"Half-Shabbos" and Texting: What Is the Parent’s Role?

The New York Jewish Week wrote about the phenomenon known as "Half-Shabbos," in which teens who are otherwise Sabbath observant use their cell phones to text their friends. When I asked my kids if this is common in Israel, they said that they had first heard about it from me! They haven't seen it … [Read more...]

How Teens (and Parents) Are Like a River

I recently came across Haim Ginott's classic, Between Parent and Teenager. Published in 1969, his examples often relate to hippie teens and "square" parents but the principles remain the same. In his chapter on criticism, Ginott explains the long-term damage parents can cause by assigning negative … [Read more...]

A Clean City with Lots of Shoe Stores

I remember my mother taking me from store to store trying to find a pair of shoes that fit. My own daughter is fairly easy to shop for, but we must have gone into fifteen stores over two days to find sandals for her rapidly enlarging feet. In most of the stores, she wouldn't consider even a single … [Read more...]

Thought-Provoking Parenting Book

Last summer I attended a lecture by Dr. Gordon Neufeld, a Canadian psychologist and co-author of Hold On to Your Kids.. This book radically changed the way I look at our culture and our families. I recently reread it and it's even more powerful the second time. I can't possibly do justice to it in a … [Read more...]