parenting
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The Redemptive Power of Play
Play is a loaded term for most adults. Our versions of play become twisted in this era of instant gratification. So when Jesus urges us to become like children, our response is usually a complicated one that includes words like innocence and simplicity, but rarely a concept of play. Now that I work for a mobile games company, fun is my job. But as I enter into the realm of the childlike, I begin to think that joy is a part of my calling. My job is to create faith-filled games for children that inspire joy, faith, and wonder. I suppose when called upon to enter into a childlike faith,…
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Parental Alienation: 6 Signs It’s Happening to You
Many couples in the midst of an acrimonious divorce toss around the term, parental alienation, to describe the effects of one parent badmouthing another. This often happens when one person seems particularly at fault in a divorce. I think everyone can agree that criticizing one parent to a child is unhealthy at best and abusive at worst. But this isn’t parental alienation. I recently heard about a four-year-old boy whose mother had left him and his father unexpectedly. Understandably both were devastated. Understandably the father felt a need to process this. He would launch into his rehearsal of the sudden separation and divorce and almost as if on cue, his…
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How to Model Emotional Intimacy for Your Children
Emotional intimacy is a term usually reserved for couples. In reality, emotional intimacy is a skill that we learn by observing our parents and by practicing with close friends as we mature. Many parents are careful to withhold any conflicts or even affection from each other in front of their kids. I suppose the reasoning is that somehow children should be insulated from the adult world, free from its worries and problems. To some extent, I agree. After all, children should not be asked to carry the heavy baggage of adulthood. The baggage of childhood is heavy enough. I never understood why we romanticize childhood. It has its own agonies.…
