Inside: At the age of 31, with two boys to raise, with a nursing career, and in the middle of training for a half marathon, a stroke was not on my agenda. But this is what it taught me about how to love your children. Within three months, my world turned upside down. I’d had…
Inside: Blank journals can work for teens and adults, but most kids need more support for journaling to work well. Here are the best journals for kids that will help your child get all the emotional benefits of journaling for kids. Some mornings before school, my daughter won’t eat her breakfast, no matter what I…
Inside: Family goal-setting doesn’t have to be formal or weird. Here are the best steps for how to set family goals and make it fun for everyone, plus the “gotchas” to avoid. One night a while back, my husband and I collapsed on the couch after wrangling our three kids to bed. We passed a…
Inside: Play one of these quick family bonding games for an emergency dose of connection. You’ll reset the collective mood and immediately reconnect as a family. One night not long ago, we had the triple threat – three simultaneous emotional breakdowns from three of our kids: One girl had a bruised heart because of less-than-kind…
Inside: The best YouTube videos for kids teach important life lessons without being preachy. Forget Peppa Pig and load up these instead. When it comes to videos for kids, YouTube is full of junk – some of them more disturbing than others. To wade through it all, my personal guideline for what I’ll let my…
Inside: The problem with most dinnertime conversation starters for kids? The questions are boring, loaded, or get you one-word answers. This is the solution. Every night, my husband spends about an hour (or more) prepping dinner for our family of five. And I mean real cooking with veggie-chopping and meat-thawing and actual recipes, not my…