Parenting
"My son, who is 9, seems so sad all the time, keeps to himself, cries a lot, even when we try to do stuff he likes or stuff he asks. He can't seem to think of anything to do by himself, but gets upset when his brother bosses him around. So, he's bored, I'm at…
A mom asked, "How on earth do I manage my constantly wiggling six year old? This child won't sit still! Family devotions are so stressful - and don't even mention schoolwork or church. What can I do?" I am so with you here! Our youngest, a girl(!) has been one of those churning and burning…
A reader asks, "How can we help our 17 year old care more about being on time? We have tried to explain that it's selfish to make other people wait on him. He has never had a hurry "button."" This is kind of hard. I know this is frustrating - and you're no doubt worried…
Often we're asked, what do you do about a child who wants to police his younger brother, boss him around, and assume authority over him? Is it ever appropriate for an older sibling to have authority over a younger one? Well, sure -- sometimes your teenager is babysitting the little ones, or driving his…
Pamela asked on our page, "I have three crazy....er...highly spirited boys. They don't seem to hear me or take me seriously until I yell, they've been disciplined for it and everything. We're out in public a lot more now so I'm most concerned about them getting out of hand in the parking lot. How do…
A mom asks, "My 16yo is driving me crazy! He won't do his schoolwork. He argues with everything we say. He blames someone else for everything that happens. He's not obeying and he's disrespectful. If we say he can't use the internet, he does anyway and says we don't trust him. He just won't grow…
A reader asks, "How do you deal with a child who threatens to run away from home, or if your child has done it, how did you deal with it? I don't know what my options are, but my 10 year old lately has been acting very immature, and when I told him to clean…
After the Oregon shooting this week, a reader asked, "How and when do you share news like this with your children? I haven't shared much "news" with my children but I have older ones and I want to expose them to more. What sources do you use or do you just pass the news to…
Does your Sunday morning faith go to work with you on Monday? Maybe in our quiet moments we plan how we'll respond if we end up like the apostles in Acts 5:29 - “We ought to obey God rather than man.” But most days, the question is simpler – and sometimes more challenging: Am I working like…
Years ago when Bill Clinton's scandals were news, I hated to listen to the radio in the car because I constantly had to be ready to turn it off or explain awkward things on the way to homeschool P.E. If you have teens, though, there's just no way to turn off the constant stream of…