I recently saw an iconic sign of summer’s approach: a parent teaching a child how to ride a bike. For parents, like me, who taught their children how to ride long ago, such an image triggers torrents of nostalgia. I remember exactly where we were when my oldest daughter, Lauren, and I performed the rite of passage. In my version of trying to bubble-wrap my first kid, I insisted she learn on a paved path with grass on both sides (to absorb any falls) in a local park. As I jogged alongside her bike with the training wheels removed, I held the back of her seat to keep her steady. While she … [Read more...]
Teaching Driving to Today’s Teens Requires Dad to Watch His Blind Spot
“No left foot!” I screamed as the minivan slammed to a stop. Deep breath, I told myself, and faced my son. Yosef’s bright, toothy smile kept hidden the fear and uncertainty evidenced by his death-grip on the minivan’s steering wheel. “Sorry for yelling, man. I’m just a bit nervous – like you,” I chuckled and continued. “Let’s start from the beginning before we go any farther.” Only a few days before this abrupt stop in a parking lot of a local church, Yosef had passed his written driving exam and, at least by local standards, was ready to get behind the wheel. In this moment, and … [Read more...]
Positive Discipline Technique Allows You to be Kind Yet Firm with Teens
Dr. Jane Nelsen self-published her book, Positive Discipline, in the 1980s, and its effect on the world of parenting and teaching children has been substantial. The techniques she outlines have been further developed in the decades since the book’s publication, and it’s agreed that positive discipline works across the spectrum to help foster confident, well-behaved and supported teens. A quick web search will reveal positive discipline is a widely used concept, but essentially, it’s the parenting (and teaching) approach used to describe encouraging kids for positive behaviors without … [Read more...]
Sharing Songs Among Generations Eased Family’s Pandemic Blues
The pandemic first impacted most of us when many restaurants and bars closed to indoor dining one year ago. Where I live, that shutdown occurred the day after my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary at a local restaurant. We remember eating that night and thinking, “There’s no way they’ll shut down this restaurant.”We all know what happened next: a full year of pandemic family life. When I reflect on the past year, I start with gratitude. My wife and I have remained healthy and employed, and my two daughters have been able to continue school virtually with few problems. But … [Read more...]
Just Doing Their Job: It’s What True Heroes Do Every Day
I watch my nearly 16-year-old twin sons and their three- or four-hundred fellow students pour out the doors of the high school they attend. My mind goes back to my own high school days a very long time ago. A lot is different. No backpacks back then or phones or cool sweatshirts or yoga pants or these damn masks, but much seems familiar. The laughing and flirting and cajoling and teasing; nice cars and beaters; happy kids, sullen kids. Couples holding hands, couples longing to hold hands. Kids with big instrument cases and large art portfolios and dangling lunch boxes and the … [Read more...]
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