Index: Relationships

Think of the voices that surround our children. Voices leading children to love money, God, family, power, popularity, prestige, entitlement, activism, intellectual achievement, personal worth, truth, pleasure-seeking, time wasting, productivity, industry, judgment, despair, and more.   It’s easy to see how some of these voices mislead and hurt a child’s potential. Yet, these voices oftentimes come from people who say,… Read more »

Humanity is such an interestingthing. Do we really understand it? Do we really know what it is? How do we define “being human?” In order to be human, we must understand nature; what God created. Once we understand that, we can begin to understandhuman nature.… Read more »

Two to three times per day, my 17-year-old son spontaneously comes up to me as I’m coming down the hall or when I’m standing in the kitchen, and wraps his arms around me and gives me a tender, loving hug. “Oh, Mom…I love you,” he says. These hugs are some of the highlights of my days. They truly turn our… Read more »

Trapped! That’s what many people feel like they are right now. Many children are complaining of being bored, or worse, having way too much screen time. Stress is infiltrating more homes globally by the day because businesses are closing their doors, people are losing their jobs, bills are still coming due, social distancing is making people feel disconnected, and there… Read more »

“Mom, I’m going to go to Zack’s to play basketball. Is that okay?” Quinton, age fifteen, announced this morning. I replied, “Quin, you have things to do here at home today, so I don’t think we will have time for friends until another day.” Quin really wanted to go shoot hoops with his friend. What fifteen year old boy doesn’t?… Read more »

Reaching a child’s heart is vital for awakening his conscience and morally training him to desire to make good choices, but structure also has a part to play in training the heart. This is a true story, and a new parenting lesson, of how to help a person understand the truths behind your teachings. Structure “Porter, I need you do… Read more »

It’s all too common in many modern households to hear sighs, grumbling, complaining and whining from children when parents give reminders of daily work responsibilities, or when additional work assignments are given to children.But, before we think this is the way children have always felt about doing work or that everyone should feel work is somehow one of the punishments… Read more »

As I held my 15-year-old son’s hand and watched the magic of Christmas unfold around me with lights and nativity displays at the city center, I felt that date with my son was a parent’s dream come true. Who doesn’t dream of the perfect parent/child memory? We all want them, but could our desire for that perfect moment be just… Read more »

When I was a teenager I dreamed of what kind of parent I would be. I just new I would be one of those cool moms who had great relationships with her children and always did fun stuff. My husband also had similar visions of coolness. I remember that when we got married he declared. “I don’t want to be… Read more »

No matter the amount of technology that’s developed to filter devices in order to keep children from viewing objectionable material, the mental, physical and spiritual risks of digital devices facing children have never been greater. Note: In this article I’m using the word “phone” liberally to mean all digital devices that are in regular use in the lives of our… Read more »

Dear Teaching Self-Government Friends, Every year we’ve tried to do a “State of Teaching Self-Government” update for you. So much has been happening that we feel like it’s time for one of those updates — even though it’s not January yet. Ever since people started asking us to talk to them about the self-government principles and skills we were using… Read more »

“I hate that I’ve been mean to my children before,” confessed a father I was speaking to recently. Instead of calmly handling difficult situations, this father had become frustrated a few times and lost his temper with his children. His voice tone and body were humble as he confessed this. He wasn’t making excuses for his bad behavior but was… Read more »