Posts Tagged ‘parents’

How do you start the conversation with your teen about turning down drugs and alcohol?

I know I am a big influence in my child’s life. Like many parents, I want to make sure my son is equipped to make healthy choices. Research from the Partnership for Drug-Free America shows that kids who learn consistently from their parents about the risks of drugs and alcohol are up to 50% less likely to use than those who don't. What helpful parenting tips can you share?

At what age did you stop telling your parents everything?

14…When they passed away

What is the most unusual Christmas gift you have received?

I am the oldest of three children, now 54 years old. When I was very little, just walking, I went into the bathroom and climbed on the toilet one day and took my father’s razor from the back of the toilet where he kept it. I wanted to be like him, so I started shaving. This was not a safety razor, but the kind that flips open that barbers sometimes use to get a really close shave.

The bathroom was a mess with blood. I had relatively few cuts considering, but I did have one that left a bad scar under my right eye. (Managed to miss either eye).

My Dad was horrified when he found out what had happened and felt terrible. He was a good and decent man and died 4 years ago. If the subject ever came up he would always admit what a mistake it was for him to have kept it there, but didn’t realize how little ones can get into things.

The first Christmas after he had died, my Mom gave me this razor, the razor with which the incident happened. I didn’t know he still even had it! For some reason that is a very special Christmas gift because it represents what a really good parent he was, even though parents can make mistakes. And the fact he was so remorseful that the incident happened will always tell me how much he loved me.

This one probably did not make you laugh, but you have to admit it is an unusual Christmas gift.

My son doesn’t believe in God anymore. Please help, what do I do? ?

Today, in the car, after picking up my 16 year old son from school, he told me that he will not be attending church this Sunday. Shocked and confused, I asked him why he would say such a horrible thing, and he said it’s because he doesn’t believe in God anymore. Apparently a child at his school has been going around telling the other children that God is not real, apparently the child is an “atheist”. I asked my son why he would believe such a horrible thing and he said “because there’s no proof that God exists.” I told him that the proof is everywhere, I told him that the proof is in the bible, yet he still believes the horrible lie that child has been spreading around. I spoke to my husband about this and we’re not sure what we’re going to do, but we’ve called the school and the school district and filed a complaint about the lies that child is spreading. It clearly has something to do with the parents of that child, so I’ve encouraged the principal to contact CPS to look into the situation. As for our son, we’re not sure what we should do. It’s horrible to think that our own son is committing a horrible sin by denying the existence of the lord.

Please help, what do we do?

How can creating a community of understanding help prevent tragedies like the one at Virginia Tech?

as a 16 year old high school sophomore, i understand that there are a lot of issues with today’s world that probably help cause these things, though there are probably some underlying personal issues beside those. either way, society today is incredibly cut-throat, brutal, and way too fast. there is so much pressure from parents, teachers, and everyone for kids today to always go go go. we’re being pushed to fully understand and cope with things that previous generations didn’t encounter until graduate school, and it applies to both academics and social issues. My generation is being forced to grow up too fast. and the fast pace of society means that if you start to stumble, u are going to be trampled and left in the dust. Even though so much more is being expected of us, we’re not getting the comfort and support we need to deal with all the stress and anxiety. Our world is a traumatic place to live, just turn on the news! I think we need to slow down, and take the time to focus on the individual person, ask people how they’re feeling everyday. And don’t expect too much from us, we need time to grow up, and a hand to hold along the way.

What can parents do to help their daughters enter the dating world safely and with confidence?

Girls rarely get to direct their own sexual identity or development in our culture. Between the messages they get from the media, friends, parents and boys, it’s amazing any of them leave adolescence unscathed. Unfortunately, though, many don’t. So what can parents do to protect their girls? How can they help girls navigate their way through these messages, and still somehow stay true to the girls’ own desires?