by janetedgette | Sep 27, 2017 | Family life, Parent-Teen communication, Parenting, Parenting teens, Teenagers
My teen client calls her dad a s@#t-head every chance she gets but what she really wants to say to him is this: “Every time you talk to me you’re trying to make some point and it gets old. Plus, you think you’re being funny but it hurts my feelings and that’s...
by janetedgette | Apr 8, 2016 | Boys, Family life, Mental health, Parenting, Parenting teens
Mom, there’s a guy in our driveway with a tow truck, my son reports. With miscalculated insouciance I reply, No worries, dude, I’m sure it’s Bill. Bill, our neighbor, owns a service station. He’s hooking up your car, mom. I run outside to yell at this man,...
by janetedgette | Aug 3, 2014 | Boy behavior, Boys, Boys and sports, Family life, Parent-Child communication, Parenting, Parenting young children, Sportsmanship
This is the last in a series of six articles about raising boys to be good sports. I wouldn’t consider this series on good sportsmanship to be complete without saying at least a few words about family game nights—those hotbeds of rivalry disguised as interludes of...
by janetedgette | Mar 4, 2014 | Family life, Parent-Teen communication, Parenting, Parenting teens, Teenagers
Actually, it’s not about “getting” your teen to talk. That’s been part of the problem all along – kids feeling tugged at and interrogated and cajoled into conversations that don’t interest them. I stuck that phrase in the title because, if nothing else, it...
by janetedgette | Jan 25, 2014 | Family life, Parent-Child communication, Parent-Teen communication, Parenting, Parenting teens, Teenagers
monosyllabia – a reactive disorder of adolescence characterized by the tendency to speak only in one syllable words Just kidding. I made up that thing about monosyllabia. But the following story is true. Fifteen year old Katie walked in the front door of her...
by janetedgette | Jan 5, 2014 | Boys, Family life, Masculinity, Parenting, Parenting young children, Teenagers
For the next several months a group of writers focused on the issues of raising boys to become men are collaborating through the writing and sharing of blog posts in order to bring greater awareness to the unique challenges parents and the community face in the 21st...
