Parenting Experts

When I was in school (and I was in school for a very, very long time), I tried to be the perfect student, the perfect friend, the perfect daughter, and the perfect big sister.

When I worked outside the home, I aimed to be the perfect employee, the perfect co-worker, and later the perfect boss.

When I stayed home with my children, I tried to be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, and the perfect homemaker.

Now, even in my free time, I still find myself trying to be the perfect knitter, yanking out and starting projects over time and again so that I follow pattern instructions perfect…

As Earth Day approaches and everyone’s talking about being ‘green’, and since the next generation will be inheriting our planet, I figured we should include kids in the conversation; which prompted me to write The Greening Book: Being a Friend to Planet Earth.

Teaching children the importance of helping others and taking care of the world around them is an essential part of building character. It is also important to encourage children to think about what they want to do to make the world a better place so they can truly understand the power of their actions.
Messages about being “gre…

I was driving the children home yesterday evening when they started asking me about Christmas. It was a dark, rainy night and the car felt like a little self-contained universe, moving through space. Grace and Whit wanted to know all about Christmas and why we celebrate it when we do. I floundered with some general answers about the virgin Mary and the manger. Grace told Whit confidently that Christmas was “When baby Jesus was born.”

He then asked, “So why are there presents?” Grace immediately replied, a withering note of duh! in her voice, “Because it’s a birthday celebration.”

Whit t…

During the holiday season we are all flooded with the association of holidays with gifts and presents. Kids are no exception. They are making their lists and checking them twice! This holiday, think about a new gift for a child you love… teach them about the spirit of giving and charity!

The best way to empower the children you love is to help them embrace their ability to make a difference and help others. This gift will give them self-esteem, will build their character and will also create a generation of givers!

As the author of The Giving Book: Open the Door to a Lifetime of Givi…

I did not experience fatherhood until I was one month shy of my 40th birthday. My wife and I now have four children (one girl and three boys), the oldest of whom is 10. On the list of life’s great revelations, the enormity of parenthood ranks an uncontested number 1.

I’m not talking about the challenges of an infant and all the profound changes that a newborn brings. I mean raising human beings to love; to be honest, curious and polite; to have fun; to deal with setbacks and learn from them; to find the right role models, the right kinds of friends, the right books; to possess a sense of …