer it will be my youngest son who will be taught how to wash his own clothes. I can’t tell you how much this has unburdened me with my other two children now completely responsible for their own wash. With my daughter, she just sort of decided on her own to start doing her laundry. But she’s pretty independent and self-sufficient that way. My oldest had … Continue reading →

Exposing Children to Catastrophes

This past weekend has been very difficult, to witness the devastation and loss in Japan. It has been heart-wrenching but a good reminder of how precious life is and how much we need to make the most of the time we have. I was listening to a caller on a radio station who was expressing his thoughts on how much exposure our children should receive with catastrophes such as this. Some parents feel children should be sheltered from these horrors but other parents such as the caller, believe that children need to face reality. I tend to lean more toward … Continue reading →