By Sarah Vander Schaaff Continuing our series on What to Expect When You Have No Idea What to Expect (raising tweens to teens), we hear from a mother of two girls and a boy, whose ages range from 15 to 17. If the theme last week was to listen to your growing children, this week’s may be to give credence to what they say. They may not tell you much, but behind those bits of expression, may be deep concerns. Our featured mother’s screen name today is: Cobblestone 1. How would you describe the process of raising a child from early tween to teen years? Difficult. We, too, experienced a difficult time for our girls (and boy) during these years…. Read More

By Sarah Vander Schaaff I am not a trailblazer. That may be my mantra as I head into the process of raising a preteen. Someone has done this before—and I want to learn from them. Times change quickly, to be sure; the social media of last year is now passé, and young people seem to absorb cultural shifts light-years ahead of we parents. But there is wisdom in those parents who have crossed these parts, and our next series this summer is going to share it. I’ve asked mothers who have strong relationships with their teenagers how they have maintained such ties and what advice they’d give.  Today we hear from a mother of a fifteen-year-old daughter and sixteen-year-old son. Her… Read More