Getting your kids to volunteer in their community will not only keep them busy and active, but can also result in an educational and rewarding experience. Through volunteering, kids learn important life skills such as responsibility, caring, independence and organization. Kids are also able to see how good they may have it, which can result in an appreciation for what they have, and how important it is to help and serve others.

Here's a list that will help you AND your kids get started in volunteering around the Central Oklahoma area. Please email us with any other opportunities we should share.

Fathers, listen up! Listening is one of the most important attributes that daughters want from their dads, according to research by the National Center for Fathering (NCF), a non-profit, scientific and education organization founded to provide fathers with research-based training to become more involved with their children. Daughters want to communicate openly with their fathers about boys, moral issues and other outside struggles without fear of being lectured or disciplined. And research indicates that doing so effectively will help them socially, emotionally, mentally and physically. So why is communicating with growing daughters such a struggle for so many dads?

You might have seen the PSA that's been circulating, regarding teens and texting while driving. If you've not seen it, you can see it here; but please be warned, it's extremely graphic. And, get some great advice on how to handle your teen and texting from Chuck Mai of AAA Oklahoma.

Here are some amazing facts to share with your kids about the big lumbering, lovable elephants.

Pressed for time but need help with your tween/teen? Let these book reviews help you find the info you seek.

School, sports and a variety of other extracurricular interests challenge a family’s ability to stay connected during the school year. Try the weekly check-in instead of a long and drawn-out family meeting.

I sat across from him, listening and watching.

Assessing.

My oldest had grown from a six-pound, eleven-ounce newborn into a six-foot and “more to go” man-child. His uni-brow needed maintenance. There was a shadow of hair under his bottom lip and above his upper.

His hands engulfed mine as he held them. He looked at me with those thickly-lashed brown eyes, twinkling and pleading.
“Mom, that’s not sex!” said my fifteen-year old son with exasperation.

Really? Why would oral sex, something seen as so intimate, almost more so than sexual intercourse in my own and earlier generations, be seen so casually by my son’s?

With open enthusiasm, a mom picks up her middle-school-age son and friends after soccer practice, offering them bagels as they pile into the car. “Nobody likes whole wheat” is all the “thank you” she gets from her son. Attributing his snippiness to low blood sugar, she wisely lets his little dig go. Besides, she’s feeling good about herself as a mom. She has gone out of her way to get a healthy snack, and she’s here for her son, despite her own crazy schedule.