parenting Archives - Page 2 of 59

Championing Your Son Through His Battles

Remember the days when your boys climbed jungle gyms and went up and down slides? That’s where they cultivated friendships and learned to navigate their world.

Now they’re teenagers, and the playground is social media. That’s where they connect, form relationships, and shape their identity, much of it around how well they feel they measure up – or not – with “influencers.”

Their online presence could also be summarized by “more accessibility, less accountability.” Back in the day, things like pornography and dangerous worldviews were “around,” but they weren’t finding their way into a child’s life through every Wi-Fi signal in the house.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting, technology March 4, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Plugged In Launches New Website With Additional Features

In today’s world of smartphones and YouTube, it can feel impossible to keep pace with what our children are watching. Focus on the Family’s Plugged In website exists to help you and your children make informed media decisions.

If you have never visited the Plugged In website, I hope you will check it out.

If you are already familiar with Plugged In, you may have noticed that the website has a new look.

The new site is designed to make it easier to view the latest content and explore different categories.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: movies, parenting, pop culture, technology February 26, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Teach Your Kids About God

Note: This article by Focus on the Family President Jim Daly appears in full on Fox News.

Once upon a time, the vast majority of Americans were affiliated with a particular faith community or tradition: Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or Jewish, for example.

In recent years, though, secularism has been growing and a new wave of either atheism or agnosticism is rolling across the country. It may be true that a degree of “unbelief” has always existed, but with rising rates of people unaffiliated with any church or faith at all, the likelihood of interacting and being influenced by a person who believes in a higher power is similarly depressed.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, faith, parenting February 19, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Embracing Your Imperfections as a Parent

A + B = C.

For some of you, that’s basic Algebra.

For some of you, that’s an approach to parenting.

You see raising children as a formula. If you apply the right ideas in just the right ways, you believe you’ll get the right outcome. Every time! Your goal isn’t to be a good parent, or even a great one. Your goal is to be perfect.

On the surface, perfection appears to be an admirable goal.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting February 13, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Rocking Your Grandparenting Years

One writer called grandparenting “the greatest job on earth, handed to you wrapped in a blanket.”

Friends and colleagues of mine who are grandparents tell me it’s a blast.

But they also tell me grandparenting can be a challenge.

Like, how do you stay connected when you live far away from your adult children and grandchildren?

Or how do you maintain a healthy relationship with your adult children? This is a new season of life for both of you.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting, relationships January 29, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Answering Your Kids’ Tough Faith Questions

Would you know how to answer these questions if a co-worker or a neighbor asked them?

Do all religions point to the same truth?If Christianity is the only true religion, why are there so many denominations?Why did Jesus die for our sins?

Would you know how to answer your children if they asked those questions? Answering in ways children can understand isn’t always easy.

You may feel like author Natasha Crain when she gave her four-year-old son his first swimming lesson.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, parenting January 13, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Being a ‘Yes’ Parent in a World of No’s

The most popular word in the average parent’s vocabulary is “no.”

To be fair, it’s an important word for moms and dads. Used properly, it creates healthy boundaries for children.

But it’s easy to over-do our “no’s.” We can be too protective. Remember Dory, the fish with short-term memory loss from the animated hit movie Finding Nemo? She reminded Marlin, the dad of mis-adventurous Nemo, “You can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him.”

If we build too many fences, we’re not allowing our kids to be kids or to grow.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, parenting January 9, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Homemade Meals for Busy Families

The holidays are over, and you’re probably running at high speed in a lot of directions.

The end of the workday doesn’t mean your work is over. Somebody has to pick up the kids from soccer practice and run to the store for groceries. After that, you still have to get home and make dinner, which can take a couple of hours once you cook, eat, and clean up the mess.

Who’s got time for that?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, parenting January 2, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Raise Strong Believers

If God is good, why does He allow evil to exist?

Maybe your kids have asked you that to see how you answer. Have you ever asked your kids that question to see how they answer?

Or how about these?

Where did the universe come from?Do science and religion contradict each other?Do all religions worship the same God?How do we know God hears and answers prayer?

Natasha Crain didn’t know how to answer such important questions.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting December 26, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Trusting God with Your Adult Child

I know of a couple whose daughter disappeared from home in a fit of rebellion on her 18th birthday. Her parents were devastated. For years, they didn’t know if she was alive or dead.

Early on, her mother made a simple decision. Every night – all night – she would turn on the porch light. It was an unspoken message to her daughter: “You’re always welcome home.”

Many nights, tears streamed down that mother’s face as she locked the front door, switched on the light, and prayed for her daughter.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting December 23, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura