kids Archives

Passing on Your Faith to Your Kids

Like my world, yours is probably hectic and fast paced. You’re booked solid with work, household responsibilities, and obligations to your church and community. Some days it’s tough to keep up with all of the good that you’re doing.

Overcommitment is an easy mistake to make. Every opportunity seems deserving of a yes. But one yes too many is all it takes to go from “busy” to “overwhelmed.” One day you’re happily doing good things. The next day you can barely keep up with all the good things you’re doing.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith, kids, parenting May 5, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Nurturing Your Child’s Personality

God wires each one of us uniquely. Which is why learning who your children are, how they think, and what motivates them are critical skills to develop.

Years ago, when my older son Trent was in elementary school, he came home and said, “Guess what, Dad? I won a gold medal! In chess!” I still feel a guilty about that moment because I thought, “Really? Chess?” I had hoped that he’d want to be a football player like me.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: kids, parenting March 22, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Practical Advice for Raising Responsible Children

Kay Wyma is a popular author, blogger, and mother to five children. One of her friends is a human resources director who told her about a phone interview she had with a young man who had just graduated from college. Their conversation was going well until she heard the voice of the boy’s father. He was listening in and advising his son how to answer questions. Kay’s friend immediately rescinded her offer and informed the father that his twenty-something-year-old son ought to be capable of interviewing for jobs on his own.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: family, kids, parenting March 11, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Helping Kids Navigate Worry in Healthy Ways

The war in Ukraine.

Starting a new school.

Staying home alone.

Fear of the dark.

Every child worries. It’s normal for children to feel anxious when navigating new experiences or processing difficult news. In fact, fear is a healthy response in some circumstances.

The goal is to teach children discernment and balance. A healthy fear of busy intersections or growling dogs is good. But feeling hindered, even crippled, by worry in everyday life is not.

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Helping Kids Navigate Worry in Healthy Ways,” we’re sharing practical advice for equipping your child to manage his or her fears.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: kids, parenting March 8, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Establishing Healthy Boundaries with Adult Children

Here at Focus on the Family, we regularly hear from parents with adult children whose lives have hit a snag because of irresponsibility or for reasons beyond their control – they don’t get accepted into college or there’s a slump in the job market. Tragically, some families endure even more serious issues. The young adult becomes a prodigal, suffers from an addiction, or chooses a lifestyle that’s contrary to the way he or she was raised.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: family, kids, parenting February 28, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Recognizing Your Son’s Need for Respect

Mom, God has wired you to love your son. Your soft, nurturing spirit is critical to his development. But as your son grows into a young man, his primary emotional need from you will become something else: respect.

Respect is what attracts guys to coaches and mentors. A growing boy needs someone who will put an arm around his shoulder and challenge his performance. Someone who will say, “I expect more out of you, and you should expect more out of yourself.” A boy needs to be challenged to rise up and win the game, to conquer the chess tournament, or to master the musical piece.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: family, kids, parenting February 24, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Enough is Enough – Let Children Take off their Masks

Pressure is mounting on elected officials to lift mask mandates in schools wherever they still exist – and it’s not a moment too soon.

Thanks to heavy-hand government bureaucrats, children have been forced to endure face coverings in the classroom for up to two years. Abnormality has become institutionalized.

Enough is enough. With their parents’ permission, it’s past time to allow children to take their masks off and live like normal human beings again.

Mask wearing was implemented to slow or prevent the spread of COVID-19, but numerous studies have been released calling into question the efficacy of face coverings altogether.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith, kids February 15, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Helping Teen Girls Love Their Family Well

Jessie Minassian knows the struggles teenage girls face. She’s an author, a speaker, and a blogger who is passionate about mentoring young women. And she lived through some challenging teen years herself.

At one point, Jessie went through such a difficult time that she plotted to run away from home. Her plan fell apart before she even stepped outside of her house, but it was a turning point in her life. She decided that if she was going to stay, she ought to “stay well” and make the most of her time with her family.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: family, kids, parenting February 15, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Speak Your Child’s Love Languages

What if you and your children each spoke different languages?

Imagine the challenges. How would you communicate? How would you express your love? Even if you repeatedly said the words, “I love you,” your child might never be able to fully receive your love on an emotional level. To communicate in a way that your child understands, you would need to learn to speak his or her language.

The truth is your child does speak his or her own language.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith, kids, parenting February 3, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

COVID policies: Stop treating children as political pawns

As America prepares to enter its third year of the COVID-19 global pandemic, an irrefutable and heartbreaking consensus is finally beginning to coalesce across social, economic, and even political classes:

Children who are being isolated in their homes or clothed behind masks despite being at the least possible risk across all demographics, have borne the greatest burden psychologically, emotionally, and educationally for the onerous and ill-conceived virus-related restrictions that continue to threaten our rising generation.

The explosion of the Omicron variant threatens to cause school and political officials to repeat the very same mistakes that sent our children into a downward spiral beginning in March of 2020.

Topics: Current Events Tags: kids January 19, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura