Yshai's new book, Staying Connected With Your Teen, is out now!
Finding Shelter In The Storm
How are you holding up so far? I’d love to offer you some tips based on all the people I’ve helped overcome pandemics over the years or a list of best practices based on accumulated research and data of parents who’ve gone through self isolation with their family for weeks and months. None of that…
How To Help Our Sons & Daughters Be Their Best Selves In A Culture That Limits Them
Culture is a powerful thing. It pulls the strings of our behavior and tells us how to act. A culture can be positive or negative and is often both. Rosalind Wiseman, best selling author of Queen Bee’s and Wanna-be’s (the book that Mean Girls was based on), and Masterminds and Wingmen, defines culture as “everything…
5 Common Mistakes We Make Helping Anxious Teens
Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in the US. It has, or will, affect about a third of all adolescents and adults. Self reported rates of anxiety among adolescents are rising and in the majority of cases, anxiety is a precursor for depression. Another reason for concern is that anxiety is very easy…
5 Ways To Help Your Teen Develop A Healthy Relationship To Social Media
If your teen is looking at their phone right now, do you know what they’re doing? More importantly, do you know if the time they’re spending right now is helpful or hurtful to their overall well being? These are really difficult questions because the answers are always in flux. As we move forward and learn…
How To Help Your Teen Have A Good Academic Year
To have a good year, it’s gonna be important to have ongoing conversations with our kids. I think our primary job as parents is to help our teens build on their strengths, learn to think realistically about their challenges and grow the resilience required to work through stress as it comes. These conversations are generally uncomfortable…
3 Tips for a Successful Summer
As another school year ends and summer break begins how are you feeling? I’m looking forward to some family vacations we have planned but a little stressed about how we’ll all respond to the lack of routine and structure (and heat). Some of us are relieved that summer is finally here. We welcome a reprieve…
5 Tips To Help Your Teen Develop More Empathy
I’m sometimes asked if Gen Z is lacking empathy relative to their predecessors. Actually, sometimes I’m not even asked, it’s just assumed that they are. My response is that I think these kids are incredibly empathetic. At least, I think they have an immense capacity for caring about others and the world. They want to…
What Parents Can Learn From The College Admissions Scandal
I recently had an opportunity to talk on AM Northwest where I shared 5 ways we can all learn and reflect from the fall out of the recent college admissions scandal. The video clip is at the bottom. 1.You may have more in common with those parents than you realize. Most parents want the same…
How To Respond When Things Go Wrong
Teens are famous for making dumb and impulsive decisions. They predictably exhibit emotional intensity that defies logic and context. We as parents typically get the brunt of this. Whether we’re cleaning up a mess they made in the community or at school or dealing with a verbal or physical onslaught at home, our options are limited in the…
