Tag Archives: The Great Puberty War
No, We Won’t Buy You a…
Our main goal as parents was to end up with happy, healthy, self-sufficient adults.We can’t tell anyone how to do this — everyone’s different and Lord knows we made our share of mistakes along the way — but we can offer an insight that we’ve gained through our own offspring’s transitions from childhood to adulthood.
Don’t give kids everything they want, just everything they need.
A whole lot of what they want is stupid crap and… CONTINUE READING >>
War & Peace, Volume II
A reader wrote:“The best part is when they finally get it, and tell you sorry for being such pain in the ass during those (teenage) years. My son told me he now understands everything I was trying to convey to his logic blocked brain back then…”
Oh man, I can relate.
I was pretty certain that at least one of my envelope-pushing teens would flee the nest — i-Pod at full… CONTINUE READING >>
The Old College Pry
How do we know when we’ve become too involved in our offspring’s college education?
Is it okay to call a professor about a dispute over a test score? Should we proofread their papers? Should we have access to their grades if we are paying tuition? Should we storm into the Dean’s office?
I interviewed some college professors and their stories will amaze you… CONTINUE READING >>
THE Talk
“I’m eighteen now, I can do what I want.”The dreaded time when the spawn are technically adults but still in high school. At that age, it would seem that “adult” means the freedom to head out and start being stupid at top speed.
The standard “Not in my house” or “As long as you live under my roof, you’ll abide by my rules” replies didn’t seem to sink in with our young ‘uns. In fact, I could almost see the heels digging in to the floor.
One day while driving our oldest, The Piglet, to school, I got fed up and burst out with what became known in our family as “THE Talk.” No, not THAT “the talk”, this one:… CONTINUE READING >>
