As a parent of three sons on the verge of adulthood, one daughter right behind them and one son in middle school, Grown & Flown is one of my favorite websites for all things parenting older kids. Not only have I gained wisdom and insight from this popular online parenting resource, but I have also been […]
Five years ago, we were traveling around our country in an RV with our four middle schoolers in tow. In honor of that epic trip, we headed north to touch base with the campground life once again. We chose to get out of the Phoenix heat and camp at the Circle Pines KOA Holiday in […]
Our family spent part of our summer vacation exploring our home state of Arizona. We headed up north a couple of hours and visited Bearizona for the first time. Bearizona is a wildlife park featuring a wide variety of North American animals. You can experience a scenic 3 mile drive through the Ponderosa Pine Forest […]
One of our core family values is adventure, so it was only fitting that our family headed to Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course during our summer travels to northern Arizona. As our children get older, it can be difficult to figure out how to connect and ‘play’ as a family, so I try to seek out […]
Be Kind. Do Good. Make the World Better. For Purpose Kid’s simple motto is one we should all strive to raise our kids by today. How can we habitually make kindness and goodness an authentic part of childhood despite the self-serving culture that we are raising our kids in? We must decide that it’s important […]
We’re headed off on a week-long family trip, and in our excitement, we post pictures on Facebook of our departure from the country. Our son receives a prestigious award at school, so we proudly post him holding his certificate on Instagram. #proudmom It’s our daughter’s birthday, so we lovingly celebrate her by sharing a collage […]
As I scrolled Facebook, a post from a writer friend in California stopped me in my tracks. Arlene Pellicane announced that her family had to cancel their epic Italian vacation because the kids’ passports weren’t in compliance for international travel. Next, I received an email newsletter from my professional organizer friend, Danielle Wurth, talking about […]
Who’s bright idea was it to think that giving our youth iPhones was a good idea? And why have we continued to follow along knowing that giving our kids iPhones isn’t smart? I’m not sure how our family fell into society’s technology trap, but we did. Our teenagers have personal smartphones, but they don’t come without limits, rules, […]
Summer fun doesn’t plan itself! With our busy family schedule, I was thrilled to find The 2019 Essential Summer Vacation Calendar. It’s the perfect tool to help me visually lay out how we are going to spend the kids’ nine weeks of summer break. When do we have scheduled summer camps or organized activities? When do […]
Our screen-obsessed, competitive society makes it harder than ever to raise happy, thriving kids. But there are tried-and-true methods that can help. Instead of rearing a generation of children who are overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, and who struggle to become independent, responsible adults, parents can create a culture that promotes the growth of important character traits […]
