A perfect end to a perfect day.  It’s 75 degrees at dusk with few mosquitoes.  My tweens are teaching their 6 year old sister how to rollerskate.  A great self-esteem booster for all of them.  The 6 year old learns a new skill and the tweens get to experience the feeling of competence.
Tweens may not [...]

Have we gone mad?!  I recently read an article on the increasing number of tweens and teens hiring image consultants.  http://bit.ly/J7iX7 From makeup, to clothing, to overall style, tweens (or more accurately, their parents) are paying a ‘professional’ to tell them how to look.
 As I remember it, adolescence was a time of experimentation with personal style.  [...]

Humans need a sense of purpose.  We want to feel that we belong and add value.  Meaningful work gives one a feeling of accomplishment and achievement.  A job well done is satisfying at worst; and more often, it is fulfilling. 
 Don’t let a tween’s reluctance to complete chores fool you.  Tweens, too, are motivated by sense [...]

Daylillies are my favorite flower.  Not because I like how they look.  It’s their resiliency that I admire most.  You just can’t kill them!  For a brown thumb like me, that’s an important quality in a flower.  The first time I tried to divide a mass of daylillies in my yard, I had to bludgeon the [...]