Posts with the category “parent-resources”

From The Parent Cue We know the holidays can feel like many things: stressful, pressure-filled, and frenetic. But if we’re lucky, the holidays can also feel restful, grounding, and refreshing.  As a p...  Read More

From The Parent Cue Every family has a rhythm…yes, even the families who can’t seem to escape the cycle of daily chaos. If you look closely, you’ll find consistent things that happen every day o...  Read More

From the Parent Cue You know how it is: Your kid makes one change and it seems to throw your family’s whole world into a tailspin. Whether the shift is big or small, those changes are usually not with...  Read More

From the Parent Cue. Many parents have an interesting relationship with technology.  We’re both grateful for the moments of peace technology affords us and worried that our kids are becoming addicted ...  Read More

from the Parent Cue Talking to my kids about love scares me. Love feels like such a massive, important topic and I’m afraid I’ll mess it up. My kids are eight and three—how can I distill the grand con...  Read More

From The Parent Cue Blog On Christmas Day, kids across the world rushed to their living room to find a nondescript, squarish box with their name on it waiting under the tree. The device they’ve been w...  Read More

From The Parent Cue Blog I’m not going to give you a bunch of statistics about how much we’re on our phones, tablets, and computers, because we already know it’s a lot—probably (definitely) too much. ...  Read More

From The Parent Cue Blog The next time you go to plug in one of your electronics or one of your kids’ electronics, look at the plug. Have you ever wondered why an electrical plug has 3 prongs? And wha...  Read More

From The Parent Cue Living and raising kids in a digital world means there are so many devices vying for our kids’ attention. Managing screen time is an ever-present struggle for many parents because ...  Read More

If you’re like most people, the calm—sometimes too calm—days of summer have rapidly been replaced by the full—sometimes too full—days of school, sports, and normal life. Enter: the seven hacks we al...  Read More

Busyness can seem necessary and unavoidable in today’s world, but it so easily becomes a habit that takes over a family’s life....  Read More

From the Parent Cue. Us parents long to have a deep connection with our kids, but it’s difficult when the majority of their answers to questions are simply, “Fine.” But we can’t let their short respon...  Read More

From The Parent Cue Blog Every family has a rhythm. For some families, morning is crazy.Dinner may happen all together, or you may have one parent who works at night. Or sports or other activities may...  Read More

From The Parent Cue Blog As a kid, do you remember a moment when you realized that grown-ups were real people? Maybe it was standing around the grill with your dad and his friends, or listening to you...  Read More

One of the hardest things you’ll ever have to do in your parenting is learn how to communicate with your kid. Communication in and of itself has never been easy, but add an age gap, youthful angst, an...  Read More

From Focus on the Family Service isn’t something that comes naturally to most people. When children are left to their own devices, they are more apt to make selfish choices. Although some may show emp...  Read More

Change the way you see him. Look at him as a dad who’s trying. See him as a man with his own unique preload, who needs help and encouragement. After all, isn’t that what you want from him? Once you be...  Read More

From Dr. Meg Meeker When I ask a father what he needs to do in order to be a good dad, I usually get an answer like this. “I want to spend a lot of time with my kids and I want to give them all of the...  Read More

In the immediate timeframe, certain day-to-day parenting decisions may seem insignificant, but what we do in the early years matters. Being intentional, however, requires keeping the long view in mind...  Read More

Currently, a battle is raging in one of our communities concerning books on the shelves of the public library.  The two sides of this issue couldn’t be further apart.  One side champions the represent...  Read More

There are ways to use technology with your kid that enhance meaningful connections instead of replacing them. Here are a few ideas. ...  Read More

Learning to communicate well is hard, yet important work. And while you may not get it right all the time, knowing your effort and your desire to understand your child and be understood by them makes ...  Read More

Helping your senior deal with disappointment is an unwanted, yet important role as a parent. While this season may be short-lived, it will not be the last time our teenagers walk through disappointme...  Read More

One day you’re holding a new baby—toes in your hand and a little noggin’ tucked in the crook of your elbow. The next thing you know that baby is running past you, full of opinions, ideas and questions...  Read More

In a recent message, we learned about the Biblical command to rest based on Jesus' teaching in Matthew 12. You can watch the full message here. Pastor Mike shared that in order to say yes to Sabbath r...  Read More

I'm a fairly techy (if that is a word) guy, so over the years I've had countless people ask my advise on locking down phones and devices from harmful content.  Whether that is someone fighting issues ...  Read More

From Christian Parenting Like most well-intentioned parents, Dave and I have high hopes for our boys.  We want our sons to grow up to be good men, productive, stable, and successful. So we teach them ...  Read More

We have a twelve-year-old boy and he is now, more than ever, interested in what’s going on in the world. He wants to know about things like abortion and LGBTQ rights and whether black lives matter. He...  Read More

We all need better boundaries so that we live in healthy relationships.  That was the big takeaway from my message yesterday.    It is time to break the bad habit of codependent relationships.   The g...  Read More

from The Parent Cue As adults, it can be easy to assume that kids, particularly younger ones, have nothing to fear, worry, or be sad about. After all, childhood is known for being the most innocent an...  Read More

From The Parent Cue We live in a digital world. Laptops. Tablets. Smartphones. Smart TVs. There are so many devices that occupy our kids’ attention. Controlling screen time is an ever-present task for...  Read More

From The Parent Cue I remember the first time I became super aware of the way I looked. It was my first middle school dance, and, as an eighth grader, this was a pretty big deal. I had waited my entir...  Read More

From Desiring God After I had my first child, and all the more after I had my second, I wondered if I would be done with ministry until my kids grew up. I wondered how I could possibly fit another tas...  Read More

From the Parent Cue Is your teen or tween behaving more differently than usual? I know, this probably seems like a trick question. The emphasis is on the word more. For example, has your usually uber-...  Read More

“Daddy” is my favorite name, and being daddy is the most rewarding position I have in my life. But a little over a year ago, after my wife lost her battle to breast cancer, I became “mommy” as well, a...  Read More

Yes, kids need correcting. But on this day, I began to understand two things: Sometimes the heart needs to hear what it’s doing right. And, correcting is better received in small doses....  Read More

More and more, I’m met with the fact that parenting isn’t a formula, and every kid is very different. I can’t expect my adult children to parent their kids exactly the way I parented them. So, as a gr...  Read More

From the Parent Cue Let me guess. You feel like you really need to de-stress.Of course you do…you’re a parent.Pretty much every parent I talk to is tired. Well, more than just tired. Stressed. Deeply ...  Read More

Put any sixth-grade class up against the latest hit reality show and you’ve got yourself a real contest. Help your preteen tone things down a bit—and maybe even enjoy life a whole lot more—with these ...  Read More

Enter a room full of six- and seven-year-olds and you’re bound to spot one thing right away: the cute little gaps of kids who whistle while they talk. Forget calling it first grade. This is the Missin...  Read More