Camp Kupugani Blog
The First Cell Phone: Rules for Responsibility
You’re not worrying too much. Research shows that virtually all kids who are allowed to keep their cell phone in their room overnight will answer a late-night text, and most of them have spent at least some late nights sending texts. Only 11 percent of parents suspect their teens have ever sent, received, or forwarded a sexual text, while 41% of teens admit they’ve done so. Only 4 percent of parents believe their teens have ever texted while driving, while 45% of teens admit that they routinely text while driving. […]
Raising Kids with the Right Values
“Values” has become a popular word in recent years, especially when preceded by the word “family.” To talk about them is to talk about what kind of person you want your child to be. Most parents, whatever the flavor or fervor of their faith, or whether they live in a red state or a blue, aspire to a short list of universals: honesty, compassion, trustworthiness, generosity of spirit, courtesy, fairness, self-respect, self-discipline. Of course there are many more. How you rank virtues in importance, and what shape they take in […]
Ten Things I Want My Tweens to Know About Social Media
The internet is not private. Nothing you share online is private, ever. It may feel private, but once you share information online, in any format, you loose some control over it. This is especially true for social media. You may think you are only sharing the information with a select few friends, but you can never know what happens to something after you put it out there. Use that information to inform your choices. Social media moves like wild fire and it’s very hard to put out. Part of the […]
4 Ways to be a Great Parent
Although I’m still waiting for my imaginary go-to guide on how to be a great parent (I’m thinking it must be lost in the mail for the last 11 years or so…), I’ve tried to do my best by my son. Here are some good tips for any parent from the folks at Barking Up the Wrong Tree. The summary is below, with the full article available at this link. Gardener not carpenter: Your job is to provide a safe space to grow, not to systematically build Frankenstein. Under 6, […]
Tips for Raising Middle-Schoolers
1. Become a student of your child. Because early adolescence brings so many maturational changes, learn all you can about your child from his teachers, pediatrician, youth director, and other parents. 2. Insist on respect and show respect. Remember that love and respect fit together like hand and glove. Give it and insist that your kids speak to others politely as well. It may be tough going, as this age can be mouthy and naturally rude. But insist anyway. 3. Use straight talk. Talk to your child about her friendships openly. Make sure you know where […]
The Art of Peace in Times of War
1. Staying in the Room to Work Things Out: This is not always easy, especially if we morally, spiritually, politically, or religiously disagree with someone. Also, we might emotionally leave, even if we’re still physically in the room. So, the real commitment here is our willingness to remain emotionally and physically present and open to working things out. 2. Remaining Curious: It is often convenient to stop listening when our truth is in competition with someone else’s truth. The hard part is being curious about what they mean and how […]
Parenting Habits to Develop Before Your Child Becomes a Teen
These parenting habits will help you create a positive relationship with your teens. 1. Eat dinner together. So much of successful teen parenting is about getting face time with them. So many other things vie for their attention that parents have to be diligent about getting noticed. Setting a habit to have one meal together every day carves out a time for all of you to reconnect. 2. Put away your phone at the table and when you drive. I’ll admit that this decision was first driven by fear and guilt. In […]
Explaining Your Shyness to Folks Who Don’t Believe You
As a director of a summer camp, people often don’t believe me when I say that I’m shy. A recent post by Jenn Granneman of Introvert, Dear summarizes the challenges of “outgoing introverts” quite eloquently, as below: Outgoing Introverts Exist, Are You One? So, you just found out you’re an introvert. Now you have a new way of understanding yourself and how you relate to the world. You can’t get enough of your new identity, so you’re reading every listicle and blog post about introverts that graces your Facebook news feed. […]
A Surprising Solution to Sibling Fighting
Your kids are fighting. Again. You can hear them in the living room arguing over the remote. Or the iPad. Or whatever. “Work it out guys!” you yell from the other room. The arguing continues. And in a matter of seconds, you hear screaming. They are obviously not working it out. In fact, it they never work it out. Will the fighting ever stop? Probably not. Expecting our kids to “work it out” is like handing a 7 year-old a 10th grade math book and expecting them to get an A on […]
Top 10 Ways To Enhance Your Parenting Skills
Do you feel bad after scolding your child? Do you often regret of not being able to be a good parent? Then you are not the only one who feels so. Good parenting skills are always acquired with time. In order to become the best parent one has to keep on learning. Parenting is not something which can be taught in a school. And no one can become the best parent from Day 1. So take your first step towards being the ‘best parent’ and understand the suggested ways which can help […]
10 Important Life Skills For Kids
Parents want their kids to excel in everything, be it in academics or extracurricular activities. But, what is not clear to most is that every kid is different and exhibits certain skills that others lack; these skills play a decisive factor in her. As a parent, it would be wrong to expect that your kid will learn everything from school. It is true schools exist to educate children and develop their intellect, but there are certain skills which a child can learn best at home. These skills are called life […]
Tips On How To Deal With Teenage Attitude
Your normally well-behaved child, on entering adolescence, may now start showing teenage attitude problems. No matter how hard you try to handle any situation, she may now answer sullenly, give snide comments, have an indifferent attitude, and the worst of all may totally shut you out from her life by being uncommunicative and secretive. On top of all this, your teenage child might have a complete disregard of you, your principles, your opinions, and assume they know much better than you. They also may hold you responsible for any minor […]
