Do You Really Need All That Stuff for College? Raise your hand if you’re currently in the throes of getting your college-bound freshman ready for the big move. It doesn’t matter if they’re going to college right in your hometown, home state, or if they’re going across the country, the amount of “things” that are suggested they have is overwhelming…
Being a Teen is Tough in GOOD Times… This week, Kari O’Driscoll joins me and we discuss how parents and educators can help teens better deal with traumatic events such as COVID19. Kari addresses important things that parents need to keep in mind such as: The flight, fight, freeze part of a teenager’s brain is more than 3x the size…
Is there a teen living here? Remember the days when Fisher-Price decorated your house and your living room looked like Geoffrey the Giraffe (that’s Toys R Us speak in case you’ve forgotten) puked all over it? Those days are like wine and roses compared to what your house looks like when you have a teen living with you. Here are…
Teens and Relationships Relationships get really interesting during the teen years. And I’m not just talking about boy-girl relationships (although, those get REALLY interesting) I’m talking about ALL relationships from friends to parents to siblings to teachers. But the one thing that is consistent about relationships is that they’re typically between two people and rely heavily on communication and interaction…
What is cyber-bullying? If you’ve been around here for any amount of time, you may remember that we’ve had our fair share of “mean girls” and various forms of bullying. The first time that I felt a need to step in was when M was in the 5th grade and that’s when I learned a hard lesson of parenting: Unless…
Teens and Social Media It’s December 31st and around the world, people are celebrating or getting ready to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of a new one. Holiday gifts have been exchanged and if there were electronics or technical gifts given, you as parents may be concerned about what your kids are doing online and what…
You thought you had a lot of lessons to teach your toddler? Well I hate to break it to you, but potty training and spoon feeding are only messy in the literal terms when it comes to the lessons you will have to teach your teens and tweens. Most of our kids friends are pretty smart and self-sufficient, but every…
Back to School Advice for my Daughters Well, here we are… it’s back to school time again. This is our 11th first day of school and we have 6 more to go before we’re completely done. I love the first day of school more than I love the first day of the new year but not why you think. To me (and…
Life Lessons for Teens We’re 5 years into this teenage thing with another 6 years ahead of us and there are some days that I am as clueless as I was when they were babies and toddlers. At least when they were little and cried you could pretty much narrow down what their problems were. Now when one of them cries,…
Stylish and Affordable Prom Dresses If you have a teenage daughter then you know firsthand that prom season is here. Whether she’s going with the love of her (now) life or in a group of friends, no doubt she’s already been looking around for THE perfect dress. All of the girls that are in and out of our house have…