Chatting with Your Children
Women Share Their Favorite Conversation Starters With the school year underway, those morning and afternoon car rides, family dinners, or nights doing homework can become quite routine. It’s important to maintain fun and engaging conversation with your children, but it can sometimes be challenging to pique their interest and gain insight into their day. Here, […]
The Key to Your Child’s Heart
If you are not familiar with The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman, the basic premise is that most of us go through life expressing love to others in ways that would make us feel energized and excited. Chapman believes that everyone needs all of the love languages, but that someone’s primary love […]
Teaching Teens to Resolve Conflict
Imagine that your teen comes home and tells you someone she believes to be her friend is saying untrue things about her. Inevitably, this news brings out the “Mama Bear” in you, and your first inclination is to call the girl’s mother. But better judgement prevails. Your next thought might be to give your daughter’s […]
Summer Fun
With the end of the school year upon us, now is a wonderful time to find fun, creative, and healthy ways to spend time with your kids. These three local moms shared their favorite activities and ideas for family bonding over summer break! “My family loves taking advantage of all that downtown Chattanooga has to […]
Fusing Families: Preparing Children for Changing Family Dynamics
Remarrying with children often creates a complex dynamic. Expectations may not be clear, and people aren’t sure how to behave. There are all kinds of questions like: When do we bring children into the picture? Once married, what do children call the new spouse? How will discipline work? How will any ex-spouses and their new […]
Helicopter Parenting
Recognizing Unhealthy Patterns After teaching a lot of parenting classes over the last 20 years, I can tell you with certainty that most parents have great intentions when it comes to raising their children. I usually ask parents to begin with the end in mind and think forward to when it’s time for their children […]
Addressing Opioid Abuse in Teens
Opioid Abuse is a growing epidemic in society today – and it’s reaching our youth. In 2015, two million Americans reported a substance use disorder involving prescription pain relievers. Of those two million, 276,000 were between the ages of 12 and 17. Here, two local experts from Focus Treatment Center of Chattanooga emphasize the importance […]
Expanding Your Child’s Picky Palate
If you live with a picky eater, you know it can be a headache to prepare a family meal that everyone agrees on. More frustrating than that is trying to make sure your picky eater is getting the nutrition they need. Here’s a list of tips for easing your child into unfamiliar territory and broadening […]
Tips for Propelling Your Adult Child Forward
Encouraging Kids to Move On For the first time in more than 130 years, the number one living arrangement for Americans ages 18-34 is to remain single and live in their parents’ home. Often, parents feel that their child’s teenage years are God’s way of preparing them for their teen’s impending launch into the “real […]
Social Media-Altered Socialization
Children and Teen Socialization in the Age of Social Media With new social media platforms being invented daily, today’s younger generations are growing up under the influence of a new kind of socialization. The ever-increasing presence of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and countless others adds a level of instantaneous socialization that earlier generations never experienced. […]
