We’ve all heard the horror stories. Boys in the back of a junior high school bus showing each other nude pictures of girls in their class. Girls stalked by much older men who pretend to be their “nice friend.” Kids committing suicide over what’s shared via smart phones. Those are just a few examples of the dangers teens can encounter through the little electronic doorway that fits in the palm of their hand. Many teens own a smart phone. Those who don’t own one generally want what their peers have, and moms and dads don’t enjoy being the bad guy. What’s a parent to do? Is Continue Reading

Dropping off my son at practice one day, I had an epiphany--the kind that begins with, "Hey, wait a minute..." Jed had played Little League baseball earlier that year. In the fall, he was on the track team. Now he was heading into basketball season. All this despite our family guideline that each of our sons would limit themselves to one sport per school year. Evidently, youngest-child syndrome is a thing. Parents start out with clear principles and rules, but by the third child or so, we get tired and start compromising. Having said that, Jed's year of three sports was the Continue Reading

At age three, my neighbor’s son began asking his mom where he came from. At first, she thought he was onto something about how babies are made. Then she realized that wasn’t his question at all. What this preschooler wondered about was why he existed, and who brought him into being. His question was not biological, but theological. My non-Christian neighbor didn’t know what to tell her little boy. Christian parents, too, can be caught off guard by the unexpectedly profound questions our children ask at times. Can you articulate to your child what it means that he or she is created Continue Reading

It's that moment at Walmart. You're pushing your cart and gathering a few things for the homestead, when you hear a loud voice about three aisles over. “Hey, whadya think you’re doing? Git over here!” You wonder if this person brought their dog to the store. Surely they’re not addressing their child with this tone? Thus we encounter the fourth of five ineffective parenting styles. In a previous post, we talked about helicopter parents, minivan madness parents, and BFF parents. Briefly, Helicopter parents hover over their child. They take over their child’s projects and Continue Reading