• What to do
• What to say
• A Bonus payoff when your "nearly flown" uses it.

Have a great week, and enjoy those parent moments as you encounter them.  Remember, they'll need to last we parents a lifetime!

You CAN Have Success in the Middle of it ALL.

I was in a local deli recently. 

What did I have with me?  On my tray was a book covering financial concepts and savings to read as I ate.

As I paid for my lunch, the cashier (in his early 20’s) noticed the book and asked “why are you reading that?”

It's an easy answer for me, “the more I learn, the more I can share, and hopefully help other parents with less time that have “almost flown” kids along the way.”

My new-found cashier-friend replied “can I tell you my story?”  By now I am thinking, gosh, I’ll never get to eat my lunch and read my book but I am the friendly type and said “I’d love to hear.” 

(Remember, he is behind the cash register and in his early...

“Playing well with others.” Didn’t you detest seeing that question on your report card? 

How did your young adult score on that as a child?  We can hear parents all across the fruited plain shouting their answers!  The “get along” challenge answers sound like this:

“Kicked to the Dorm Hallway Curb”

Did we ever tell you about this awesome freshman college co-ed that was basically “kicked out” of her dorm room because her roommate wanted her “significant other” to practically move in?

True story.  Frustrating 1^stcollege year.

 

“I No Longer Talk to my Best Friend”

Best friends since 1^stgrade began not speaking in High School. Why?

As we’ve taught high school students on a myriad of “life” topics, it gradually dawned on us that no one had taken the time to teach them how to approach conflict. 

Teens have and will experience conflict everywhere, from...

What every parent wants to hear is . . . 

How Do Our Teens Get Good Recommendations from Superiors?

The BOX

Think back for a minute. 

Way back.

Way back to your High School Days.

With our adult-glasses it is so much easier to see that BOX, the BOX we mentally built for ourselves. “I’m shy”.  I’m not athletic.  I talk too much.   I’m not smart.” 

Ok, stay in the past a bit longer.

Not only did we build our mental BOX, others in our grade helped build our box, too.  “Don’t put her on the team, she’s awful.  Oh, man, not him.  He dresses weird.” 

That ridiculous BOX, that suffocating BOX still haunts, doesn’t it?  We bought into it.  

Now return to the present and your nearly grown child

Apply those same feelings we just discussed to your nearly-grown child. 

Their BOX, their mental BOX is just as teflon as ours and also has a little social media sprinkled on top.  You have one emotional powder keg on your hands.  

There is so much we...

Recognizing Skills

• Teens everywhere don’t recognize the talents they are learning in the seemingly “every day” part of their life. They sell themselves short constantly. 
• Each time your child completes a project, help them identify skills they’ve used beyond the obvious.
• From...

Online information on our teens?  and Us?  Scary. Hackers, lurkers, information sells and more really exist.   But so often we overlook the small things that WE can do to reduce this concern.   

Let's kick up protection up a notch. 

Here are 3 ways you can up your protection game for your teen - and YOU.

1. Social Security Numbers are gold.

   Sadly, the “bad guys” know that too.  It’s time to check your child’s social security number for earnings.  Someone might have used it to seek employment – and that someone might not be your “nearly-grown” child. 

• How? https://blog.ssa.gov/protecting-your-social-security/#more-2824 

 Register it for notification.  There’s a link in the above article as well for how to  report fraud if you find it.  Here’s hoping you go on this “hunting” trip and find NOTHING unexpected.

2. But what about we parents?

   ...

Who doesn't want to save money at a very practical level.  But how? 

Is cooking your thing?  Many, including me, don't relish it.  If it can be catered, or arranged to "eat out", then I'm good with it.  

One of my friends is the opposite.  Ask anyone that knows her, really.  If she can create a concoction in the kitchen, 50 dirty pots and all, she is good with it.

I drive her crazy.

BUT, what do we both have in common?  More importantly, what might you have in common?  We are both frugal.  Some would describe us as CHEAP.  How about you?  I taught my kids long ago that whenever and however you can design a system or habit to save money, you are ahead.    

Parents ask us all the time for practical ways to teach the rewards of savings.  This is about as practical as it gets.  If fact, if you want even more practical teaching ideas, you can find them here:  (free) 8 - Step Parent Teaching Guide...

“I will prove to you that almost anything is price negotiable”. Mack Powers, of MackPowers.com, said those words to his date/girlfriend.

To prove his point, he declared the entire day of shopping to be his test/proof. JellyGeneration interviewed Mack recently and you will find his experience fascinating. (It should be noted that Mack wanted to impress this particular date with his mastery of all things finance.)

There is more to negotiation success than save by using cash

This is not an article on “buying with cash helps save you money.” Paying cash often does help, of course, but teaching our kids (and reminding ourselves) that there are other solid principles involved in the buy-sell relationship is crucial.

Have you ever been to the Grapevine Mills Outlet Mall in yes, …Grapevine, Texas? If not, (ok, probably not!) the mall name is truly as advertised - a discount mall. Hence, the “I can negotiate everything challenge” was perhaps even...

Does achieving “big things” seem daunting? Admit it, our “little small voice” can often be heard shouting “Who do you think you are? That’s way too big a dream for you!”

Imagine being a young adult and being told to dream big dreams. Great advice, but it often puts the cart before the horse. Surviving ACT/SAT, college applications, internships, a first job, or high school graduation can easily fall in the “fear” category, and the “huge” category to most. Huge & Fear quickly translate into a perception of “hard”.

“Missed Kicks Makes Brain See Smaller Goal Posts”

Hadley Leggett thru the Wired website writes of a fascinating study on perception vs. accomplishment:

“In a study of 23 non-football athletes who each kicked 10 field goals, researchers found that players’ performance directly affected their perception of the size of the goal: After a series of missed kicks, athletes...