Author of “Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen” Says Take a Demotion to Be a...
The business of raising kids is neither for the faint-hearted, nor the inflexible. Have you ever considered how you’d write your job description for parenting your kids? As a manager of a small...
View ArticleMiddle School Survival Guide for Parents from a Teacher and Mom of 4
At the beginning of the school year, there was a funny meme floating around featuring a flamboyantly dressed Elton John representing an elementary teacher. Next to him is a deadpan guy looking annoyed...
View ArticleFour Ways to Navigate Tween and Teen Mood Swings and Emotions
Caring for kids during their tween and teen years can feel like riding a rollercoaster with no seat belt and a blindfold, never sure when the ride is going to dip or climb. While adolescents get a...
View ArticleI’m Taking a Step Back So My Kids Can Be Friends
The most vivid memory I have of the day I brought my son home from the hospital is of my gentle twenty-month-old daughter transforming into a ball of angry energy intent on disturbing her new little...
View ArticleHow to Help Your Teen Step Away from a Toxic Friendship
Google “Stepping Away From Toxic Friends,” you’ll get 39,500,000 results. We all know surrounding ourselves with the right people is the best way to protect our energy (and if you Google a quote on...
View ArticleWhat I Felt When My Son’s Not-So-Little Hand Reached for Mine
It happened on the way to Target and took me by complete surprise. I didn’t see it coming; I thought that moment had drifted just beyond my grasp. Parker and I were stopping at Target to pick up a few...
View ArticleWhat NOT to Say to the Daughter You Are Raising to Be a Strong Woman
I screwed up this weekend. My daughter told me a story, and all of my learning, all of my grownupedness, and all of my feminism went out the window, and I was a teen again, living in my insecurity. I...
View Article10 Ways Parents Can Help Prepare a Middle Schooler for 9th Grade
Perhaps one of the hardest transitions for parents happens as their child nears the end of 8th grade. With high school so within reach, there is understandable anxiety for both parent and child. After...
View ArticleHow to Activate Your Teen’s Superpowers: Raising Resilient Tweens in...
This is an interview between Lisa Heffernan and Phyllis Fagell about her new book, Middle School Superpowers: Raising Resilient Tweens in Turbulent Times. LH: One of the biggest heart breaks for...
View Article5 Back-to-School Parenting Strategies for Empowering Adolescents
At the first middle school parent-teacher conference my husband and I attended, our son’s teacher commented, “In middle school, we encourage parents to allow space for students to solve their own...
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