How to Be a Father
Our oldest son shook his head, sadly. “You never would have let me do that,” he said, watching a younger sibling. We had to admit, he had a point. When he was that age, we were new parents, full of theories but short on experience. He was Offspring 1.0, and parenting was still something of…
We've all seen them: the viral videos of parents smashing their kids' computers or sharing their stupid mistakes. Some of them are pretty funny and most of us have been tempted to do something outrageous some time or another, but is this really a good idea? Public shame has been a form of punishment throughout…
Q. My wife wants to invite a nineteen year old young man over for dinner. He works with my sixteen year old daughter and brought her flowers last week. We've briefly talked about his interest. She came to Christ last year and she's a good girl, but I'm just not comfortable with this - I…
A member of one of our online programs asked, "What if you were parents before you were Christians, and your oldest son had to witness some terrible emotional events between family members?" The most fundamental truth about mankind after Eden is that there is none righteous, no, not one ... all have sinned and fall…
A reader asks, "How do you deal with a child who threatens to run away from home, or if your child has done it, how did you deal with it? I don't know what my options are, but my 10 year old lately has been acting very immature, and when I told him to clean…
A reader asks, "I am having a problem with my 8 year old stealing things. He takes small things from people at school as well as things from his little brothers. A few weeks ago he took one of my diamond rings to school. I need some advice on what to do to help him…
After the Oregon shooting this week, a reader asked, "How and when do you share news like this with your children? I haven't shared much "news" with my children but I have older ones and I want to expose them to more. What sources do you use or do you just pass the news to…
My wife, weak from the stomach flu, came out of the bathroom where she’d been hiding out—hiding by my request, I should say. “I’m so sorry,” she said, shakily. “I feel like I shouldn’t have left you out there to do that.” (more…)
We have a tradition of a formal coming-of-age ceremony we call a “Bar Chanon.” This can take all kinds of forms but centers on a serious call to embrace the next stage of life for the young man. We think it's only natural for the young man to be welcomed into the community by the voices…
People sometimes ask how we came to write and speak about raising boys. The answer is easy - we have six of them. “Six boys!” the people at the checkout line say in mock horror. "Yes!" we say, and smile warmly. “Well, better you than me,” they conclude, shaking their heads. To be fair, not everyone…