Question of the Day: “What do I want my boys to remember when they get older?”

As I straightened up the kitchen this morning, I started singing Cat Steven’s Father and Son song. It’s such a beautiful song from a son to his father. Though sad, it’s message is clear: the son has learned much from his father, but he feels his father doesn’t understand him. He feels like his father…

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Question of the Day: “What lessons did I learn from my son on our nightly run?”

My son and I have been running nightly for the last week. He’s much faster than I am, so we walk to our starting spot and then he takes off. I jog casually behind him until he is done. After he runs his distance at his own pace, he turns around to meet me and…

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Question of the Day: “When can I ease up on my teen?”

As a teacher, I have encountered every kind of parent. There have been helicopter parents, complacent parents, uninvolved parents, lawn mower parents, and I have never really settled on what kind of a parent I am. My son and husband have often said that I am too involved and I need to back off. My…

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Poem of the Day: “Choices”

My oldest son and I have been talking a lot lately about choices and consequences and responsibility. He is angry with me about the divorce. It’s a mix really. He tells me he lost respect for me and his father because of the divorce. This came up because he lost his phone because of his…

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Parenting #101: The Conflict for Control

My teenage son and I have battled for control over his life since he was an infant. One Christmas when he was about four years old, I got the brilliant idea for us to make our Christmas cards. I carefully picked out various crafting materials and imagined the hours we would spend creating the perfect…

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Parenting #101: Teenage boys and their emotions

My son texted me from school yesterday. He was having a problem, and he was in the counseling office. Immediately, I panicked. “What’s wrong?” I texted back. He answered that his ex-girlfriend had finally moved on and had started a relationship with someone else, and he just felt really sad. He told me he went…

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Question of the Day: “How do I avoid raising boys who suffer from toxic masculinity?”

Toxic masculinity refers to the masculine “traits” that so often describe men. Masculinity has long taken pride in its high levels of physical strength, emotional detachment, and brute force. But these traits can quickly become dangerous when left unchecked. Brute force can easily turn into an unmitigated violence. Emotional detachment can spiral into an inability…

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“The Sins of the Father Are Laid Upon the Children” ~William Shakespeare

In Merchant of Venice Launcelot says this to Jessica. Jessica is the daughter of Shylock who is a Jewish money lender who loaned money to a Christian. When the Christian was unable to pay him back in a timely fashion, Shylock requested he be paid with a pound of the young man’s flesh. At the…

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Question of Day: “What do you say when your teen says he has trust issues?”

My son Cole is 14 years old and has been in his first “real” relationship for about six months now. Last night he turned to me and said that he is really having a tough time adjusting to a long term relationship. “What do you mean?” I asked. I was not sure what he was…

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Question of the Day: “What do you say to your child when he’s crushed because he doesn’t have a crush?”

My son Jonah has always been a bit different. If you’ve read my previous posts about him, you’ve learned about his anxiety and his struggles with autism. Despite all of this, he has always been able to make friends and be social. He struggles and often “tries” to act like others and “be normal”, but…

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