I used to think the ideal years for being a stay-at-home mom was when the kids are very young, before they ventured off to school.  These are the years where so much forming and shaping of their lives takes place. Yet I have come to see another stage in life to be just as important.  It is during the teen years.  So often parents see this as their time…after all, teens are independent and don’t seem to need mom and dad as much as they used to. Whether the issue is staying home or just being available, too many parents … Continue reading →

Today we are wrapping up the last blog for my “mistakes parents make” series. We’ve covered expecting the worse, looking for parenting answers in others, making mountains out of molehills, and making molehills out of mountains. Today is about imbalanced discipline.  And I will tell you, that I am the queen of this.  Yes, I fully admit that I don’t have this whole discipline thing down pat. You would think after raising one child to adulthood, one just over two years away from that and another well on his way, I would be an expert.  Okay, here’s the truth.  No … Continue reading →

In my last few blogs I’ve tackled three mistakes that parents make, expecting the worse, looking for parenting answers in others, and making mountains out of molehills.  Now I’m going to do a little bit of a reverse in parenting mistake #4, which is making molehills out of mountains. Just as parents can make a big deal out of something not so significant, the opposite is true.  However, this is probably one of the most dangerous mistakes that parents can make. Whenever parents suspect a serious issue is going on, it’s important to take action.  The problem is that we … Continue reading →

  We have talked about two different mistakes parents of teenagers make:  expecting the worse and looking for parenting answers in others.  Today’s mistake is making mountains out of molehills.  Of which I am sometimes the queen. The best example I can give in my parenting experience is when my daughter first began to wear makeup.  She thought the raccoon look was the way to go.  I absolutely hated the thick, black lines that surrounded her eyes. It would cause constant arguments between us.  One time I even pulled her out of our church’s youth group to make her go … Continue reading →

So far I have covered mistake #1 that parents of teenagers make, expecting the worse out of this stage of life.  The second mistake I am going to talk about is trying to find parenting answers through others. I know that sounds pretty strange, considering I am technically giving advice.  But at the heart of my message is this…every family is different, so you have to learn what’s best for yours. This doesn’t mean that help from others—whether it comes through books, seminars or blogs—shouldn’t be sought.  It doesn’t mean that you can’t be encouraged or inspired by others. But … Continue reading →

I am like any other parent…clearly imperfect.  I have made a lot of mistakes and am pretty sure there is more to come.  But I am also a mom who believes in learning from those mistakes, which is what brings me to this five part series on mistakes we parents make with teenagers. The first one we are going to look at is the mistake of expecting the worst out of your teen.  Sometimes this starts long before they’ve even reached this stage, so it might help parents whose children aren’t quite there yet. When my children were in elementary … Continue reading →