
Are You Teaching Your Child to Ignore You?
We’ve often heard parents say, “I hate to yell, but the kids just won’t listen until I do!” If the kids aren’t listening to requests, it may be about more than inattentiveness. It could be that the family culture does…

Whoops, There’s Sex in Our Family Night Movie!
When our children were in elementary school, we chose to watch Tootsie with them. It’s a PG-rated movie from the early 80’s that I remembered as quite funny and appropriate for the kids (ages about 8-12) to watch. But…

When Kids Stay Irresponsible
Brian and Jana were very concerned about how much work it was to get their 8-year-old son, Brady, to do much of anything – look up from his book when they talked, get ready for school in the morning, get…
What to do when your kids give you a defiant “NO”
When kids say “No!” parents tend to react rather than respond. Reacting tends to lead to unconstructive power struggles that follow this basic pattern: Child: “No!” Parent: “Yes!” Child: “No!” Parent: “Yes or else!” Child: “I don’t care!” Parent: “Well…