by Betsy McMillin My five-year-old son and I were playing Star Wars charades. Again. Same thing, every time.  He played out some scene or action. I, with little emotion, tiredly went through the few characters I knew at the time: Luke.…

by Wilson Diehl We just returned from a mini-vacation with friends who have a daughter the same age as ours wherein we drank some wine, played in the sand, ate tons of berries, sang many rounds of “Take me out to the ballgame,” polished…

by Betsy McMillin One thing I have always hated as a parent is the nay-sayers. The oh-so-wise veteran parents, who upon seeing my bulging belly, or with little ones in tow say, "Oh... just wait!" followed by some horrid tale from the…

by Betsy McMillin I wonder if anyone has ever tried to figure out how many hours in our lifetime we, as parents, spend teaching our kids. Of the time we spend each day with our kids, especially the early years, the majority of it has got…

by Betsy McMillin Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners. ~Laurence Sterne It was typical craziness at my house the other day, eleven kids under the age of 12. Although, when I start out with six of…

by Betsy McMillin I was really excited after my editor told me to check out an article in The Atlantic, "How To Land Your Kids In Therapy," by Lori Gottlieb. Excited because I realized I had touched on something when I wrote both "The…

by Betsy McMillin My 14-year-old daughter came up to me yesterday and asked "Mumma, what's the matter today? You seem really sad." I replied, "Yeah, I got some sad news from a good friend." Sad news? Try monumentally depressing news. From…

by Betsy McMillin I was mulling over what topic to write about next. Then my phone rang; I ignored it.  It rang again.  And again. And again. I had my topic. According to an April 16, 2011 piece by April Conger for ABC News: Data from…

by Betsy McMillin Happy Father's Day!  I know I have some Dads out there who read my posts regularly.  Thank you for reading.  The fact that you are consistently reading a post on parenting speaks volumes.  I know, I know, I shouldn't say…

by Betsy McMillin One of the hardest things to do as a parent is to know when to keep our mouths shut.  When to keep our all-important parent facts inside and just listen to what our kids have to say.  They are amazing little and big…