Why Your Daughter Needs A Self-Defense Class
I have two teenaged daughters. I’ve worked in domestic violence advocacy for ten years. I am a woman myself. Yet I’ve never taken a self-defense class. Until last weekend, when I spent two hours with 10 fifteen year old girls and a female instructor who had a black belt in karate and years of self-defense…
What If Your Kids Don’t Agree With Your Politics?
Do your kids agree with your politics? Do you expect them too? Are parents crazy, or justified, to think they should? If not, how do you resolve political conflicts as a family? Of course, we all want our kids to share our values. We created these kids, after all. It seems inherently parental to pass…
Making New Year’s Resolutions With Your Kids
The knee-jerk New Year's vows are personal, to the point of narcissism: I will lose weight, I will give up chocolate, I will join a gym, I will get a promotion, I will become a vegan. Maybe that's why we so often fail to keep them. It's not too late to make achievable New Year's…
Breaking Difficult News To Your Kids Over The Holidays
Holidays with family are supposed to be joyous, right? Especially the ones we’re heading into right now. Well, like so many parenting myths, not always. Our parental instinct is to protect kids from bad news, at the holidays and at all times. But sometimes, it’s better to teach our kids how to handle challenging news.…
How to Teach Your Kid to Marry the Right Person
When I was a girl, my parents taught me to play tennis, to ski, to ride a bike and drive a car. What they never taught me: how to have a healthy romantic relationship. They gave other feedback freely – validation of my love of reading and black raspberry ice cream, and fair punishment when…