Carleton Kendrick

Sharing Dreams"A Sea-Captain's Son" I recall watching an episode of the television family drama, The Wonder Years, where young Kevin Arnold walked into the summer night of his backyard to discover his father gazing through a telescope perched on...

Making the Connection with TeensTips to Get You StartedCommunicating with the kiddos gets more challenging as they get older. Here are somesuggestions to improve your relationship with your teenager. As a natural result of following thesesuggesti...

Being There Are You Multi-Tasking Your Kids? Do your children seem to be initiating fewer conversations with you? Asking you to play with them less often? Not seeking out your company as much? It could be that your children have discovered that ...

What Do You Stand For?What does your family stand for? I don't mean whether you vote Republican or Democrat. I'm asking about what character traits define who your family is. What virtues do you embrace? What principles guide your behavior? Do yo...

Envying Our TeensWe envy our teens. It's one of those realities we work hard at keeping buried deep in our unconscious minds. If we allowed ourselves to become fully aware of that envy, we might realize that some of our anger, frustration, disapp...

Accentuate the Positive with Your KidsWhat's the daily ratio of positive, encouraging words that you say to your children, compared to the number of complaints, orders, criticisms, warnings, and discouraging words? According to the children I've ...

Remembering Your AdolescenceA Walk in Their ShoesReconnecting with the feelings you experienced during your adolescence can encourage you to walk in your teens' shoes -- because their shoes were once yours. The more you remember and relive thos...

When Relatives VisitKeep the Holidays HarmoniousHolidays, as much as they're supposed to be full of warmth and laughter with friends and family, have the potential for disaster. Because we expect so much, and are often overtired and overstressed,...

Teaching Good SportsmanshipTips for Parents "You don't win silver. You lose gold." That's the sour message of a sneaker advertisement that aired on TV during the Atlanta Olympics. Such omnipresent multimedia messages combined with a "winning is ...

Dealing with DepressionIs your teen just moody or really singing the blues? Our family therapist will help you tell the difference. Q: My 17-year-old son just lost his best friend, who died suddenly at a basketball game. What behavior can I expec...

Talking to Our Sons about Sex and LimitsIt's difficult enough to talk about sex with our kids, so it may add to your discomfort when I say that you need to talk to them about date rape too. Boys need to know when sex is consensual and when it's n...

Kids and Inappropriate BehaviorYour 3-year-old screams, "I HATE you mommy!" when you refuse to let her eat her Halloween candy before supper. At a family gathering, your 5-year-old calls his cousin a "poopie face". Or your 8-year-old pens a schoo...

Attachment ParentingThe term, attachment parenting, is attributed generally to pediatrician and author (The Baby Book, Nighttime Parenting) William Sears. Although there is no clinical definition of attachment parenting, this parenting orientatio...

Getting Along: Tips for Freshmen RoommatesFreshman rooming situations can be a nightmare. My midwestern roomie got falling-down drunk every Thursday through Sunday night, while the Louisiana boy who shared a bunk bed with me made frequent ceremon...

Talking to Children About Their School Anxiety FOR AGES: Five to 13 Most children experience some fears and anxiety as each new school year begins. They worry they won't be able to read fast enough, and fret that older, popular kids will think t...

Talking About Volunteering ON THE MENU: Talking About Volunteering FOR AGES: Five and up There's no doubt about it -- it feels good to give! A recent landmark psychological study shows that people feel the best about themselves and about life whe...

Family Dinners: The Recipe for Connectedness Getting Together for DinnerFamily dinners? Who's got the time? Only one third of U.S. families eat dinner together most nights. The time-honored, slow-paced family dinner of past generations now looks ...

Why Most Kids Quit SportsTwenty million kids register each year for youth hockey, football, baseball,soccer, and other competitive sports. The National Alliance for Sportsreports that 70 percent of these kids quit playing these league sports byag...

Rescuing RecessWho are these grinches who want to eliminate school recess? Would you want to control every minute of a child's school day? Does that sound healthy to you? Playground smarts Recess was a big part of my education. I learned how to...

Parents' Smoking Kills KidsSmoking's smallest victims I knew smoking killed smokers. I didn't know parents who smoke could endanger their kids. 6,200 a year, according to a research study covering reports from 1980 to 1996 on children up to age 1...