The most valuable things we offer our children cost nothing. But there are many other things we give them that cost money.  The most expensive is often the opportunity for them to attend college or university. Without financial assistance, our children may have to forego post-secondary education or graduate with loads of student debts.  We want...

One of the most difficult parts of marriage is agreeing how to discipline. When one parent is more lenient, and one is more harsh, often parents fail to back each other up, and instead form emotional bonds with the kids. Here's a situation that happened in our family recently: One of our daughters, who had been very compliant, hit puberty, and...

Take a moment to think about your financial habits – good and bad. Do they mirror things your parents did? Was your father a diligent saver who was certain to be ready for that “rainy day”? Or did your family value new things, even if it meant going into debt? Understanding the origin of your financial habits and values can help you to get...

There was a video on CNN yesterday that stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t footage from Thailand, or election coverage.  It is a video of a little 5 year old girl  sitting in front of an image of 5 cartoon children. The children are all wearing the same dress and the same expression, only the color of their skin is different.  An interviewer...

I was intrigued by an article from O, the Oprah Magazine today that talked about raising sons to be good husbands. The article talks about raising boys and the men they become and gets into quite a discussion about how we raise girls differently than boys. Before we launch into a massive debate on gender politics, I think we can all agree that...

"Alcoholism has an effect on everybody around the person suffering from it. This is especially true for a family." says William Belle in the Ole! Times. In his article, which recounts his own struggle with alcoholism and (for the moment) sobriety, he provides statistics about how pervasive the problem is: According to a 2002 survey conducted by...

Are kids more spoiled today than in years past? According to a Time/CNN poll, 80% of respondents felt that "kids today are more spoiled than kids of 10 or 15 years ago, and two-thirds of parents admit that their kids are spoiled." On the assumption that lovingly caring for your kids is good, but spoiling them is not so good, here are some highlights...