To: Marybeth From: Opposed to cohabiting Can you offer any advice for my young adult daughters about why not to live with their boyfriends? I feel strongly that living together is to be saved for marriage, but it is hard for them to understand because “everyone is doing it” and they think I’m just old [...]
To: Marybeth From: Not Crazy About Carpools This question might be filed under, “What are these people thinking?” My high school freshman got a ride home from a recent sporting event from a teammate’s parent. The conversation in the car turned to a high school party that took place a couple of weeks ago where [...]
To: Marybeth From: Irritated Aunt My 13-year-old son will be confirmed in a solemn ceremony at our church. We have invited our extended families to join us for the confirmation and, afterward, for a nice dinner in our son’s honor. We would like everyone to dress appropriately (and modestly) for the occasion, but I’m certain [...]
To: Marybeth From: Nonviolent Video Mom My son wants to play the same video games his friends play, but I’m concerned they are violent. He’s 15 and says I’m too strict about this issue; he’s not going to become a deranged killer by playing war games. Are violent video games really a problem? To: Nonviolent [...]
To: Marybeth From: Message-reading Mom My daughter’s smartphone buzzed when she was out of the room. I picked it up to see who was texting her and was puzzled by the message that previewed on the screen, so I read the entire exchange. What I discovered concerned me. When I talked to her about it, [...]
To: Marybeth From: Dad is Desperate for a Date My husband says we should have “date nights” without our three kids, but free evenings are almost impossible to find. Our children’s schedules are full of school, sports and social activities that keep us coming and going, and when we finally choose date night, I’m either [...]
To: Marybeth From: Preteen Parent How do I survive a moody 12-year-old daughter without damaging our relationship (or killing her)? I find it very hard to allow her the power to ruin a family event, even a meal, with her gloom. Some days she is a pure delight (engaged, happy, articulate, intelligent) and the next [...]
If you’re concerned that the lyrics being piped into your children’s headphones are inappropriate — or even dangerous — you’re right. To: Marybeth From: A Sing-along mom What’s up with obscene and violent lyrics in pop music? Our kids have mentioned songs that their friends are downloading, and when we do a lyric check to [...]
ANALYSIS/OPINION: In this week’s email, a question comes from parents who don’t want their fourth grader to take the school district’s sex ed class: From: Too Sexy for 4th Grade To: Marybeth In our school district, sex education classes are presented to children starting in fourth grade. My husband and I don’t want our children learning about [...]
ANALYSIS/OPINION: Mom-blogger Ursula Hennessey, writing last week at OnTheCulture.com, questioned the lax supervision provided by too many parents of teens. A recent story in her local paper recapped an alarming incident in which nine high school students were found in one of the teen’s garage, drinking beer and setting up for an evening of drinking games. [...]
ANALYSIS/OPINION: From this week’s e-mail, a message from a dad whose ex-wife doesn’t share his concerns about the influence of the culture on their high schooler and preteens: To: Marybeth From: A concerned dad How do you suggest defending against the culture’s assault on childhood when it starts coming via an “inside job”? My soon-to-be ex [...]
I quit. I just can’t do it anymore. I give up. I surrender. I call “Uncle.” For years, I’ve stood at the intersection of parenting and politics, trying to point out the myriad ways in which we are letting our culture change our children, only to anticipate with certain alarm the impact those changes will [...]
Monday’s announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that he will resign the papacy at the end of this month because of his increasingly frail health has revealed what we practicing Catholics in America have long understood: Our faith remains a mystery. No time has been wasted stirring up a frenzy of speculation about what will happen [...]
It’s hard to decide whether this story should be filed under “The Lord works in mysterious ways” or “Be careful what you wish for; you may get it.” A woman who goes by Pastor Alois Bell of Truth in the Word Deliverance Ministries, a storefront ministry in downtown St. Louis, claims she uses social media [...]
Last week at a speaking engagement in Illinois, I asked my audience of parents to tell me about their kids. Not just “tell” me about them, but brag. I gave them permission to boast. Pull out the smartphone, if they wanted, to show off the photos. I had to cajole them into doing it. Hard [...]
In this, 40th year of legalized abortion in America, Hollywood and Planned Parenthood want you to know abortion is no big deal. That’s the message we’re to infer from the recent episode of NBC’s hit show “Parenthood” titled “Small Victories,” in which the teen character Amy casually decides to abort her baby because, as she [...]
I’m always on the hunt for positive news, there being such consistent media focus on the bad stuff. Most days, headlines essentially read, “Handbasket full; hell in sight.” So a recent headline caught my eye because of its positive tone: “Survey: Big drop in those who say being gay’s a sin.” According to Lifeway Research, [...]
This year, rather than making resolutions to lose weight, read more books and floss for more than just the few weeks after a dental cleaning, America’s mothers and fathers should resolve to do better to raise our next generation of citizens. The result? A resurgence of skilled and solid parenting could be the key to [...]
If you have access to the Internet, you likely have read a viral blog post by single mother of four Liza Long titled “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother.” The piece has had millions of hits on the various sites on which it has been published. If you haven’t seen it, check your email. Someone has [...]
This just in: Hell freezes over, pigs fly, Jimmy Hoffa rises from the dead, joins labor protests at state capital. I’m just kidding. We all know pigs can’t fly. The fact, however, that the Legislature of my home state of Michigan has just voted to become the nation’s 24th right-to-work state is nothing short of [...]
Another of the stars of the hit CBS comedy “Two and a Half Men” has imploded, metaphorically speaking, but this time I’m betting the damage to the actor’s career is beyond repair. Recall that in March 2011, Charlie Sheen’s erratic behavior on the set and off finally resulted in his being canned by the producers [...]
It was only 7:15 last Tuesday evening when my daughter, who works in conservative journalism, texted me to say the election was lost. For a painful four hours, I watched the results confirm her early analysis. When it was clear the president would be re-elected and Republican challenger Mitt Romney had lost, I took an [...]
Someone should take a poll asking Americans how they feel about polling. I’m pretty sure our shared distaste for it is one thing about which nearly all of us would agree. Of all the polling data released in the week leading up to Tuesday’s election, the one that struck me as most revealing came from [...]
About the new video from a group that calls itself the Future Children Project, which promotes its pro-Obama message in a song performed by a children’s choir: You people must be joking. Really. This agitprop is so bad I thought it was political satire. It didn’t seem possible that anyone would seriously expect American voters [...]
