My 16-year-old cousin Kyra (aka Kiki) is chronically unique (a term she invented.) Please watch her video and you will understand. It's 15 minutes in length and if at any point you decide to fast forward, make sure you watch the last 3.5 minutes to learn valuable happiness lessons from this amazing…
Harnessing the power of thinking—knowing that what we think has a huge impact on how we feel, and then putting that knowledge to use—has had powerful results for me. I’ve also learned that discounting other people’s feelings is a mistake and I’ve gotten better over time at balancing the power…
This week, a post I wrote was published on the terrific web site, The Bridge Maker. Here’s the first part of the piece, with a link to the rest… As a blogger, it occurred to me as I approached the day when my youngest would be going off to college…
I’m a big sports fan and have always enjoyed the Olympics. I remember the unbeatable Cuban boxer Teófilo Stevenson, the Russian weightlifter Vasily Alekseyev, and the Michael Phelps of my childhood, U.S.A. swimmer Mark Spitz. (I actually wore the same Speedo bathing suit that Mark Spitz did, with its U.S.A. flag-design.)…
In my book, I mention numerous books that have been important to my personal development. I've also provided (affiliate) links to many of those books on this page on my site. Within the parenting genre, these are a few of my favorites: 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 Protecting…
As we come upon the end of the college selection process for the current group of high school seniors (two of whom live in my house), I was reflecting on the part of the process where teens build up their “resumes.” I recall, thirty years ago, when I was applying…
For over 40 years, I’ve been trying to figure out my brother, Jon. Many adjectives have been used to describe him and it seems that he’s finally come up with the one that will stick—Driven. Jon is two years younger than I am, so I’ve known him since the day…
Last week, I was pleased to publish a blog post on the engaging Live Bold & Bloom web site. The post tells of a situation last year when one of our teenaged daughters was very sick and the doctors were not able to confirm a diagnosis. One reader wrote in,…
Last week, I was fortunate to have a blog I wrote published on the terrific web site, The Bridge Maker. Here’s the first part of the piece, with a link to the rest… I was recently reading a business journal and came across an article called, “Learning to let go.” It…
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.…
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,…