Give the Gift of Connection
Category Discipline
Are We Dealing Drugs To Our Children?
Did you know you may inadvertently be dealing “drugs” to your children? Dopamine has been called the brain’s “pleasure chemical.” It is released when pleasure is experienced. It creates healthy motivation to pursue various life-giving pleasures such as accomplishing a…
From Power Struggles to Peace at Meals
Tired of Not Feeling Christian Enough?
Here’s a confession: throughout my life I have periodically wrestled with the suspicion I was somehow “not Christian enough.” In some ways, it sounds silly, because being a Christian isn’t a quantity that you can have more or less of.…
Need vs Want
I plopped down on the couch with a friend and lamented about my latest parenting challenge. “I just need to learn to calmly follow through with a clear consequence. I keep getting in this nagging cycle. I need to stop…
Our top 5 posts of 2017
Every day, the staff of Connected Families goes to work, seeking the wisdom of God, and shaping our resources to fit what we think our readers, parents like you, need most. We spend hours writing, editing, and discussing our content,…
Christmas greetings from Connected Families
Messes. You’re likely surrounded by a bunch of them. Piles of dishes in the kitchen. Wrapping paper on the floor. Tired and over-sugared children. Stressed relationships. Just like parenting, Christmas is both messy, and beautiful. Today we celebrate Jesus coming…
Questions to Put the THANKS Back in Thanksgiving
“So, kids, what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?” you ask. “My family, my house, my friends, my dog and Jesus.” (Same answers as last year….) If you think your kids might be open to some deeper thinking this year,…
To Unlock Your Child’s Heart, Just Ask for the Key!
If you are reading this, you probably want your kids to know how much you love them. And you probably tell them often that you do. But effectively communicating love is not always so simple. How can we be…
What Do I Do When My Child Just Says No?
Recently we received this question from Michelle: I am struggling with a tween who often says no to my requests. She is a good girl most of the time, but she will be disrespectful to me, and I have no…
Why “Stop it!” Doesn’t Work
I’d HAD it! I was sick of this aggravating behavior, day after day. I stopped in my tracks, glared at the little one who was driving me crazy, and yelled at the top of my lungs, “STOP IT!!” Do you…