Search Results for: blog staying one step ahead of your teens

Canned Air Is Not Always Your Friend

Sometimes I think I must be so very innocent, either that or I’m just not very imaginative when it comes to using household items as drugs. I was recently smacked in the face with the fact that people use those cans of duster that we clean our electronics with, to get high. I really had no idea. I was telling my sister that I read in the news about someone dying from that and she told me that one of her friends had to stop buying it because her teenage daughter was using it as an inhalant. I don’t know … Continue reading →

The Spy Who Loves Me

This past week I attended a parenting class at my church. We are actually watching a video series that incorporates discussion time. I can’t recall the exact wording of the question but we were asked something that had to do with discovering things about our children. I had whispered to my husband, “I spy.” He smiled and told me I should share that with the class. I hesitated for several moments. I wasn’t sure what other parents think about spying on their children. It’s not something you really talk about. I didn’t want to come across as being a nosey … Continue reading →

Sticking to Your Punishments

I have a confession to make. I have a very difficult time sticking to my punishments. I am known to give a punishment to one of my children and after an apology, a hug or a kiss I have given in and revoked it. Granted there are times when grace needs to be dispensed but sometimes I just feel guilty. I feel like I am causing my child undue pain. While I know the real pain is that my children don’t always get to experience the consequences of their actions, I have somehow managed to twist things in my mind. … Continue reading →

The Blessing and Woes of Teens

My family and friends have been entering a new season. We now have teens that are of driving age, which opens up more opportunities for them to experience freedom. It is kind of a scary time. My 16-year-old son still has two more behind-the-wheel lessons and then he is scheduled to take his driving test at the end of January. He already has a car waiting for him, only because we got a great deal from a good friend. While at first I was looking at it as something that will be a convenience, lately I have been struggling to … Continue reading →

Preventing Teen Pregnancy

Is it possible to prevent teen pregnancy? While I like to think that as a parent you are going to be a powerful influence over your child, the reality is that there are no guarantees. Even the best parents see their teens make decisions that are heartbreaking. I can’t help but think of Sarah Palin. I truly believe that family did everything in their power to teach their children the right behavior, however, in the end they could not completely control the decisions that daughter Bristol would make. There is simply no guarantee that your teen won’t engage in sex. … Continue reading →

When Parents Are Pitted Against Each Other

I don’t know if it’s like this in other households but in mine it seems that many times one particular child is less fond of one particular parent for a period of time. For instance, my 8th grade hormonal daughter has found her father lately to be more of an annoyance than anything. While he thinks he is being funny, she just thinks he is being lame. I am the one she has been getting along with better. Then there is my 6th grade son who I have been butting heads with for almost two weeks now. I am definitely … Continue reading →

Textual Harassment and Teen Dating Violence

Yet again last week Dr. Phil had a show that addresses teen issues. This time it was “End the Silence on Domestic Violence: Teen Dating.” It was during this show that I heard a new phrase, “textual harassment.” I looked it up online and found it to be included in the Urban Dictionary. It simply means to harass someone through text messages. It’s amazing how technology forces us to come up with new terminology. We are definitely living in different times than when I was a teenager. Violence in teen dating is apparently not an uncommon occurrence. It used to … Continue reading →

Lingering Memories

This past Wednesday was the first day of school for my children. My youngest son who just started middle school had been up since 4:30 a.m. He was very nervous and didn’t know what to expect. His stomach hurt, he couldn’t eat breakfast and I think he checked himself in the mirror a dozen times. I made my rounds in dropping off my children, starting with my oldest getting dropped off at the high school and then it was time to drop my youngest son off. As he got out of the van he had this terrified look on his … Continue reading →

Learning from Our “Ouch” Moments

Ever have one of those “ouch” moments as a parent? You know what I’m talking about, one of those moments as a parent where you have made a mistake and you think to yourself, “Ouch that really hurts.” It hurts because most parents like to believe they know what they are doing. We are supposed to have it all together, aren’t we? Yet the reality is that we don’t always know what we are doing and sometimes we really don’t have it all together. This week I experienced an “ouch” moment. With my middle school son joining football this year, … Continue reading →

Your Children Will Find You

Your children will find you. A friend in the online adoption community told me that once. That was long before I even considered adoption as an option for me. She was so right. For the majority of people their children find them through natural means. There are so many children who, for many reasons, are unable to live with the people who created them biologically. That’s where foster and adoptive parents come in. Foster and adoptive parents come in all shapes and sizes just as biological parents do. What foster and adoptive parents can do that biological parents cannot do … Continue reading →