A casual conversation (more like a commiseration about life with teens) with a friend got me thinking about the topic of self-doubt.With two adult kids and two teens, I value his insights. He said, “I think self-doubt is born when you become a parent. You just have to trust your gut.”He clearly has given this… Read more »

Summer school wrapped up this week for Carson.For weeks, we have referred to Summer Academy as “camp” around Carson, but the reality is it’s school. It’s held at school and involves classes, speech therapy and reading intervention for him, but there’s some fun mixed in as well as weekly field trips.It would have been understandable… Read more »

If my house is like most, there are lots of looks exchanged between parents over the antics and comments from the teen of the house.I did not receive the letter that follows from my 14-year-old son, but for a few brief minutes last weekend when I came across it online, I pretended I did because… Read more »

In past conversations with parents who have lost children, they have said people often misunderstand how they feel and are confused about discussing their loss.It’s not about avoiding the topic of their lost child. It’s about remembering her or him. All too often people think (or assume) they should avoid talking about a child who… Read more »

I have been a parent for more than 14 years now, but in some ways, I feel like I am still learning something new each day.Some days I go to bed feeling good about my kids – 14 and 12 — and where they are in their respective lives. I am especially content when the… Read more »

Over the course of my parenting life, there have been moments of anguish and dare to admit, embarrassment as a result of actions and decisions by my kids.If you have never had any of these as a parent, it’s either one of two things – you live in the clouds of denial or you are… Read more »

The best part of Facebook for me is the “Memories.”I have found myself actually posting pictures just to memorialize them for years to come. This way each year on the anniversary date of the post, or event, I can relive that part of my life. It’s especially the case with my kids.Over the last week,… Read more »

In his 1993 legendary speech, late great Jim Valvano offered some thoughts on what makes a great day – laughter, tears and thought.Just eight weeks before he died from cancer, Valvano, a long-time college basketball coach, said at the ESPYs, “To me, there are three things we all should do every day. … Number one… Read more »

Whenever the moods of my teen agitate me to the point I lose my composure, I feel tremendous guilt later.It’s funny how this works with parenting. An honest reaction to something absurd he says or more often in our case something he does not do ends up resulting in me feeling bad.Nine times out of… Read more »

Teens have a way of sucking the goodness out of situations.Harsh I know, but it’s the reality sometimes with my 14-year-old moody one. It’s just a phase I can’t telling myself and eventually the boy I know so well will return. Until then my little pet name for him will be soul-sucker.The little nickname came… Read more »