I'm a native Houstonian, and like many of you, I've known hundreds of people who have gone to Camp Mystic – grandmothers, mothers, and daughters who share the legacy of making friends for life and saying, "Going to camp is the highlight of my year." Camp...
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We call it multitasking. Women pride themselves on being able to do a million things at once. Here's my question. How's it working for you? My guess is that it's not working that well. Something is going to be compromised. It's not just that we are doing several...
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The Fourth of July is a day to celebrate our country's freedom. How about you? Do you need a little freedom? How about a little emotional freedom, especially when it comes to your daughter's drama? Your teen can be happy, angry, sad, stressed, and hyper in a five-minute...
Read MoreIt can drive you nuts. There she is lying on the sofa being a couch potato while you are running around trying to get your work done. Summer, for lots of moms, is more work when the kids are at home. We don’t want our kids...
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"How do I get my teen to listen to me?" This is the big question for moms of teens. It seems so easy, right? You tell your daughter what seems reasonable, and you want her to listen to you. But actually we want more. We want...
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I feel like I had the best dad in the world. I knew he wasn't perfect, but he never pretended to be. He gave me so many gifts growing up and was my rock through my turbulent teenage years. The most invaluable gift he gave me...
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When you are the parent of a teen, the fantasy of summer break includes both laughs shared in the sunshine and industrious kids getting work done. Often, reality is a bit different. That disconnect can lead to family drama, which is no one's idea of...
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The last month of school can get crazy. Many of you have been living your lives at 100 miles per hour with the entire end-of-year activities. Your teen thought that summer would never come, and the finals and projects would never stop. She'd daydream about going...
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Last week, Sara came to see me in my private practice. Sara had that spaced-out, frazzled look. She said, "I want my life back. It's only the first week of summer, and I'm ready for school to start." Sara really didn't want school to start; what...
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If I were to ask you, "How much do you feel appreciated on a scale of 1 to 10 by your kids, husband, partner, friends, family, or work?" What would you say? I have talked to plenty of moms who feel they were appreciated at...
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All moms experience weariness. The reason is that we are fighting the good fight for our family. We give and give and give. And often, we don't spend the necessary time replenishing all that we pour out onto those we care about. Often, this is...
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Is your happiness dependent on your teen's happiness? Here's why I asked you this question. Last week, a mom told me with a big smile on her face, "I guess it's time to go back to my recovery meeting." I asked her, "Why?" She told me that...
Read MoreSometimes, the answer is no. It has to be, if we are going to protect our daughters. This is not the fun part of being a parent. There she is, standing in front of you in her mature grown-up body. She tells you she can handle it. ...
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Every mom wants to see her teen making progress. You hope to witness your teen moving forward and progressing in their academics, creativity, relationships, responsibility, and maturity. This yearning is instinctual in moms and feels like it is written in our DNA. Because this feeling is so...
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Teenage girls live in the selfie generation. It's what teen girls do. So, what's up with all these selfies? Parents can be baffled by the frequency of their daughter's selfies. When we were teens we also loved getting our pictures taken but it wasn't all the...
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When I was a teen there were no smartphones; we only had landlines. This meant that if I was going to talk to my boyfriend, I had to s t r e t c h the telephone cord as far as I could to get...
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The sky was deep blue, no humidity, and the temperature was 60 degrees. I decided to take advantage of this beautiful day in Houston. Days like these are rare in Houston, and I wasn't going to miss them. The red buds were out and some...
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Defining success is a tricky, especially when it comes to your teenager. Would you say your teen is successful? Would you say your teen was successful? These are uncomfortable questions for both you and your teen. Here's why. This culture defines success in terms of ranking from the...
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Yes, teen girls can be drama queens, but moms can be drama mamas. "How? Our disrespectful, moody, entitled, and defiant daughters can push our buttons. And what happens when they push our buttons? We get angry and frustrated very quickly. We fire words right back at our daughters...
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It seems so simple. In your head, it's super clear. All you need her to do is clean her room. That's not asking too much. It's the least she can do. You are having guests over and you are cleaning the rest of the house, plus...
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