Family Relationships

Parents are often told to give teens space, to avoid giving teens too much attention and to let teens become independent. Unfortunately, these generalized suggestions don’t take into account the almost daily emotional and psychological changes that teens experience and, as a result, do little to help parents accurately navigate their teens’ formative years. With […]

Values, traditions and healthy relationships can strengthen a family bond. These building blocks provide strong moral and ethical principles for the entire family while also helping to better each individual member within the family. Strong relationship skills and behaviors emerge with the support of a healthy home life. For example, my grandparents would routinely say, […]

This post was updated slightly in September of 2025. Winter brought the usual coughs and colds to our house, and I headed to the drug store to stock up on medication. I have always been grateful for the relief and comfort cough medicines can bring, but this year, I viewed them in a different way. […]

In so many ways, these are very difficult times to be a parent. Our kids swim in different waters than we did a generation ago, and much of it is unchartered for us. From social media to extreme academic pressure, from a hookup culture to casual drug use and its many iterations, we are parenting […]

You want your kids to be safe. As they grow older, they’re exposed to a growing multitude of dangers, some related to the internet, or to peer pressure, or as a result of feeling anxious, depressed or inadequate. You want them to be confident and self-assured and to be able to make right choices. What […]

I have two daughters, ages 16 and almost 13, who I co-parent with my husband, my ex-husband, and his wife. Raising teenagers who resist high-risk behaviors such as, drugs, alcohol and medicine abuse is a challenge for any home – and especially difficult in a blended family dynamic – but is possible when everyone works […]