Growing up in a house where one or both parents suffer from a substance abuse disorder can be incredibly challenging. I know this because both of my parents were alcoholics for as long as I can remember. There was uncertainty, shame, embarrassing moments, and isolation my entire childhood. At the time, I did not realize…
Parenting teens is HARD. One thing that makes it even harder is when your teens are exhausted from lack of sleep. If there is one thing that is epidemic with teens, it is overstress and lack of sleep and it is clearly affecting their mental health at a time in life when they are struggling to…
Learning how to use money responsibly teaches kids to be responsible in all aspects of life. If they know and understand the value of money, they’ll become responsible adults. If you teach your kids about money early, you develop their confidence and they learn to analyze situations, particularly those that deal with money. Early financial…
Probably more than any other factor, your bad habits or good habits literally control your whole life. I find that so fascinating that I’ve devoted a lot of my life of working to smash those bad habits that are keeping ME stuck. In fact, a ton of the posts on this site are devoted to…
One of the most often overlooked parenting challenges is dealing with adult children still living at home with you. It may be that they went out into the world and came back (yo-yo kids) – sometimes with kids or spouses along for the ride. Or maybe they are the “failure to launch” kids who are…
If you’ve got clutter around your house, you are missing out on the peace and serenity that you could be enjoying. That’s one thing I learned after growing up in a messy house. However, there are so MANY problems which can cause clutter. Depending on which ones are your particular bugaboos, I’ve got some GREAT…
Cell phone addiction is a real thing, and I can prove it to you! Just take a ride on any freeway. Within 10 minutes you’ll find 3 to 5 people using their cell phones while driving ON THE FREEWAY. Yesterday, I spotted a motorcyclist in the fast lane, driving with one hand, while messing with his…
If you have kids, one of the main worries you have is how you’re going to be paying for college for them. College costs have been increasing wildly. So many kids are starting out their lives with huge student loans dragging them down. Or worse, many parents are putting their home or retirement savings at…
Here is the 4th post in our New Year’s Motivation series. For most people, parenting is a big part of our lives and all of us want to be a better parent to our children. As the mother of two sons and stepmother to a third, I think I have a bit of experience in…
I witnessed an intriguing conversation that popped up in my Facebook feed on the topic of abusive adult children living at home. Since I have a newly adult child (my youngest just turned 18), I thought it was time to talk about it. What are we Tolerating from These Adult Children? This woman was…
Here’s the final installment in my organizing kids series. This one is about taking back your mornings. With school-aged kids, it can be a real headache to get them out of bed, pulled together and fed, and somehow off to school on time every morning of the week. As the mom of two ADHD boys,…
Is there anything more pesky and annoying than trying to get your kids to do their chores? Unless you were born with that magically organized child (I never had THAT kid!), you are going to be fighting this fight for at least 18 years. According to my favorite behavioral psychologist Brian Wansink, the best way…
It occurred to me that in this New Year’s motivational series, I had not included any posts about parenting. So, I am starting a 3-part series here about both parenting and organization – double win! This first one is about helping your kids organize their homework. In the next post we will talk about kids…
OK, I have to ‘fess up, like many of you, I am seriously ADD. At times, my mind has the attention span of a Cocker Spaniel Puppy – (Squirrel!). A lot of it is my own fault. I am always doing at least 2 or 4 (or 9!) things at once, and my mind…
Pretty typical picture isn’t it? Not just for teen boys, but for everyone. Seems like all of us are spending major amounts of time staring at electronics of all types these days – not just phones, but iPads, computers, video games, and TV’s. It’s to the point where it is getting a little scary. I…
When you have a kid who has ADHD or is just plain disorganized, basic school stuff can be a real challenge. These are some tips to make it much easier for BOTH of you. It’s more of a Brain Problem than a Motivation Problem, (but it’s also a motivation problem) To me, the advantage of…