One of my favorite shows these days is This Is Us. It is most people our age's favorite show because it tackles topics we are living and breathing every single day. And that fire episode... I did not use my crock pot for months after that episode! This week's episode hit on a topic super … Continue reading Who “bends” in your relationship? →

So how do parents navigate dating during the early teen years? By early, I mean around 13-15 years old. Too young to go out solo, but interested in the idea of getting together with a boyfriend or girlfriend. I will share what we have done with the disclaimer that I am not saying our way … Continue reading Dating in the early teen years →

It used to be called Helicopter parenting - the practice of hovering anxiously near one’s children, monitoring their every activity. Some parents now are more like snowplows: machines chugging ahead, clearing any obstacles in their child’s path to success, so they don’t have to encounter failure, frustration or lost opportunities. How do you know if … Continue reading Are you a snowplow parent? →

This weekend was like a lot of our weekends as parents of teens... divide and conquer. What does this mean, you ask? It means both teenagers have to be places around the same time in different towns, which means parents have to divide up to make it all work. I was on social teen girl … Continue reading Divide and conquer…parenting teens →

A few months ago, Bryan Sexton, PhD of the Duke Patient Safety Center (and fellow Carolina Friends parent) came to talk at Medicine Grand Rounds. The topic? The amazing benefits of retraining your brain to focus on the positive things vs the negative things. We are inherently hard wired to focus and remember the negative, … Continue reading Three Good Things →

Check out this perfectly normal looking school carpool picture. It cannot be real, right? Especially yesterday.... the Monday after the daylight saving time change. The teenagers in this picture are smiling, fully dressed, and are not yelling at the driver of the car. This was NOT the picture of morning carpool at our house yesterday. … Continue reading Daylight Savings parenting fail →

My sweet, smart, self-confident daughter turned 13 and our family jumped on the roller coaster of life with a teenage girl. I thought I had prepared her for the adolescent years. We talked openly about being true to yourself, and I felt she was well on her way to successfully navigating this time of life. … Continue reading Parenting the teenage girl: the daily roller coaster →

First, I have a confession. I was not proactive last summer and my teenagers ended up with a lot of down time. After living through that summer, I am determined not to have a repeat this summer. My first task is changing how I present summer activities to them. Last summer I asked them what … Continue reading summer and teenagers… what to do? →

The anniversary of my mom's death is coming up in the next few months. It will be the 4th anniversary, and I am trying to figure out the best way to prepare for this time of year. But before we get into how to prepare, I need to share my blue bird story. I have … Continue reading Processing the loss of a parent →