A good listener? Hardly. But maybe a good lecturer. So what does it mean to be a good listener? Well, I'll give you a couple of hints… its more than the absence of talking… and it doesn't involve multitasking when your child is speaking to you. Listening is the active process of hearing what our child is saying, looking at their eyes and body language for clues, processing it all to determine what's really going...

It's tough. In a "me" focused world, getting your kids to focus on others is challenging. So, how do you do it? Well, last night, we took a shot at it…with a little coercion…we got our teens together. We assembled some "manna" or food bags for the homeless and hungry. We filled large zip lock bags with non-perishable items like granola bars, beef jerky, peanuts, fruit cups, and vegetable juice. Now, when we're out...

Practically everything you purchase these days comes in a protective shell. The covering is designed to keep out dust and dirt, and to protect the contents from damage. Many of us parent the same way. We wrap our children up to protect them…we want to keep them isolated from harm and potential hurt. We have car seats, bumper guards, and baby wipes. As they grow, we try to keep them from bad influences and...

Our kids are constantly evaluated on their abilities at school, in sports, in the arts and even at home. But what about you? What grade would your kids give you as a parent? Well, here's a way to make an A every time. Remember the 6 A's of parenting. First is Affirmation. When your children are sharing their feelings or opinions, they want you to listen to them, identify with them and affirm them. Second is...

That's a question children hear all the time. And we enjoy hearing their answers…a doctor, a teacher, a fireman, a ballerina. But what if the question was not about what they wanted to do for a living but who they wanted to be as a person? Less about career and more about character. Imagine your child answering, "I want to be a person of integrity…of wisdom…of courage and conviction. I want to be...

The marriage rate has been on a steady decline over the past five decades. Why this disturbing trend? It's because some people think that living together rather than getting married is the way to go. The number of unmarried couples living with each other jumped from 1.6 million in 1980 to 13.6 million in 2008. Are there consequences for co-habitation? Well, findings from Pennsylvania State University indicate...

Before you need it. Marriage counseling teaches couples how to work through their differences, communicate better and solve problems in the relationship. So, why don't more people do it? Well, many couples feel that their private life should be just that—private. They feel that is a stigma associated with seeking counseling. But there are times when a third party perspective is just what the doctor ordered. ...