Bridging the Generational Gap at the Holidays

Over the next few months, millions of families across America will gather for the holidays.  Everyone is wondering who will host and what will be on our menu.  Respectfully, I’d like to suggest another important question: how can I bridge the gap that exists between the generations that will gather around my table this year?…

Loving Your Kids in Their Language

Valentine’s day; think about what that day means to you. For some, it’s flowers, chocolate and a romantic date night. For others, its new valentine’s pajamas for your kids, buying cards and treats for their classrooms, and making heart shaped food. For some, you experience both of these on February 14th. Valentine’s Day is a…

Parenting in God

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” (Psalms 127:3) If children are a gift from God, then why is parenting so difficult? Surely God wouldn’t just drop a blessing in our lives and then say, “Here you go, now figure it out.” There are numerous parenting books available to…

Incorporating Emotional Health in your Family Routine

What exactly is emotional health?  It is the ability to identify, manage and communicate one’s emotions to those around you. It can take practice and even feel scary. Emotional health is important to maintain because it is a part of your overall health and wellbeing.  How can you promote emotional health in your home? Here…

Back-to-School 2021

It’s that time of year again! The pool days come to an end, summer camp is no more, and it’s time to pull out the back-to-school supply list. While the list may tell you exactly what your child will need in the classroom, knowing what your child needs emotionally to return to school may be…

The Magic Ratio to Help Strengthen Your Family

Is it just me or does it feel like your house is shrinking too? As Covid-19 restrictions continue, I am hearing more and more that husbands and wives, parents, kids, and siblings are feeling stressed and compressed into spaces never meant to accommodate work, school, play, and family life all at once. For many, all…

Being a Thermostat in a Thermometer World

How often have you noticed your child copying your action, words, or thoughts? Maybe you were driving and heard your child in the back seat repeating, “Come on, people! The light is green! Go, go, go!” Or when you were mowing the lawn and your child got his toy lawnmower and started doing it alongside…

My Child Won’t Tell Me How They Feel

I often encounter parents who are concerned because their child doesn’t talk about their feelings. Whether it’s in response to a separation or divorce, the death of a loved one, bullying at school, or any other number of issues, parents desire to help their children talk through their emotions. But therein lies the problem: Children…

The (Power) Struggle is Real

As I sit with parents before meeting their children for the first time, I often hear the same things over and over: “It’s a constant power struggle. I can’t trust them to do anything on their own, and I’m exhausted from always having to step in.” This repetitive topic doesn’t come up because the parent…

The Key to Successfully Blending Families

Parenting, itself, is a challenge. But when parents are trying to raise children who are blended from different families, it is an even bigger one. When blending a family, a biological parent may feel disillusion that they found a new partner to share their life with and yet still feel like a single parent! A…