Parenting Advice

First children are the “practice” children. The parents’ experiment. The guinea pig. I’m sure you’ve all heard variations of these jokes. We test our parenting strategies and work out the kinks on the first one, so we’ll do better...

Throughout my years in the behavior world I’ve taught countless parents, teachers, and staff on how to use reward systems. From simple rewards systems at home to token systems to behavior contracts, I’ve seen how rewards can produce positive...

Our 3rd Annual Bloom:: An Event for New and Expecting Moms sponsored by Big Blue Marble Academy was hosted on March 26, 2023 at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National. We were THRILLED to once...

I was 26 years old the last time he and I had a physical altercation. I call it a physical altercation because I do not know what exactly you call it when a father hits his adult daughter. I...

  I am 5 months pregnant and my husband just finished prep to teach our Sunday school class, he is doing dishes, cooking lunch, holding our 14 month old while he cries for milk, and I am sitting on the...

"You need to turn on the television." That's what Kent said when I answered the phone. I could not have imagined what came next. I homeschooled each of our kids individually for one year before they reached junior high school....

Our oldest son was adopted the day after his 13th birthday. Our tradition is to celebrate his A-Day (adoption day) with a surprise outing that we commemorate with a Christmas ornament, since it's December, and since he doesn't have...

      I hate to be the one to tell you all this, but, being a "basic" mom just isn't going to cut it. Now before anyone starts writing angry responses, please hear me out.  I'm not talking about...

Oh, 2020. How many blog posts will be written about how glad we are to see you go. We all have such high hopes for 2021, although maybe those have been tempered somewhat as the pandemic drags on. For...

Choosing a path for your child's education can feel daunting. Whether your children are very young and you're making this decision for the first time, or things have come up along the way that have you thinking about other...