Young Adults

Mama J on January 31st, 2012

It’s not unusual for a parent to notice a surge in their child’s skills in some favorite activity. This is happening right now with my youngest daughter and her competitive swimming ability. As we look to support her while she steps it up, I immediately wonder, “what is my role as a parent of a […]

Continue reading about Healthy parenting of rising-star athletes

Mama J on January 11th, 2012

On my mind today are kids and athletics. It’s fairly well-documented that when a child and a sport find a natural match, the child experiences increased self-esteem from performance in the sport. I believe this is not only applicable to sports but can include any interest or activity in which a chlid excels. But since […]

Continue reading about The Athletics Series

Mama J on November 2nd, 2011

Most of my blogs this season have been quite cheery. It didn’t seem fair to myself or to you to continue in this vein without expressing at least a little sadness as well.  Overall, our stepfamily has come a long way. To be honest, I only use the “step” words in this blog or other […]

Continue reading about The Grey Side

Mama J on July 13th, 2011

I started to tell you last time that I had my daughter “sign her life away” to get her cell phone. Here are most of the terms and conditions we put in the agreement, in case it would be helpful to any of you. I, (child’s name), understand that my phone is a privilege given […]

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Mama J on June 8th, 2011

That is today’s question. My 11-year-old has started to babysit. So far she has one client,  third-grade twins in our neighborhood. She has stated her case that it would be helpful to have a cell phone while babysitting in case of emergency when she walks out of the house to take the kids to the […]

Continue reading about To Cell Phone, or not to Cell Phone?

Mama J on May 19th, 2011

Last week I made a case about how I think face time with my kids trumps Facebook. Recently, we’d had the pleasure of having each of my older kids (my stepchildren) move back in with us, one at a time. Last week I told the story of my stepdaughter, her fiancé, and their dogs squeezing […]

Continue reading about The Blessings of Face Time, Part 2

Mama J on May 11th, 2011

I’m here to validate an understatement: for real relationships, face time trumps Facebook. Our stepfamily had a lot of face time in 2010. Each of my adult stepkids (then 23 and 22) stayed with us during the year, living in our basement one right after the other. Instead of just marking “Like” on a Facebook […]

Continue reading about The Blessings of Face Time, Part 1

Mama J on April 27th, 2011

I am reading the book Success in Middle School: A Transition Road Map with my 11-year-old daughter. I believe that the key word in the title is “transition.” I picked that word instead of “success” because I think success becomes a very personal definition for each student. Those definitions will range from success equaling academic […]

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Mama J on April 6th, 2011

In the last month I have seen several references to the havoc that information overload can wreak on our brain power. (Most recently the cover article, “Brain Freeze,” from the March 7 issue of Newsweek.) In light of watching my youngest daughter grow up in an age of constant, excessive stimuli, I couldn’t be more […]

Continue reading about Cheers to the Recent Articles on Info Overload!

Mama J on November 4th, 2009

I am just so excited to report that I’ve just recorded the Stepparenting the Grieving Child audio with interviewer Barbara Bue of KRFC Radio.  Barb herself is a stepparent and was intensely interested in my information, which makes both sides of the interview commentary very engaging. You can expect to hear about three distinct phases […]

Continue reading about An Earful