January 31, 2019 – 4 Degrees Fahrenheit – Consecutive Snow Days: 5 and counting Thank you, Polar Vortex for giving my teens this past week to: Sleep in and de-stress. Teens are running on high-stress hormones and inadequate sleep; mine are …
Category: Adolescent Development
5 Meal Planning Tips for Families with Teens
If you’re reading this blog, you already know that meal planning for a household with teenagers can be very challenging. Teens are always hungry, constantly looking for something to eat, and suddenly adopt strange diets. Their growing bodies need a …
13 Ideas to Get You Through the Rest of Winter Break with Your Teens
Happy New Year! If you’re like us, you’re halfway through your winter break with your teens. The build up and excitement of Christmas is past, the decorations are starting to bother you, and your teens are repeatedly reminding you that they’re hungry …
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Christmas Gifts for Your Anxious Teen
Managing teenage stress and anxiety is a daily task in our house. We have a supply of assorted objects that my teens turn to when the anxiety rises. I’ve learned to let them select which stress reliever will work best …
Redefining Your Teenager’s Victories
“Mommmmm. I didn’t get my Article of the Week done for English,” my 15 year old daughter says as she struggles to get up, her eyes still heavy with sleep. “It’s alright,” I tell her. “I’m not concerned about that …
Six “No’s” to Help Your Teen’s School Morning Routine
I put a lot of thought into what we'd do differently this year, given the high level of teenage anxiety, attitude, and ADHD we live with. Our system isn't perfect, but so far it seems to be working. Here are …
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When Your Teenager’s Mess is Part of the Magic
My two daughters are having what will surely end up being a summer long “sleep over” in our basement where it’s cool and dark, perfect for their adolescent sleep patterns. After 5 years of trial and error, not knowing what …
Let’s Stop Sabotaging Our Conversations with Our Teens, Part 3: No Repeats
Last Tuesday, Daughter #1 informed me that she had two competing offers to babysit on Friday. I was happy for her because as a babysitter, she’s quite the catch and I was glad that others were learning that, too. I …
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Let’s Stop Sabotaging Our Conversations with our Teens, Part 2: Are You A Conversational Narcissist?
In yesterday’s post I shared some of the insights I gleaned from Celeste Headlee’s book, We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations that Matter and her corresponding TED talk. Her insight and advice is dead on and has helped me …
Let’s Stop Sabotaging Our Conversations with Our Teenagers
I’ve done it countless times. When it comes to talking with my teenage daughters, you can bet money I’ll say the wrong thing, ask the wrong question, and inadvertently cut short the promise of a satisfying conversation. Apparently I’m not the …
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