Category: Parenting

Teaching Both Halves of the Lesson – Double Standards for Breakfast

Preparing children for the real world can be challenging, in large part because life is complicated. Let’s start with some simple examples: When your adult friend is in a slump, should you console them or bark at them in an attempt to snap them out of it? It depends,...

Challenging Your Kids to Climb to the Next Level

“So, do you think you can do it?” Our guide had just finished telling me that it would be better for the boys to ride donkeys rather than to hike Pico Duarte. It is the Caribbean’s highest peak and a three-day endeavor for the hobbyist hiker. The climb is...

Be Ready for Spontaneous Teaching Moments

How a father’s inside joke with his kids turned into a scientific method experiment, then a lesson in learning, integrity, and service, and how, in the end, the joke was on us. Kids love treats, right? I think that’s why my kids are so tickled by their father’s love...

Teach It With a Story

Let me tell you a story. In Taiwan, the beaches are mostly deserted. Now, I want you to picture this: epic shores where green tropical forests on mountain peaks tumble down to blue and white rolling waves; steady sunshine streams; warm water moves rhythmically to the sand without a...

Assessing Readiness – the Right Lesson at the Right Time

Our daily news during the COVID-19 pandemic is catastrophic and not getting any better. At least, that’s how it can feel after reading the paper. Chris is the saint in our family who wades through the flood of disaster stories, headline by headline, and then filters them into a...