When the weather won’t cooperate, find something active to do indoors — like roller skating! You may not know it but skating rinks are still around. If you have a tween or early teen, it is still one place they can meet up with peers and try to find someone to make out with in a dark corner when the …
Ten Pins
Winter is the perfect season for BOWLING! It is indoors in a climate controlled environment. Anyone can do it. It is active, but not enough to break a sweat. It’s competitive without being vicious. You eat more calories from delicious, low nutrition bowling alley food than you consume by playing. You get to sit around and chat while other people …
Winter Wonderland
SNOW! Don’t miss the opportunity to play in the snow with your kids when Jack Frost blankets your yard or neighborhood. Snowmen (snowperson?), snowball fights, sledding; bundle up, get outside and rediscover your childlike innocence (along with the aches and pains that come with advancing age). For a more sedate activity, there is always taking a night time walk. Something …
Corn Maze
November is the perfect time to get out and go walking with the family. The crisp Autumn air is cold enough to make things brisk without it being miserable. If you want to do more than take a walk around the block or stroll through a local park, consider looking for a corn maze in your area. Most people, except …
Emotional Intimacy: Some Things Your Son Needs To Know
There are a lot of ways teenagers can learn about healthy romantic relationships. Most media representations are focused on titillation and sexual licentiousness. Romance in movies is mostly characterized by idealization, infatuation, lust and one dimensional people (think Twilight, The Hangover, Iron Man, Spider man and 300). Relationships in music lyrics emphasize hedonism, sexism, the objectification of women (and men) …
Self Confidence and Body Language
Self confidence is an important quality to cultivate in your kid. It is associated with better grades, more satisfying personal relationships, better decision making, greater self-control and general assertiveness. (It can also keep your kid from being mugged.) Self confidence is derived from skills and competencies, experiences, treatment by others and the nature and frequency of successes and failures. But, …
Flea Markets
Spring and early Summer is the time for garage sales and flea markets. The sun is out but it’s not too hot. Lots of people are looking to clean out the house and sell off unwanted treasures (and trash) after a long winter. Flea markets and garage sales can make for a fun outing for the whole family. There is …
Oh, Go Fly a Kite!
April is THE month for kite flying. It is the perfect activity for the family to get out and get active when the temperature is too cool to lounge in the sun and it is too windy to throw things to each other. The range of styles can boggle the mind. Everyone is familiar with the old fashioned diamond shaped …
The Soundtrack of Encouragement
If your kid is going to listen to music all the time (and be affected by the “feel” of the music and the message of the words), require them to put some songs in there that build up, reassure, encourages them to make a difference and realize their potential. Have them make a playlist that helps them rise above. This …
Parenting Teens: A Soundtrack
Have you noticed there aren’t many songs about parenting teenagers? You can’t throw a search engine stick without hitting a song about some cute little adorable baby just bursting with promise and potential. The performer just sing on and on about how wonderful it will be to watch them grow and develop. That is, apparently, until they reach adolescence. What’s …