We all want our children to grow up to be well adjusted adults in this crazy world.  I even have an image of the type of woman I want my daughter to be.  However, if I don’t model the person I’m hoping for, 18 years from now will I see me in the mirror or the image I have for my daughter?

As children are growing up, we strive to make sure they use ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’  We even tell them to respect others and hold the door or say excuse me.  Many of us struggle to ensure we…

As you can see, this is the third episode in an epic saga.  For all you Twilight freaks/aficionados, I was actually referring to my series of articles about vacationing with grandparents, not your beloved book/movie series.  My first volume is essentially where I established my creditability on this subject by listing my numerous travels with grandparents and in Volume Two, I spoke of the three major problems seen traveling with grandparents.  Below, I’m going to list a few cures for these three problems, commonly seen vacationing with grandparents.

• The first problem I listed was not listening, specifically to the adults…
  
  

Somewhere along the way, progress started to interfere with our children’s ability to entertain themselves.  Somewhere between the advent of the hand-held video game and the introduction of 200 channels of on-demand programming, kids have lost the knack for playing with plain, old fashioned toys.

Don’t get me wrong.  It’s great that my children have options I never dreamed of when it comes to their entertainment options.  The Nintendo DS is a tremendous blessing on long car rides and in waiting rooms.  But I feel like the boys are missing out on a wonderful world of imagination if they’re continually…

We all struggle to maintain the balance between discipline and instruction on one side and letting kids be kids on the other.  I think I’ve struck a balance that works for me and for my family – under normal circumstances.  But what about circumstances that would best be described as abnormal, like vacation time?

Vacation, when the kids are off the clock from school, I’m off from work, and my lovely wife is enjoying having someone else do the cooking and cleaning.  Everybody’s away from their normal jobs, except as parents.  We’re still on the clock in our 24/7 responsibility…

In honor of Independence Day this weekend, I thought I’d post about another kind of independence. Children start exerting their independence at an early age, and continue to push the boundaries until they leave the nest.

There are so many landmarks along the road to independence, and it is important to keep our children moving along the path at an appropriate pace. For some, that may mean pushing your child forward against their resistance. But for most of us, it is a matter of holding them back just enough so that their ability can keep pace with their ever-increasing independence.

Both…