3 Signs of Unhelpful Consequences… and How to Fix Them!
Skiing, Tears, and Grace
At a recent ski meet I found myself twice in tears for people I’ve never met. The first time was when a young competitor “skied out,”
Stressful Times Lead to Fertile Hearts
Painting pictures in my mind has been very helpful in my parenting journey. For example, when I’m upset and feel like my head is going
Don’t stuff your kids’ feelings
Kids usually do the best they know how to express their feelings. The best they can do is usually quite immature and unrefined. A problem
How to Not Take Sides When Siblings Fight
In our family, one of the realities we face is siblings who fight. I tend to want to stop my children’s rivalry in its tracks, but I
Why Conflicts are Sometimes Just the Tip of the Iceberg…
Sometimes conflict with our kids can seem to arise out of nowhere. Or, a conversation that seemed to be over something relatively minor can explode
How to Turn a Parenting Fail into a Parenting Win
It was a Sunday evening. I was emotionally and physically done for the day and looking forward to a quiet house. Suddenly I overheard squabbling
10 Best on the Connected Families Blog 2014
We can hardly believe it’s 2015 already! Before we dive into a year of new blog posts, we thought we’d dwell for just a moment
Some Practical Tips for a Truly Christ-filled Christmas
Whether you’re feeling totally frazzled or totally prepared, here are some of our favorite parenting tips to help you and your family not only survive
How do you grow when you’ve blown it?
Lynne and I blew it a lot. We had a lot of great moments as a young family, but we also had a lot of
The Key to Consistent Parenting
It is often said that consistency is an important key to effective parenting. We agree wholeheartedly. However, we believe consistency is not so much about
How to Talk to Kids about Bad Words
“Oh, shut up!” Lynne said (fairly playfully) at Jim in the banter after a staff meeting. This sparked a conversation among the staff about our respective families and what words were or weren’t permitted.