My friend Dr. Jim Burns speaks often of his goal to be a “Transitional Generation” in his family. Both he and his wife experienced areas of significant dysfunction in their families as they grew up, and Jim and Cathy have made it their goal to be the generation that changes direction and does not pass on a number of dysfunctional elements...
TikTok, the highly popular social media platform, recently introduced new parental control features through “Family Pairing” which allows a parent to link their own TikTok account to their teen’s, where they are able to activate content and privacy features. According to a blog post from TikTok, parents can now select from a suite of controls, including:• Search, where parents can...
When is the last time you discussed money with your teens? I’m guessing unless it was them asking you for money, it’s probably been awhile. Or maybe it’s never happened. Did you know that money is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible? Jesus talked about money more than faith and prayer combined. It’s a big deal! Money, and especially the love of money, has...
As the country begins to open back up after the COVID-19 shut down, people are asking “what’s next”, and wondering what the “new normal” will look like. My kids are wondering about what school will look like in the fall, and whether or not their volleyball season will happen. We’re all tired of being in limbo, and looking forward to getting...
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 serves as an amazing foundation for living the Engaged Life as a family. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at...
During the greatly increased time at home we are experiencing during this pandemic, your family has no doubt been spending increased time streaming shows and movies. I’m also pretty sure that your kids and teenagers have been scrolling through the shows available to them on Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. and wanting to explore new movies and series. The problem is that some...
Recently, I recorded a series of parent trainings for Facebook. The first one was called “The Technology Takeover”, and addressed the ways that technology is taking over our lives during this COVID-19 pandemic. From school and work calls on Zoom to Facetime conversations with grandparents, we are all spending much more time on technology than we were before the coronavirus outbreak. The...
In a previous post, I mentioned that we’ve been watching lots of movies together as a family during this time of social distancing. Well, Disney released Frozen 2 early, and my eight-year-old has watched it several times so far. One theme that jumped out at me as I watched it with her was a phrase that’s repeated throughout the movie. “Do the next...
During this time of social distancing and more time at home, one thing our family has been doing is watching movies. With Disney Plus, it’s easy to gather everyone together and pick something to watch. Recently, we decided to pick an older movie that the kids haven’t seen. I gave them a few choices, and Katelyn, my 8-year-old, excitedly chose “Old Yeller” because...
Do you spend too much time on your phone? As parents, it’s easy to look at our kids or teens and stress over the amount of time they spend on their devices. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the amount of time we spend on our phones is an issue for everyone in our families, not just the kids....