The greatest gift you can give your daughter is to believe in her. It's one thing to believe in your beautiful baby girl cooing in your arms but it's another thing to believe in your angry teenage girl who just threw the F-bomb at you. Your 'belief'...
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I was at a workshop and my mentor left us with this question. "What are you tolerating in your life?" The first thing I thought was, I've heard this before. (Like, if I heard it before then I wouldn't have to pay attention to the question.) Then...
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Yes, teen girls can be drama queens, but mom's can be drama mamas. "What are you talking about? It's my daughter's fault. She is rude, disrespectful, and defiant." I know it's easy to focus on your daughter's behavior, but it's easy for mom's to join the...
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"We get along great on vacations!" I can't tell you how many times I have heard this in my private practice. Why is it, that families (and couples) who fight all the time at home, can enjoy each other on vacations? The answer is STRESS. The Conspiracy of...
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Defining success is a tricky, especially when it comes to your teenager. If I asked you if your daughter or son was successful what would you say? Would your daughter say she is successful? These are uncomfortable questions for both you and your daughter. Here's why. This culture defines...
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I have read over 25 parenting books for teens in the past couple of years in preparation for writing my book. For a while it felt like, I'd get a package from Amazon every week. My daughter was always disappointed to see another parenting book....
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I am taking an online defensive driving course. I could say I am taking the course because I wanted to lower my car insurance, which is partially true. But the truth is, I was speeding and got a ticket. There you have it. The secret...
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We call it multi-tasking. Women pride themselves for being able to do a million things at once. Here's my question. How's it working for you? I remember hearing a speaker say that meditation is doing one thing at a time. For mothers this seems like a luxury. It's not...
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Has your computer ever been attacked by viruses and spyware? It can drive you nuts. Your computer starts going real slow and it feels like you are waiting forever for your email to download. And the longer the virus and spyware runs, the more it...
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Have you ever complained, "My husband won't stop and ask for directions." (or check his GPS) Then you go on to say, "We wasted the afternoon driving all over town. If we had stopped--it would have taken us 5 minutes and we'd been there on...
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Part 1 Early October I thought, "It's not even Halloween. Why is there Christmas decorations up at the shopping center near my house? This did not give me a happy feeling. I felt this oh no feeling. The holiday season is already here. This sounds very...
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Get prepared for the Holidays. The shopping malls have been ready since October with decorations of shiny tinsel, red bows, gigantic wreaths, and white lights. In a blink of an eye Thanksgiving will be here and then the busy the season hits. If you are not...
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Shelly is an active mom and has one daughter in middle school. Shelly came to my office extremely upset. She had just gotten her phone bill. Her 7th grade daughter had sent three thousand texts in the past month and most of them were from...
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You want the best for your daughter. You want her in the best school, taking the best classes. You want her involved and developing her abilities and skills. You want her to be challenged and all this is important for her brain development. But there is...
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My family loves to tell stories. One of these stories is about my sister when she was 13. My dad, sister and I were down at Memorial Park in Houston. We had hiked down to Buffalo Bayou. Its brown and murky and God knows what...
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"My daughter won't talk to me." I hear this from many of my moms. Yes it is challenging at times. But there is a way your daughter will talk to you but you may need to change your approach. It's important to evaluate 'how" you try to...
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When was the last time you had that "I Feel Good" energy? The kind of energy where you crank the music up in your car and pretend you're James Browns singing, "I feeeeeeeel good." Have you done any happy dances lately? Do you wake...
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Your daughter is going to push you. Just when you feel you have worked through one issue another one rolls in. This is where it is super important that you are crystal clear about your decisions, boundaries and guidelines for your daughter. Your clarity is so...
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Do you evaluate if you're "getting it right" as a parent, by how well your daughter's performing? This feels logical. You think, "If my daughter is behaving and performing well, then I am doing great, but if not, I must be failing." Here is the problem...
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I love pie. All kind of pies: blueberry, chocolate pecan, peach, apple, blueberry and lemon meringue. I could go on and on. I remember Nana my grandmother making lemon meringue pies. She didn't buy the frozen crust from the grocery store. She would make a homemade...
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