kids Archives

Celebrate Dad’s Unique Contributions This Father’s Day

What happens when a researcher tries to measure the parent-child bond using the same standard yardstick for both moms and dads?

Dads lose.

That’s what Dr. Kathryn Kerns discovered when she talked to teens and preteens about their parents.

But something wasn’t adding up: the kids were describing “rich, warm relationships” with their dads. So why weren’t the fathers scoring better?

Because the researchers were using the wrong yardstick.

Turns out you can’t evaluate dads the same as moms, because fathers parent their children very differently than mothers do.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, kids, parenting June 17, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Many Kids Do You Have… And Why?

Some time ago I blogged about the “ideal” family size – does it matter how many children a couple has? In it, I took a look how many kids Americans think are ideal and why fertility rates are declining.

A recent article from The Washington Post brought that post to mind because it examines why some couples decide to have larger families.

According to Pew Research Center, 15 percent of all U.S. adults have had four or more children – and, as it might be expected, faith seems to play a role in the size of some families.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids June 3, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Doctor Shares His Summer Safety Tips

Memorial Day weekend is hours away and, with it, the unofficial start of summer.

For many families, summer is a time to make memories and spend countless hours having fun together. But with all the activities that come with the longer, sun-drenched days come new opportunities for families to face injuries or hurts.

My friend Dr. Ed Leap, who serves on Focus on the Family’s Physician Resource Council, recently came up with a list of summer safety tips that I thought I would pass along.

Topics: Current Events Tags: family, kids May 27, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Will You Pray for These Kids?

When I was 9 years old, I was put in foster care. In many ways, it was only another obstacle in a life full of hard knocks.

My parents divorced when I was 5, after Dad threatened to kill Mom with a hammer. My mom soon remarried a harsh man named Hank who loved Mom, but didn’t like us kids. Hank abandoned us after Mom died of cancer. His departure was what landed me in foster care.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, kids, pro-life May 11, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Joy in Motherhood

Author Arlene Pellicane describes the average mom’s frenzied day like this: “We wake up, and we’re Mary Poppins. ‘Let’s do this thing!’ we say. But by the time we go to bed, we’re Cruella de Vil.”

A lot of moms might describe themselves with words like “busy,” “stressed,” or “tired.”

One word you don’t often hear from moms is “happy.” Maybe that’s because, by and large, mothers have settled into the notion that busyness, work, and falling into bed exhausted are “just the way it is.”

Arlene’s discovery of what a happy mom is began with a personal encounter that illustrated to her what a happy mom isn’t.

Topics: Current Events/ Family and Home Tags: family, kids, marriage, parenting May 6, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Tips to Managing Your Summer Schedule Well

Do you have big plans for the summer?

Maybe you’ve got visions of camping trips, sandy beaches, and long naps dancing through your mind. You’ve got a list of activities all mapped out with dates and locations carefully selected.

Other people prefer to keep summer loose and their schedules open. The fewer things set in stone, the better.

I think there’s a lot of value to both of those approaches.

That’s especially true if you have a house full of little ones and the idea of your kids being out of school for three months sends you into a near panic.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, kids May 3, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month – Here’s What You Can Do

Child abuse is a very real problem here in the United States.

When we talk about abuse, most states recognize (and report) four major types: neglect, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, and sexual abuse. Sometimes a child suffers from only one type of abuse, other times a child suffers from a combination of maltreatment.

In 2014 alone, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services reported an estimated 702,000 children were victims of maltreatment. Of these, roughly 75 percent of victims suffered neglect; 17 percent were physically abused; and 8.3 percent were sexually abused.

Topics: Current Events Tags: kids, parenting, pro-life April 29, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Lost Bear at Chick-fil-A?

My wife and I recently had one of “those” parenting experiences.

You know the type. It’s a bit exasperating while you’re living it, but later makes you chuckle when you retell the story?

It all started a few months ago, when Jean and I welcomed two children from Colorado’s foster care system into our home. They’re a sister-brother pair, “Chloe” and “Sam.” She’s 4, he’s 3, and they both are great kids. They’re adjusting well to life at the Daly home, and our sons enjoy being big brothers.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids, parenting April 20, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Educational Options for Christian Families

As many Christians have observed, the impact from the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage last year will be felt for generations and across many aspects of our daily lives.

Our children’s education is one of those areas affected by the government’s legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

A few months ago here in the blog, Focus’ Education Analyst Candi Cushman helped us consider the impact the redefinition of marriage might have on public schools and students’ rights in those schools.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, kids, pop culture, religious liberty April 13, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Talk with Your Kids about the Threat of Terrorism

We woke up this morning to horrible news out of Brussels.

Another terrorist attack.

Reports say there were shouts in Arabic before a suicide bomber killed at least 14 people at the Brussels airport. A second blast took 20 more lives during rush hour at a metro train in the capital.

And so once again, a scant four months after the terrorist attacks in Paris, we’re seeing how hatred wreaks destruction and death – and it’s all playing out on our TV and computer screens.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, family, kids, news, parenting March 22, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura