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Why I’m Taking Parentzilla Offline…

Why I’m Taking Parentzilla Offline…

I just wanted to take a minute today and thank everyone for their amazing encouragement you have given me since I began Parentzilla.

Over the last 6 months I have seen some pretty amazing things happen.

Parentzilla has been on the websites of USA TODAY, MSNBC, the TODAY
SHOW, and over 100 newspapers and tv stations.  I just started a
daily radio segment called the “Parentzilla Minute”, and I have
interacted with thousands of parents of teenagers.

This has been an incredible ride.  So why am I going to take the
website offline on June 9, 2012?

The simple answer is that we are going to be UNDER CONSTRUCTION for
1 month.

It’s time to take what I do with Parentzilla to another level.

On July 9, 2012 I will re-launch Parentzilla with both free content
and premium content.

You will be able to subscribe to Parentzilla to receive coaching,
encouragement, and a strategy for the teenage years.

I call it the 7 Bridge Builders to the Heart of Your Teenager.

I am stinking excited!!

Your Parenting Partner,
Jeremy Lee
@parentzilla
www.facebook.com/parentzilla

 

When I re-launch Parentzilla on July 9 I will not include our current ebooks. So if you want them you need to download them in the next 18 days. I just made both of them FREE and you can get them here.

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Should My Teenager Get a Summer Job?

Should My Teenager Get a Summer Job?

By Shellie Hochstetler

That was the big question in my house. As a parent, you want your kids to grow up to be moral, productive adults with steady, great-paying jobs and have the proverbial house with the white picket fence and the golden retriever on the porch. But they are just children right now, right? They are going to have their whole lives to work and work and work. But there are also some great lessons for teens to learn through having these jobs.

It teaches them responsibility. They have to answer to an employer, keep up with their work schedule, and manage various responsibilities.

It teaches them punctuality. This can be difficult for some teens, especially if it means being somewhere early on a summer morning! (Note: A broken nail is not a good reason for being late to work.)

It teaches them how to manage money. Hopefully. Unless your teen spends every cent as fast as they make it, like I used to! I just could never pass up the good deals at Goody’s!

It teaches them different types of social skills. They will soon learn that not every boss is fair. Also, they will have to learn how to deal with co-workers that could be somewhat challenging.

It teaches them to make choices in managing their time. A summer job could keep them from social activities. That’s not always bad, but sometimes it is. Summer camps, mission trips, vacations, and just down time are really important for our teens. They are in school 180 days for approximately 7 hours a day, which doesn’t include time for homework, extracurricular activities, or even friends. And they are still kids. Big, huge, fat responsibilities are coming quickly for our kids. How well we know that! Balance at this stage is imperative.

My husband and I started allowing our kids to get after-school jobs or summer jobs when they started acquiring more privileges. Driving the car, going to movies with friends, and “hanging out” can get expensive. Those things are privileges, not rights they obtained just because they happened to be born into our family. So it’s good for them to help pay for those privileges. In fact, it will make those privileges more meaningful to them.

Many teens view having a job as a form of independence. They don’t always realize that it also requires sacrifice. A sacrifice of time, mostly. You know your teen the best. Can they handle any more time constraints on their schedule? Do they need to have more responsibilities? I know a man who has four amazing sons, and all of them have grown up to be very successful. I asked this father what his secret was. He looked at me and said, “I kept them so busy they didn’t have time to get in trouble.”

What do you think? What are the pros and cons to teens having summer jobs? And at what age should they start working these jobs?

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Guide to Graduation Gifts

Guide to Graduation Gifts


Graduations are just around the corner, and if you’re like me, you get numerous graduation announcements or invitations and aren’t quite sure what do with all of them. Here are a few quick tips for maximizing your impact during this special time in a graduating teen’s life.

1) Set a limit.

Sit down and decide on a reasonable dollar amount to spend on each graduating teen and stick to it. Don’t get too carried away and break the bank. This isn’t a time to give out of obligation but a time to honor these teens for all their hard work and dedication.

2) Make it personal.

Try and find out what the teen’s plans are for after high school. If they’ve chosen a college, give a gift that bears the name of the university they’ll be attending or a gift card to the school’s bookstore. Take the time to personalize the gift instead of giving a vague, general gift.

3) Meet a need.

If they are going to be putting together a dorm room or apartment, a basket of practicals and goodies for their first place is a nice choice. If they’re attending school far away, purchase a gas card. Or a basket full of fast food gift cards is always a hit!

4) Speak a blessing.

So many times, we assume that we received the announcement or invitation for the expected response of a graduation gift. The truth is, what the grads need more than anything are your words of wisdom and encouragement. Don’t miss this opportunity to speak life into each teen. Written words are more powerful and valuable than any tangible gift they will receive. Make sure you take the time to write a personal note that includes a challenge, instead of just signing a card.

Graduation is a time to celebrate the teens and their families, and it is a time that will be a springboard for their next step in this journey called Life. Make sure you don’t miss your opportunity to maximize your influence in the life of a teen. You received an announcement or invitation on purpose, so give a gift and speak a blessing on purpose, too.

 

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Parenting Teenagers through the Summer Activities

Parenting Teenagers through the Summer Activities

Okay, it’s that time of year. The weather is warmer; trips to the lake, river, beach, or pool have begun; and your teen has no drive or motivation for school whatsoever.

Here are a few practical tips for parenting teens to finish the year strong and stay on track during the summer.

Keep them busy. The biggest temptations for your teen during this season are parties. Most sports have wrapped up, and school is winding down. Teens have more free time and more opportunities to get into trouble.

My teen came home a few days ago and proudly announced that she watched movies in every single class that day. Not exactly what parents want to hear when we send our kids off to school for eight hours. But what do we do? Our expectations aren’t as high, because we know the students are ready for a break. But don’t fill their time with meaningless activity; instead, make sure they have plenty to do so that they aren’t looking for the wrong things to fill their time.

Challenge them to stay focused. One way is to reward them for good grades on their finals. Help them set a goal for each final or semester grade for each class and offer to pay them if they meet their goal. A parent’s job is to go to work, set and meet goals or expectations, and receive a paycheck. Going to school is the student’s job. Their “paycheck” can be as much or as little as you want, but giving them both a goal and an incentive  helps to keep them focused. At our house we pay for straight A’s. Our kids are intelligent, but A’s don’t come easily for them. They have to work for them. The incentive of a Franklin in their pocket motivates them to work harder.

Don’t quit parenting. Our tendency during this season and during the summer is to just turn it off and let them “enjoy” their spring or summer. The truth is, without the rigorous load from school and athletics, it’s the perfect time for you to step up your game as a parent. Be intentional about spending time with them. You aren’t battling their busy schedules, so create time for rest, give them responsibilities, and enjoy the moments you have with them.

What are some ways you are going to maximize the summer months with your teen?

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5 Reasons Parents Should Encourage Their Teen To Be Creative

5 Reasons Parents Should Encourage Their Teen To Be Creative

Rob is a husband, father, blogger, type A creative, aspiring entrepreneur and outside-of-the-box thinker.  He works on Dave Ramsey’s team and loves seeing people doing what they are created by to do.

American teenagers are downright busy. Between school, homework, sports, music lessons, church, etc., there isn’t much time for them to do anything else.

I often wonder why we allow and many times even push our kids to be so busy. We need to ask ourselves if this busy-ness is adding or taking away value from their lives. In most cases I would argue that it is doing more harm than good.

Creativity is probably one of the biggest casualties of busy-ness in American teenagers. One of the keys to being creative is having time and space for our minds to wander. As a parent, you need to help your student to carve out this time and space. Here are a few reasons that parents should encourage their teen to be creative:

5 Reasons To Encourage Your Teen To Be Creative

1. Creativity leads to self-awareness. The teenage years are when we really start to explore what we enjoy, what we are good at and the type of people with whom we connect. There are many adults that struggle to know who they are and there is a pretty good chance that they were never encouraged to be creative. There’s a good chance they were taught to do whatever they could to fit in and not be noticed.

2. Creativity builds self-esteem. Creating art (whatever form it may take) is one of the most gratifying things you can do. For a young person, knowing that you have created something beautiful, exponentially increases your feelings of self-worth.

3. Creativity provides an outlet for teens to express themselves. Teenagers go through a lot of changes- biologically, physically and emotionally. Most of them have never had to navigate through the plethora of feelings that accompany all of these changes. Creating is a great outlet for all of these feelings.

4. Being creative with your teen strengthens your relationship. My dad and I have a great relationship. We are both musicians and some of my best memories with him are of us playing music together. Working together can strengthen any relationship, even with your kids.

5. Creatives are shaping the future more than any other group. This generation has access to more tools and more information than any other generation in history. The only thing they are lacking is the encouragement to step out and use the information and the tools that they have available to them. If you encourage your teen to be creative, they might just become the next Mark Zuckerberg.

Do you encourage your teen to be creative? Why or why not?

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Parentzilla on the Radio

Parentzilla on the Radio

We are so excited to announce that we began a daily radio program called the Parentzilla Minute.  You can listen to it online here.

The Parentzilla Minute is available for other Radio Stations to use as well.  If you are interested contact me at jeremy@parentzilla.com

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