Yesterday was a big day for the teen boy. He earned his driver's license and was super excited about being able to drive solo. Not sure why... I think I have been an excellent front seat passenger teacher. I have a feeling he would not agree. The number of gasps and imaginary brakes are probably … Continue reading The driving test →

The teen boy is having a difficult school year which is surprising after a strong academic year his freshman year. But as I met with his advisor this fall and saw his daily schedule, I realized how lucky we were with course content last year. Almost every single class utilized his strengths. For example, Biology … Continue reading When school is hard →

There are some days when I wish my family still looked like this picture. They loved us unconditionally, never questioned our advice, and were just genuinely happy just for the sake of being happy. Enter the teen years. As hard as it can be some days, I am super grateful for my partner in this … Continue reading tag team parenting →

At our house, this is called triple F. Time hanging out as a family, which gets harder to do as your children get older. The latest episode of The Goldbergs highlighted their version of triple F. The mom wanted the entire family to take a road trip (think National Lampoon's Family Vacation) to Disneyland. The … Continue reading Forced Family Fun →

Last week I almost quit my job of parenting my teen girl. I really considered it. The past 2 years parenting a teen girl have been HARD, and I mean hard y'all. She has been working through a lot, so I want that to be taken into account. But somehow our family's daily functioning has … Continue reading I almost quit →

I have never felt comfortable thinking of myself as a real writer, but the feedback I have been getting from my latest book makes me feel like one. I knew friends, and possibly friends of friends, would buy from online places like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but I was blown away today when a … Continue reading I am a writer →

I was over the moon and shared on social media. Imagine my surprise when friends not only congratulated me, but also bought copies of the book. One friend downloaded the Kindle version and was texting me some of the chapters she liked best! I have not even gotten my complementary copies from the publisher yet... … Continue reading My book is on amazon.com →

What. A. Week. It started with me getting the mail on my way to pick up the teen boy from school. I started this routine since he is super comfortable driving home from school, so I use some of the time to sort through the mail as I ride in that fun front passenger side … Continue reading What a week! →

I stumbled onto this letter written to moms of teens on social media this week. The basics are that there is so much support when our kiddos are young, but all of that changes in late middle school. So. Very. True. Being a mom of a teenager can be very isolating. I could relate to … Continue reading Letter to moms of teens…continued →

A friend of mine sent me this article about teaching teens the value of kindness and how it is such an important skill. I agree with the writer that our teenagers are very egocentric, mostly thinking of themselves. I think part of this is our fault as parents. I know at our house we tend … Continue reading Teaching kindness to teens →