Mom’s home-cooked meals
Every night of my childhood, and I mean every night, my mom cooked us a gourmet meal. Raising eight kids on a shoestring budget didn’t allow for steaks and lobster, but she put a lot
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Why coloring is good for your soul
Why are so many adults and teenagers starting to spend time coloring? In a word, stress. Recent data shows that stress levels continue to rise for Americans, with higher average levels for women and millennials.
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Big boys do cry
Spending a weekend with a dozen inner city high school boys in a rustic camp setting may not sound like nirvana to you, but I came away incredibly inspired. This was a rite of passage weekend
Why girls and women gossip
Why do girls gossip so much? Let me count the ways. It starts early in life, and for most persists throughout their lifetime. I have listened to girls in grade school through college at my
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Dare to be a parent and just say no!
I’m saddened that so many parents need permission to set boundaries and advocate for their children. There is a higher level of insecurity permeating parents today than in previous generations. On the one hand we
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A new theory of evolution, and why Trump is acting like an ass
I have formulated a new groundbreaking theory of evolution that is going to put Darwin’s theory to rest. In my book about adolescent girls I described how the wiring of the female brain contributed to
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Best way for kids to overcome their fears? Go for the roar!
Learning to deal with fear is one of the most important lessons kids can take with them when they leave the nest. I find that most kids I work with haven’t been given solid tools
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What’s most damaging to a girl’s self-esteem? A bad case of the ‘ers
There may be nothing more damaging to a girl’s self-esteem than their own thoughts. Middle school girls have a tough time controlling negative self-talk that courses through their brains, with the cost of them feeling
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How anger can set you free
I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him. Booker T. Washington With so much anger seething in our presidential races and throughout the world due to racial tensions and
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Where to find the best education? Not where you think
I have written in recent blogs about why it doesn’t really matter where you go to college, and about how college is not for everyone. Let’s take it a step further today and look at
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Should we abolish youth sports? Playing for the love of the game
Somewhere along the way we began distracting our children away from what really matters, resulting in hollow awards and kids losing their childhoods. Everything, and I mean everything, has become a competition and adult driven.
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Dear daughter: A father’s advice concerning prom night, boys, and boundaries
Dear daughter, First of all know that I love you and want the very best for you. I realize you are no longer a little kid, but in my heart you will always be daddy’s
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What is bringing down girl’s self-esteem? Defining themselves by numbers
Too often girls choose to define themselves based on numbers, resulting in ever-present anxiety, self-hatred, and discontent. These digits come in many forms, including how you look and how you perform. The culprits causing this
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The 2 most common reasons kids engage parents in power struggles? Love and control
11-year-old Maria has a limited palate, 10 food items to be exact. She refuses to eat anything besides frozen waffles, French fries, chicken nuggets, strawberries, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter on apple slices with chocolate
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THE best gift for any child: finding their tribe
Meg was terrified of public speaking, and when it was her turn to speak as the valedictorian of her 8th grade class, she froze, requiring her mom to escort her down from the stage. She
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Why girls like drama
There is a reason why girls in middle school get enmeshed in drama: there are a lot of payoffs. Yes, that’s right, girls receive goodies for being involved in drama and it contributes to keeping
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Rules for the holiday dinner table
Most of the dinner scenes from holiday movies are chaotic and end in fights; films like Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase, and The Family Stone with Diane Keaton. Perhaps the reason for the mayhem and
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How to help girls bloom? Fix toxic school environments
When a flower doesn’t bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower. Alexander Den Heijer Working with girls for over 30 years has taught me that they are not messed up,
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9 year old charged with sexual harassment: it’s time to get a grip
When a nine-year-old boy is being threatened with sexual harassment charges by his school district for passing a love note in class, we should all agree that we’ve reached a new level of absurdity. According
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It’s time to eliminate the golden rule
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I remember having this proverb pounded into my head at home and at school throughout my formative years, but as an adult have found
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