I got lucky last year. My daughter Julie, then 16, who has spent a lot of time with kids with special needs, and who wants to major in special education in college, invited me to come with her one Sunday afternoon to help out at our local Challenger basketball program.…
Now that we’re a few weeks into 2012, if you’re like most people who make New Year’s resolutions, you're already struggling to keep them. New Year’s is an ideal time to review my approach for making real, lasting, positive changes in your life. If you’ve read my book, you know…
If you’ve read my book or my blog posts, you know about my emphasis on slowing down to make changes. I’ve been thinking about the many ways that slowing down is beneficial. Below are six slowing down habits for you to consider (presented within the framework of Six Simple Rules…
I am pleased to feature Tiny Buddha, Simple Wisdom for Life's Hard Questions by Lori Deschene as this site’s inaugural book review. Lori is my favorite blogger. Her posts on Tiny Buddha are simple yet deep, practical yet not obvious, and plentiful yet not overwhelming. She is a gifted writer. Her words…
I’m appreciative of the response to my “teenproofing” series this week. A bunch of people posted comments and many talked with me directly: by e-mail, by phone, or in-person. In January, when my monthly newsletter goes out, more people will read the blog and chime in. Blog content becomes so…
In part 1 of this series, I told the story of coming home to stop a teen party — and highlighted the problem that ALL parents of teens face. In part 2, I talked about strategies for making sure that when parents are away, teens can’t “play”. In part 3,…
In part 1 of this series, I told the story of coming home to stop a teen party — and highlighted the problem that ALL parents of teens face. In part 2, I talked about strategies for making sure that when parents are away, teens can’t “play”. Today, I share…
In yesterday's post, I told the story of coming home to catch a party that was already a bit out of control (parents’ definition) and might have gotten totally out of control (even by kids’ definition) if I hadn’t broken it up — and I highlighted the problem parents face…
“Dad, can I have a few people over tonight?” Jeremy asked as Marcie and I headed out the door to a nearby party we were attending one Saturday night in 2007. Jeremy was a high school sophomore at the time. The prior night, when Marcie and I were home, he…
Earlier this year, when I showed my friend Greg a behind-the-scenes look at my under-construction Web site, he questioned whether the photo on the home page representing “Be a Leader” (a sign pointing volunteers to the office to “check in”) would make for a self-evident connection for people who had…