Sometimes the onus is on YOU
~ 31 Days of Parenting Teens & Tweens, Day 12 ~ On day three of my #31Days parenting series, I suggested three things every t(w)een needs to hear on a regular basis (#5 on the list); today I'm offering three things every t(w)een needs to hear as...
Privacy, protection and respect
~ 31 Days of Parenting Teens & Tweens, Day 11 ~ The world wide web forever changed parenting. By introducing a host of decisions non-existent a decade ago, the internet heightens the responsibility of a parent to be informed about the rewards and risks...
The ultimate security blanket
~ 31 Days of Parenting Teens & Tweens, Day 10 ~ In a country where the divorce rate hovers around 50%, it's hard for me–a recovering people pleaser–to say what I'm about to say. I realize potentially I could offend or hurt...
The stinkingest, darlingest thing I’ve ever seen
"Wanna see something that will make you cry?" she asks, my first-born and only daughter, home from college for the first time since she left two months ago. I think Why does she wanna rip my heart out just minutes after walking through the door? although...
Fences (not cages)
~ 31 Days of Parenting Teens & Tweens, Day 9 ~ In writing my 31 Days of Parenting Teens and Tweens, I've talked to other parents about what they'd advise if they were writing in my place. My sister, whose two daughters, 18 and 19, are six shades...
Bite your tongue
31 Days of Parenting Teens & Tweens, Day 8
By the time your children hit double digits, they're on their way to becoming who it is they'll become. Some studies suggest their personality is set by first grade. By the time kids hit middle school, pubescent-related, seemingly bi-polar...
Butterfly kisses on crack…
or Now, THESE are false eyelashes! or Latisse gone wild… Eyelash eXXXtensions… or I don't know HOW else to title this! If ever there were a case for Wordless Wednesday, this is it– The one and only Martha Stewart, like you've never...
Chick-fil-A Leadercast, coming to CHATTANOOGA?!
Right after I joined Chick-fil-A last Spring, I had opportunity to attend Chick-fil-A Leadercast (via a simulcast closer to home)–"the can’t-miss leader development event for everyday leaders like you." True to its billing, Chick-fil-A...
There’s no place like home
31 Days of Parenting Teens & Tweens, Day 7
Early in my parenting adventure, even before I gave birth, I had a few wishes for the children I would eventually bear. Heart whispers, really, things I didn’t speak out loud, hopes that informed how I parented. I suppose you could call them...