How to Find the Good Guys

When I was ten years old, the Wild West could be found in our living room.  Actually, you could find it in practically anyone’s living room given that there were more than 100 TV Westerns made between 1954 and 1969.  In each one it was pretty easy to tell the good guys from the bad.  So, I was not at all afraid when one day I went to the local police station with my dad to pick up his paycheck.  I not only knew what a bad guy looked like but I had “the law” with me. I was safe.

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How to Mend a Broken Heart

“What’s ‘unrequited love’ mean?”  That’s the opening line from my son when I picked him up from school earlier today.

As any experienced parent knows, this is the type of question that doesn’t deserve an immediate answer.  It deserves another question. So I say, “Why do you ask?”

“Well, this girl at school said that she had ‘unrequited love’ for me.  I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

It sounds to me as if this girl may not only be more mature than my son but she also has a better vocabulary.

I start thinking about how to best answer his question and my mind veers onto the nostalgia road where I recall a few personal “unrequited love” stories from my tween/teen years. Read more

How to Do the Homework Hokey Pokey

No animals were harmed in the making of this film.

Those are the last words I recall before falling asleep. I stayed up way past my bedtime while watching a DVD of the cult classic: The Doberman Gang. And, that was after completing an impressive heap of homework—not mine—my son’s.

Motherly worries made it difficult to sleep after what felt like a tag-team wrestling match over homework. How can we have a child who will do everything in his power to avoid doing homework when both his father and I were the type of kids who had near panic attacks if we slipped up on just one assignment? Read more

How to Handle with Care: Good Grief

When we go to visit father’s grave my husband and children stand by my side. None of them knew my dad; they are there for me. I always cry a bit; I get hugs all around. On the way home from our last visit my youngest asked, “Why do we come if it makes you cry every time?” I say, “I really feel fine. It’s hard to explain.” I wish I had a better answer. I’m surprised that he wonders why I would cry every time. I’m not sobbing; I just “puddle up.” I wonder how my children will manage grief when it affects them. I wonder how I might help them through it. So, when I get home, I call Lucy.

Lucy Nile is a bereavement facilitator who conducts support groups for schools and family support organizations including Annie’s Hope. Read more

How to Envision Your 2010

During our first My Mommy Manual meeting of 2010, Zen Mommy and I created our vision boards for the year. We regularly spend time on goal setting and using our LEFT brains to figure out the ways we will “grow connection” in the world. So it FELT great to tap into our right brain wisdom!

So here’s what came up for us!

It was great fun and incredibly insightful. We invite you to do the same, whether its for your career, your personal and/or family life. Share your insights with us here!

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How to Reduce Holiday Stress for Kids

Visualize a heart-filled holiday.
You can do this one at the dinner table. Have everyone in the family close their eyes, focus on their heart, and imagine what kind of holiday will bring joy into their heart. Then share your ideas around the table. This helps kids feel listened to, cared for, and included.

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How to Think Outside the (Art) Box

Where’d you get that?

Are you asking because you like it?
— Because you think it is hideous?
— Because it is unique?

I tend to over think my response to this question because this artwork is personal. It’s a collaborative work by my family.

The 4 x 2 canvas came from a local art store —along with a calligraphy marker and some gold paint. We used leftover house paint for the tan, red and beige. First, my husband painted the background off-white (no dribbles, every inch covered; he’s thorough). Next, we took turns dribbling paint á la Jackson Pollock. Read more

How to Talk to Your Teen Girls About… Boys

Expert Mommy, Carrie Silver-Stock shares her tips on how to talk about boys with your teen girls. Carrie is a licensed social worker with years of experience working with teen girls and she is the author of the book, Secrets Girls Keep.

Have you successfully had conversations with your daughters about their “crushes” and dating?

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How to Get Bound with a Book

My dad died a long time ago,  long before I had children. Yet, among other things, we are still bound by a book. It’s a hardcover edition of Mark Twain’s short stories. My dad bought it when I was a toddler and gave it to me the night before I got married, telling me that Twain’s humor and wisdom would come in handy in the years ahead. It did, and it still does.

When you share a book with someone it’s as if you’re saying “I value what’s in this book enough to want to share it with you because I value you too.” Simple sentiments become more powerful when accompanied by a book.

Parents of small children know how important “book/cuddle time” is to raising a reader and making essential connections. Parents of preteens and teens can continue to build a special closeness through books: Read more

How to Communicate with Your Teen

Recently, I’ve been totally dumb founded by a couple of conversations with my 8-year old girl, when something I say that I think is trivial like, “I’m turning on the timer for your homework.” is the cause of major hysteria! WTF?! A recent interview with one of our Guest Experts, Vanessa Van Petten, author of the book, You’re Grounded gave me some great insight into the brains of tweens and teens. Apparently, they think in superlatives, almost exclusively! So how we use this fact to communicate more effectively with our drama queens? Vanessa tells us…

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