Research shows that regular family dinners have tremendous benefits for children and teens. Eating dinner together as a family can increase self-esteem, academic performance, and reduce the likelihood of adolescent depression. They create a secure, positive, warm environment for the child. Regular family dinners – which the research defines as eating dinner together at least five times a week – also have the potential to prevent risky behavior, such as drug

There’s a phenomenon that regularly occurs in parenting that we need to discuss. It’s called default parent syndrome. You probably know what we’re talking about: when one parent becomes the default parent and one parent becomes the back-up parent. Parenting magazines, websites, and the mainstream news media have picked up on this. They highlight one unfortunate by-product of the default/back-up parenting dynamic, which is that the parent who falls into

This year, National Teenager Day falls on the first day of Spring: Saturday, March 21st. That means you get to celebrate two amazing things at once: the magic of Spring, and the joy of teenagers. That’s right, we said the joy of teenagers. We mean it. If there’s a teenager in your life, March 21st is the day to honor them, celebrate them, and tell them how much you appreciate

When people think of a single parent, most envision a single mom. A young, single mom. They’re not wrong: there are more young, single moms than any other type of single parent in the U.S. But not all single parents are moms. And they’re not all young. Single parents can dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, or foster parents of either gender. There’s only one criterion a person needs to meet

Every year, we celebrate Incredible Kid Day on the third Thursday in March. This year, Incredible Kid Day – or Absolutely Incredible Kid Day, as it’s properly called – comes on March 21st. Founded in 1997, the purpose of Absolutely Incredible Kid Day is simple: tell the kids in your life what makes them incredible. This day started so adults don’t make the mistake of assuming the kids in their

Everyone says one of the best ways to keep a family together is by having regular family dinners. Parents and kids sit down around the table and catch up on the events of the day. They talk about plans for tomorrow, discuss important family matters, or just take the time to enjoy a nice meal and some no-stress conversation. We agree – family dinners are important. But not everyone has

Parenting is one of the most rewarding experiences in life. It’s also one of the most challenging. Along with the laughter, joy, and love, children bring into the lives of their parents, they also bring tears, tantrums, and frustration. It’s up to parents to guide children into adulthood, give them the fundamental tools they need to make their way in the world, and prepare them for the myriad adventures life

The average American teenager spends about nine hours sleeping and about seven and a half hours participating in school-related activities on any given weekday during the school year. That means they have roughly seven and a half hours of downtime every day to fill however they choose. Which makes us wonder: How do our teenagers fill those seven and a half hours of downtime? Thankfully, we don’t have to guess,

Scores of peer-reviewed scientific journal studies that examine the relationship between parenting styles and the use of alcohol and drugs are available to the public. The majority of this research focuses on the effect of parenting style on alcohol and drug use among adolescents. In this area of research, scientists identify four primary parenting styles – Authoritarian, Authoritative, Permissive, and Neglectful – and attempt to determine which style has the