By: Shannon Ralph I adore my son. I love him with all my heart. I do, however, find myself sometimes marveling at the unparalleled anomaly that is a 12-year-old boy. Not yet a teen. No longer a little kid. My son is taller than me. Hairier. His feet are huge. His socks smell. He’s opinionated. […]
By Alex Temblador The Sex Talk: the three scariest words in a parent’s vocabulary. Not many parents are excited to have the sex talk with their children and for good reasons. It’s difficult to imagine your child exploring their sexuality but despite the wishes of parents, children and teens are exploring their bodies and their […]
By: Shannon Ralph My daughter called me a hypocrite today. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit that I was being a bit hypocritical at the time. But that’s my prerogative as a parent, right? These little creatures who have taken up residence in my home have already stolen my youth, my free […]
By Jessica Goldstein ABC Family is home to a bunch of bonkers, tweens-only programming, and it’s easy to perceive the network as a little flashy and substance-less. The channel is packed with telegenic twenty-somethings pretending to be teenagers with highly implausible lives. But within the past five years, this Disney subsidiary has sneakily become home […]
By Tanya Ward Goodman My bank’s fraud detection department has joined the little village that helps me to be a better parent. It’s thanks to their vigilance that my son’s in-app purchases stayed below the $500 mark. “We’ve noticed some irregular activity,” a kind voice says. “Super Cell. True Axis.” “Can you spell that,” […]
By Carol Rood I have 4 children. 2 of them are Karol’s kids, and so they are my “step children”, and 2 of them are my biological children. The “step kids” are 22 and 19. The bio kids are 17 and 15. So we have had some experience raising teens. More and more I am […]
By Carol Rood When I decided to become a mother it was no light decision for me. I had always said I didn’t want children, and to be honest, I meant it. I had many men come and go in my life, and never wanted to have children. Then the day finally came and I […]
By Carol Rood Poor Bluebell. She cried. She cried as her 17-year-old son The Hunter walked out the front door with a Marine Corps recruiter to go take a “practice” ASVAB test. Let me back up a bit, that is actually the middle of the story. Yesterday the phone rang. The person on the other […]
By Carol Rood I work with teenagers. I live with teenagers. I hang out with teenagers and young adults. I actually pride myself on the fact that I can speak their language and tend to “get” them (for the most part). I like hanging out with them. In fact, I find myself thinking about […]
By: Meika Rouda I just finished the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. It is unlike any parenting book I have ever read. Chua is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and has three sisters; she and two of her sisters have multiple Harvard and Yale degrees and her youngest sister, who […]
