Index: Relationships

“Porter, you’re being whiny and you need to stop it,” said Spencer, my husband, in exasperation one evening. He had just treated the children to a day of fun times and snacks, and even purchased souvenir T-shirts for them. Spencer had had enough. The funny thing was that Porter’s whiny moment was the first occurrence of whininess and entitlement all… Read more »

So many people ask me how to control their out of control children… A man I really admire named Jeffrey Holland said, “…the only real control in life is self control.” I couldn’t agree more. You can control the settings on your computer, and control the television choices that come into your home. You can control all the things on… Read more »

What can you really control? ~ Happiness for everyone! We are obsessed with control these days. Every company, institution, agenda, and family member wants to have some sort of control over us, and we want it over them. We want our opinions to be heard and our needs to be met. We want the control. Why do we want this… Read more »

Freedom in the family is the key to raising children who are freer and more independent. The problem is, most people don’t understand freedom. Many families institute complete license without consequences assuming that’s freedom and that it will lead to independent children. But in reality, it leads to emotional bondage and relationship dysfunction. Personal freedom and independence are nurtured best… Read more »

My views have changed. During my teen and young adult years, I thought that women needed to do everything men did, and women did, in order to be strong. But, now that I have seen every dimension of womanhood firsthand, I see that my views of women and myself lacked depth and understanding when I was young, and I was… Read more »

For years, sociologists, governments and parents have been trying to determine whether the amount of time a parent spends with their child actually matters for the child’s success in life. How are we to know what’s best for our children and our families? We don’t need charts or questionnaires; we just need to look around us at the obvious answers… Read more »

In recent months, there have been many news stories, YouTube videos and social media posts that show parents getting creative with their discipline techniques to get through to their children. Everyone wants to know if these creative measures are healthy or harmful. I would like to talk specificallyabout public shaming and its use as a discipline technique for children. The… Read more »

I’ve been writing about the best practices in raising children since 2006. During this time, I’ve covered a variety of subjects, but never did I think I would end up writing about a topic like this. No matter where you live or how you choose to educate your children, this database scandal could likely affect your family. Behind the safety… Read more »

An exasperated woman, whose marriage was falling apart, said to me, “Nicholeen, my husband is obsessed by principles. He keeps telling me that I don’t understand principles and that I’m not living by principles. How do you define principles?”   This woman’s husband lived according to his own made-up rules, such as hiding things from the government, controlling his wife… Read more »

Do you have some awesome family trips or activities planned for this Summer? It’s going to be the best Summer ever! However, what are you going to do when the children start acting out? TSG on the go is always a little harder than at home. How are you going to keep them calm, happy, and obedient? How will they… Read more »

I once had a reader say that praising didn’t come naturally for her. In fact, she thought praising seemed fake and annoying. She wrote: I don’t want to be a cheerleader, always saying “Good job” no matter what—I want to say things that really matter, that I really believe, that are true. I guess what makes it hard is when… Read more »

by Nicholeen Peck Sometimes it’s nice to find out that something we’re doing is really working to bring about good things. Positive online posting makes a big difference in our world, even if it doesn’t always seem like there is time to do it. This week a parent, who attends my weekly digital parenting support group, wanted advice for how… Read more »