Do you have friends you’ve kept up with since childhood? High School? College? First job? If you’re a parent, who among your kids’ friends do you think they’ll still be close to when they’re in their 40’s and beyond? I think one of the best gifts we can give our children, and ourselves, is to help foster and nurture deep friendships. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, as I count down the days until my teenager starts high school (66 as of today– I can’t believe it!) and watch my kids spend their summer hours. Having “best friends” in …
Category: Being a Better Parent
In Defense of Summer Camp
Growing up, I was a huge fan of summer “sleep away” camp. I went, year after year, to a small one that sat on the bluffs above a wide bend in the Mississippi River near Montrose, Iowa, and I liked it for all the reasons you’d think someone would like camp: New friends (that became lifelong friends), fun stuff to do, nice counselors, new skills (I learned synchronized swimming, macrame’ and tetherball, to name a few), campfires, crazy songs, and being surrounded by nature, for a whole week. But when my teenager first went to the same camp when she was nine, she loved …
Slowing Down
Sometimes I love it when it storms. Especially on Saturdays. Oh, I know that when that happens, there are crying brides all over the county who were counting on fairy-tale outdoor weddings, but consider an upside to Saturday rain– suddenly all the over-scheduled families have to slow down and shift gears, so to speak, spend quality time at home. Should we watch a movie? Play a game? Or (horrors) talk??? Because rainstorms mean youth soccer games are cancelled (or baseball, or any other outdoor youth sport).
Lend Me Your (Double-Pierced?) Ear
With parenting, the wrestling never stops. Wrestling with what to allow and when. When your children are younger, you ponder […]
Can Uncool and Fun Coexist?
I came to the realization the other day that I think I really need to take more time to just […]