The Middle Years: Calming the Chaos
Have you ever wanted to get off the middle school roller coaster of life, either as a parent or a child? Parenting isn’t for the faint of heart! The middle years are a roller coaster of emotions for both the kids and the parents. Recently a friend asked for parenting advice for these volatile days with her tween. I’ll share advice in a 3 part series, but you can get started today with these nine tips for calming the chaos in the middle years. If you are new here, I describe the stages of childhood as the younger years, the middle years, and the launching years. I also try to keep each blog post as a short read and vary my topics often. This month will be focused on the middle years. Tips for calming the chaos in the middle years: Teach your kids the “why” behind the rules. How does this rule protect them? Allow your kids to discuss/ask for exceptions but teach them to respect your final authority. Point them to one or two acceptable people they can talk to if they feel they cannot talk to you (close family friend, youth leader, mentor, relative, etc.). You’d rather…
Multigenerational Living
What family member might need to come live with you? In the US, multigenerational living is on the rise. In some countries, it is much more common. Multigenerational living is influenced by personal, cultural, social, and economic conditions. Every place I’ve lived in has had a guest room, but with our last home purchase we intentionally looked for a first floor bedroom and bath assuming at least one of our parents would eventually come live with us. It is a blessing, not a burden. It’s a way to honor our parents. Sure there are sacrifices that get made and independence that looks different, but that’s the norm with every stage of life when there are people in your care. The blessings include my kids getting more time with grandma, and my mom getting to watch them go from teens to adults. Furthermore, having my mom live with us means being able to take care of things for her in the moment, not on a weekly “to do” list. It means less travel time and worrying about her when we aren’t there. It also means not having to do yard work and repairs for two houses! Once we all decided the…
