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 daughter can be happy, angry, sad, stressed, and hyper in a five...
Read More
Are you and your partner on the same page concerning your daughter? Do you back each other up? Are you a united front? Do you have each other's back? ...
Read More
One of the quickest ways to connect with your daughter is through laughter. But let's be honest. Does your daughter's silliness and playfulness drive you nuts sometimes? You want her to be serious about...
Read More
You can feel it. This morning is different. The house is quiet. My daughter had her best friend spend the night last night and they are sleeping peacefully. The pressure is gone. It's the first day of summer. Woo Hoo!!!! My daughter couldn't wait for school to be...
Read More
Joan just wanted to relax. She picked up her favorite book and got into bed. She had just told her 12 year old daughter Brittany to clean her room. Five minutes later her daughter starts a huge drama scene. Brittany started slamming doors and went...
Read More
My daughter is so stubborn. She argues about everything She won't listen to anything I say If I say one thing, she blows a gasket I'll ask her about her day and all she says is fine. She's so disrespectful. It's like she's in...
Read More
Do you wonder why you are not enjoying your life? You wanted to be a mother. On paper it looked good. You have the house, kids, work, and the husband (or no husband). You have food in the refrigerator. You tell yourself, "There are so...
Read More
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'...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
"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...
Read More
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...
Read More
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....
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More