Search Results for: blog raising teenagers

Gen X Parents Raising Connected Children

The world has changed, in so many ways, between when you were a child and today. Parents who are part of Generation X are the first to raise children (and teens) in a world where the internet is so prevalent. Times have changed, in so many ways! The Washington Post has an article titled “Parenting as a Gen Xer: We’re the first generation of parents in the age of iEverything”. It was written by Allison Slater Tate and posted on September 19, 2014. In it, she comments on the difficulties faced by parent who can’t understand why their kids won’t … Continue reading →

Mistake #5 Parents Make With Teenagers: Imbalanced Discipline

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 →

Raising a Moral Child

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Have you thought much about your child’s moral upbringing? Unfortunately it is one of the things that can fall by the wayside when you are a single parent. With all the other things that need to be done every day you may think that as long as you model good morals your children will learn by example. In some cases, this is true, in others, not so much. I’m not saying you have to take your kids to church every Sunday, I’m just saying that teaching morals needs to be a more active thing than simply modeling what you want … Continue reading →

Raising Teenagers

Raising teenagers, I don’t think there are scarier words in the world, when you are a single parent, that fear and stress is multiplied. First, because we all remember what we were like as teenagers and we know this is not going to be an easy ride. When Hailey was born one of the first things I did was apologize to my mother, I was a mean teenager who thought my mother knew nothing and I knew everything. I know that is pretty common but I was still devastated that I had behaved that way, especially once I held my … Continue reading →

Challenges in Working from Home with Teenagers

Many people who operate home businesses are parents. In fact, this is oftentimes the main reason a person decides to work from home, so they can be available to their children. I didn’t get my start in working from home until my children were older, so I have never had to deal with running a home business with small children. I completely understand that the dynamics to that type of setup will be very different. Many a blog has been written on the challenges of working from home with small children. So it might be assumed that if your children … Continue reading →

Raising Kids On a Budget

Money is always a concern, even more so when you are a single parent. Kids need lots of stuff. They start off so small but quickly seem to take up so much space and need so many things. Some things you should not scrimp on, car seats, cribs, things that are important for your child’s safety. There are plenty of other areas to save money. Let’s start with clothes. Babies and toddlers in particular grow so quickly, clothing is usually outgrown long before it is outworn. Take all the hand me downs that are offered. They won’t all be to … Continue reading →

Raising Great Kids, and Having a Great Marriage

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If you are married and are a parent, you probably have heard the old saying, “In order to be a good father, you must be a good husband first.” I still believe that’s true after 20 years of marriage—if anything, even more so after this year. It’s been a tough year, trying to take care of a child with special needs, trying to raise 2 young girls, 2 teenagers, and having my wife work full-time while I stay home and try to keep the family together. Add on top of that, money problems, lack of child care, and a wife … Continue reading →

“Tweens”—Are They BIG “Little Kids” or Mini-teenagers?

This term “Tween” is relatively new—I think it started as a marketing term for those pre-teenagers who are considered such a huge target market for everything from Mary Kate and Ashley videos to Hannah Montana concerts. But, for a parent, are there special considerations that come with parenting teens. Should they be treated like big “little kids” or more like little teenagers? For many of us who have been through it, it usually seems like a little of both… For me, it seemed like things started getting a little kooky at the age of 9—looking back, that was when I … Continue reading →

Raising An Adopted Child #8 Independence

As teenagers discover their own sense of unique identity and develop the strength to move away from their families a strong sense of attachment will help a teen become more independent. The strength of their attachment with their parents is the foundation of the child’s ability to move forward in their lives knowing there is a secure base to return to if there is a crisis in their future. For adopted children the transition from childhood to adulthood may bring up old adoption issues.Some adoptive parents feel helpless during this stage of their child’s life. Adopted children may wonder, “If … Continue reading →

Raising An Adopted Child #7 Adolescence Critical Thinking

The more information we give to our teenagers the better able an adopted child will be to answer the abstract questions. Some teens believe adoption is the reason for all of their problems and that everything would be perfect if something else happened. Some adopted teenagers will think reunion with their birth family would solve all their problems. Other adopted teens may not have issues about adoption compared with other teenage issues they have in their lives. It can be difficult to determine if the anger in an adolescent is due to adoption or just being a teenager. Teens work … Continue reading →