Healthy Teen FriendshipsAs part of my job, I speak a couple of times a month to parent groups. One of my most attended sessions is about helping your teenager navigate relationships.As you’ve probably seen in your own house, high school relationships are hard. The stakes are higher now. Your teenager is navigating friend break-ups, learning...Continue Reading
The artic blast this week gave our family one gift: time together. The day off was a nice moment to reconnect—and clean out our teenagers’ rooms. They were thrilled. Ha. Cleaning out closets is an archeological dig through their past goals and passions. Remember those years of softball? Tennis? Learning the guitar? Your Etsy era?...Continue Reading
The Answer is Not Gift Cards What are you getting your high schooler for Christmas? I’m buying gifts for my 4 teenagers and feeling cynical about what they really need. Their Christmas lists are a repeat of last year. Airpods. Make-up. Video games. Gift cards-ugh. But what would really help them? What would help all of...Continue Reading
I’ve always wanted to create a video course. Writing for teens is my favorite–and yet. So many of them love images, videos, a human voice, an animated interactive experience. A video course felt like a good way to dish up the content. And, as I started to figure out the process, it felt pretty easy....Continue Reading
October Newsletter Are You Valuable? Teenagers Ask This Question… I coach high school students. This means I sit across from them and listen carefully as they talk about their goals, struggles, and hopes for the future. My role is to ask great questions, pay attention to their reactions, and help them move forward. Here’s what...Continue Reading
We went to the woods… Last month, I chaperoned a freshmen retreat at our high school. For three days, 100 of us lived differently—in cabins, walking miles across the camp, eating meals together at long tables, challenging ourselves with archery, rock climbing, and epic games. The most significant challenge? No phones. Suddenly living with each...Continue Reading
Two realities defined this summer: Texas suffered a terrible heat wave and you ran hundreds of miles. Running and running and running. When the temperature stayed in triple digits? You ran. When you needed to unwind? You ran. When your legs throbbed, you still ran. You ran at 5 in morning, 5 at night, and...Continue Reading
Dear Elisabeth (on your first day of 10th grade)… Today, two of your teachers announced that theirs is the hardest class in high school. For the rest of us, this warning would worry us. But you love a challenge. Love it. Case in point, lifeguarding defined your summer. You heard the city pool needed guards, and the...Continue Reading
A month ago, our daughter Catie left for her summer at Camp Lone Star. She’s serving as a counselor. We’re happy for her to have this unique, wonderful experience. And we’re sad for us because we miss her so much. Last week, I got to serve as the V(ery) I(nspirational) P(erson) at CLS. Besides the...Continue Reading
Truths I learned from our freshmen twins & their first Homecoming… Some things change. After Catie’s four Homecomings, I kind of felt like a Homecoming veteran. I am not that. Because HoCo is really different as a mom of one independent girl than it is for two freshmen—especially when one of those freshmen is a...Continue Reading
