The weather is turning cold but without the benefit of snow to play in. It is the perfect time for competitive indoor games to bring the family together. There are always classic board games like Monopoly and checkers. But, there are also a whole range of games that are both fun and test your mental skills like Settlers of Catan …
When Your Teen Tells You They Are Ready To Have Sex
Kids begin to be sexually active in significant numbers beginning at 15 (Guttmacher Institute). The average age American adolescents lose their virginity is 17. By 18, 61% of kids have had sex. Where are kids getting information about when, where and how to have sex? Unfortunately, it is from the internet, advertisements, performers, celebutants, pornography and the music they listen …
Family Fright Fest
Don’t let October pass the family by without taking advantage of the many ways to scare the crap out of each other. While jumping out of closets and dark spaces wearing a hockey mask can be funny it can also lead to deep emotional scars and difficulty learning to trust loved one later in life. A good substitute is to …
Raising Independent Kids
One goal of parenting is to raise independent and self-sufficient kids. When parents talk about having independent kids it really means having their kids be able to support themselves, make good decisions and deal with challenges. You can’t be independent if you have to rely on others for money, get yourself arrested (or thrown out of your apartment) or are …
Back to School: What’s different for boys about school?
Another school year is getting underway and parents are thinking ahead about how to make this year a success for their kids. Parents of boys should be particularly attentive. Boys are not doing so well academically these days compared to girls. School age boys represent 71% of suspensions and drop out of school at 4 times the rate of girls. …
Perseid Meteor Showers Aug 11-13
Every year at this time a dramatic shower of meteors streaks across the sky of the Northern Hemisphere. It is called the Perseid meteor shower (because it appears to originate from the area of the sky where the constellation Perseus is located). This celestial fireworks display is the result of the Earth passing through the orbit of the Swift-Tuttle comet. …
Shakespeare in the Park and Other Night Time Entertainment
Look around your town to find opportunities to spend an evening watching a play, movie or concert under the stars. It is a fun, inexpensive experience for the whole family. Pack up food and drink, bring blankets and lawn chairs and prepare to spread out on the grass to be entertained outdoors. (Don’t forget to bring bug repellent for those …
Geocaching, the 21st century scavenger hunt
There is a strange group of people who voluntarily and on their own initiative spend their time hiding weatherproof packages filled with trinkets in cities and wilderness areas all over the world. The challenge is to use a GPS system to locate the coordinates of this secret cache to find these treasures. This is geocachingand it is a perfect way …
8 Ways You Know There Is A Teen in the House
For the longest time, all you had to do was look for a video game machine to tell if there was a teenager in the house. Unfortunately, the number of adults who engage in this type of entertainment has made that sign obsolete. You might also have been able to tell there is a teen in the house by looking …
What is a reasonable curfew?
If you ask your kid, they are likely to say: I am old enough to decide for myself when it is time to come home. You should trust me. My friend’s parents let them stay out really late all the time. And besides, this isn’t some fascist state like . . . like . . . somewhere else. This is …