Prom Night

Do you remember prom night? Most people would agree that there have always been crazy things that have happened on prom night. While this night is considered a rite of passage, there are some things that just don't mix well with prom. Alcohol and drunk driving are a given, but what about getting a hotel room? I have racked my brain to try and figure out what good could come from juniors and seniors in high school having a hotel room? The other thing that doesn't work well is not having a real plan for the evening. It's just too easy to follow the crowd when you don't have a plan.

As parents our goal is to help our kids make this a real night to remember, not because of bad things that happen, but because of the great time they had. So, how do we do that?

Be clear about your expectations.

Ask for an itinerary including where they will be, who they will be with and what they plan to do after the prom.

Discuss the risks of drinking/drinking and driving and remind them that if they do this and they get caught chances are good they will lose their license for a year never mind the potential to hurt innocent people in the process.

Consider hosting a prom after party or a midnight breakfast at your house with no alcohol.

Encourage your teen to attend Prom Night 4-1-1 so they don't have a 9-1-1 on prom night.

One of the best ways to show your teens you love them is to set limits and help your teen understand the limits are intended to make sure that the best laid prom plans are played out in a safe environment.

What do you remember about your prom night????

Dads and Daughters

It was tooo much fun watching all the Dads bringing their daughters to Father Daughter date night at Chick-fil-A. Girls young and old were stylin' as they stepped out on the town with their dad. The looks on their faces were priceless.

Linen tablecloths, long-stem roses for the daughters, and candles on the table set the tone for a great dinner with dad.

Once dads and daughters were seated, someone came and took their order. While they were waiting for their food, there were questions on the table for them to discuss like what is your favorite movie, who is your best friend or who is your favorite athlete and why?

I loved watching the interaction between the girls and their fathers. Many of the them were very young. As they were being seated I watched dads help the girls take off their coats. Then they pulled out the chair for them or helped them get situated in a booth. What a great lesson in how they should expect to be treated by a guy.

I loved hearing all the chatter at the tables. I didn't see dads on cell phones or their Blackberries. They were totally focused on their daughters.

Special memories were made that night that will never be forgotten!

SWEET!!!!!!!

More pictures from Father Daughter Datenight

If you're not loving your spouse, who is????

So, on a scale of 1-10 (1 being in the pits and 10 being off the charts great) how well are you loving your spouse? I think I would give myself an 8.

Love, Affection and Appreciation

Can't believe it is February already. The month of the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 and of course Valentine's Day. For the next couple of weeks we are going to be inundated with ads for spa treatments, romantic dinners, chocolate, flowers and more. This is a good thing, but I wish it weren't just in the month of February. Romance, affection and appreciation are a good thing all year round.

When's the last time you wrote a love letter to your spouse or a note of appreciation to your parents or a friend?

When's the last time you took your spouse out on a date or took the time to sit down with a good friend over a cup of hot tea or coffee?

Whether you are married.... or not, young or old, Valentine's Day could be a great time to kick-off a year of intentional love, affection and appreciation.

At a loss for what to do? Here are a few ideas:

• Hand write a love letter - you can actually get a Love Letter kit from www.thinkmarriage.org
• Schedule time each day to actually talk with your spouse
• Take time to meet a friend for lunch
• Tell the people you love "I love you"
• Plan a creative date for your spouse - even if you can't afford a babysitter, plan an in-home date
• Recreate your favorite date from the past
• Purchase a bouquet or a romantic gift basket from Flower Fest and support the work of First Things First
• 

• Take time to play with your children
• Give your spouse the day off and don't hold it over their head later
• Schedule a couple's massage
• Take a walk holding hands - research actually shows that a woman's blood pressure goes down when she is holding the hand of her spouse
• Do that thing that your spouse has been asking you to do for months
• Watch the Super Bowl with your spouse even if you don't like Football, you don't have to say a word, he'll enjoy just sitting should to should with you.

Lets help each other be creative. What would you add to the list???? Lets keep the list PG13 please. :-)

I Love Snow!!!!

Finally, a real snow. My daughter is almost 17 and this is the first REAL snow storm we have had since she was born. Woo Hoo!!!

I love snow because it forces all of us to slow down. Having worked for a hospital at one time in my life, I know snow makes life crazy for some folks. But, I still think it is nice every once in a while to get an unexpected break...and not because you are sick.

I have talked to people today who lost power or can't get out of their driveway and nobody is really complaining, they're just making the best of it. I think it is times like these that actually bring people together. The other thing I LOVE about snow is it brings out the kid in people. Snowball fights, building a snowman or sledding - nobody gets "too old" to do those things.

Got any good snow stories????

Raising Children

Yesterday someone shared with me about an elementary age little girl who showed up late to school and she was crying. She wasn't crying because she was late to class. She was crying because she was hungry and she had missed breakfast at school because her bus was late. When her teacher inquired about who helped her get ready in the morning she said no one because her mother never gets out of bed before she leaves for school.

Did you know that a child born and raised outside of marriage will spend an average of 51 percent of his/her childhood living in poverty?

In contrast, a child born and raised by both parents in an intact marriage on average will spend only 7 percent of his/her childhood living in poverty. A child raised by a never married mother is more than 7 times more likely to be poor than a child raised in an intact marriage. (National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 - 2000)

Children who grow up without a father are more likely to drop out of school, become addicted to drugs, have a child out-of-wedlock or end up in prison.

There are many children, black, white and Hispanic, who are essentially raising themselves. When I think about my teenage daughter trying to raise herself - even though she thinks she could totally do it - I know the truth is she isn't ready.

My heart is heavy for our children. Sometimes tackling this issue feels overwhelming, but the reality is First Things First exists to do exactly that.

If we aren't loving and raising our children - who is????

It Takes Teamwork

Spent the day with my daughter and her team at the Interscholastic Equestrian Association horse show where they took first place. It was very cool to watch these girls give their best individual effort and support each other as a team. Great sportsmanship, lots of encouragement and great team spirit made for a terrific day in spite of rain and cold temps.

They don't ride their own horses at these shows. It can be really intimidating getting on a horse you have never been on before and going over jumps or even doing the flat work. I loved watching our team members give instructions and encouragement to help girls on competing teams who were getting ready to ride our horses.

LOVE the life lessons they are learning from this experience!