Here are a few of quotes that stood out to me over the course of this Memorial Day Weekend: “Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.” ~~Douglas MacArthur “Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.” ~~Douglas MacArthur "The dead soldier's silence sings our national anthem.” ~~ Aaron Kilbourn Everyone here at Celebrate Kids wish to thank all of our past and present veterans, and their families, for their sacrifice and devotion to our country. We honor and bless you this Memorial Day. … [Read more...]
Being A Parent Is Like …
May 23, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Perhaps you’ve seen the humorous and rather true job descriptions for parents that occasionally circulate from one email in box to another. As a parent educator, I’ve given some thought to parent roles and responsibilities. If you’re a Mom or if you serve women, I imagine you’ve thought about this, too. Even the finest dictionary can’t adequately define “parent.” Plus, it’s much more interesting to ask parents how they define the word. One of my favorite ways to do this is to have them complete the sentence, “Being a parent is like . . .” … [Read more...]
Bullying Prevention Celebrate Kids Style
May 20, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
There are three kinds of bullying: verbal, physical, and relational. Bullying can occur face-to-face or in cyber space. Bullying will always include an imbalance of power, intent to harm, and a threat of further aggression. If it escalates, you can add terror to the list. Bullying is a conscious, willful, and deliberate hostile activity intended to harm and induce fear. It's effective. Bullying contributes to the dropout rate of 7,000 students a day. You know that. What you may not know, we'll help you discover in our June webinar. We should all be concerned. We can all make a difference if we're informed. What's the Celebrate Kids approach? How can we equip kids/teens to cope with bullying? How can we get bullies to stop? How … [Read more...]
“Okay.Stuff.Nothing” – Communicating In Spite of Evasive Answers
May 20, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
“How was Sunday school?” “Okay.” “What did you do?” “Same old stuff.” “What did you learn?” “Nothing.” If you frequently have conversations like this when talking with your children on the way home from church, take heart! You’re not alone. I’ve talked with hundreds of parents in America, Canada, Europe, and Central Asia who love their kids, but are similarly frustrated. Whether talking about school or Sunday school, let me suggest some guidelines and better questions that might solve your frustrations. … [Read more...]
Personal Care Enhances While Negativity Diminishes Authority
May 13, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
This article first appeared in our Celebrate Kids, Inc. Newsletter Issue #3 in January. You can sign up for our newsletter here. --- I recently observed two things related to authority. Keep your eyes and ears open, too, because you can learn much by thinking about what you observe. Feel free to share your observations with me. Here are mine today:I just spent several days with some heroes – wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan. During a discussion of leadership, one of the men shared what he believed contributed to his success as a leader. He took time to get to know and to listen to the soldiers he led. He knew which ones were married, who had children, and their names. He even knew which ones had pets and what they named … [Read more...]
Ignored or Established Authority?
May 9, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
The small, five-year-old girl worked hard to open the large, elaborately carved door. Then she maneuvered in front of it to keep it open. After waiting and listening for awhile, she confidently proclaimed into the emptiness, “Get out of there! You’re not supposed to be in there!”Three or four young boys had entered the room a minute earlier during a game of hide-and-seek. Their parents were among many others attending a reception in a room down the hall so they were entertaining themselves. Everything had been fine. She tried again. “Get out of there! You’re not supposed to be in there!” She waited. Hearing nothing and seeing nothing, she sounded even more urgent the third time: “Get out of there! You’re not supposed to … [Read more...]
What I Appreciate About Mom
May 6, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Last week I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to enthusiastic moms of young children. I mentioned, as I often do, that my parents raised me well. They chose to see my chattiness as a strength to develop and not a weakness to eliminate. They helped me form character qualities so I could use my words in healthy and helpful ways. They supported me in Children's Theater and Forensics. They took me to the library. They encouraged me during hard honors English classes. Praise God! In honor of Mother's Day, what else do I appreciate about my mom? (I'll write about my Dad's influence near Father's Day.) My mom was very interested in what my brother, Dave, and I were interested in. It wasn't fake interest. She never made me feel like I was an … [Read more...]
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