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Julie Baumgardner
With summer just weeks away, parents and young people alike are looking forward to more free time. While some down time is great, sometimes too much free time can open the door to children and teens getting involved in unhealthy activities.
In November 2011, Sarah Smiley’s husband, Dustin, was preparing to leave his family for a 13-month military deployment. Before he left, his three sons, Ford (10), Owen (8) and Lindell (4) said that they would be sad to see their dad’s empty chair at the dinner table. As he was making preparations to leave, Dustin encouraged his wife to invite folks over for dinner periodically.
In just a few weeks, college students will be headed home for the summer. After spending 10 months basically without a curfew, not having to answer to anybody about their comings and goings, and no chores, the homecoming has the potential to be a bit rocky, especially for freshmen.
Susan Merrill, blogger and director of iMom, didn’t set out to write a book, but she was looking for answers as she and her husband Mark parented their five children ranging in age from 16 to 22.
Knot Yet, a report released this month by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies, The Relate Institute and The National Marriage Project at The University of Virginia explores the positive and negative consequences for twenty-something women, men, their children and the nation as a whole concerning two troublesome trends.
