Tag: hormones

Tweens are emerging teens, but they’re still children. They’ll astonish you with their ability to conceptualize, to argue brilliantly, and then to do foolish things.

The biggest danger for tweens is losing the connection to parents while struggling to find their place and connect in their peer world. The biggest danger for parents is trying to parent through power instead of through relationship, thus eroding their bond and losing their influence on their teen.

Poor sleep not only makes us grumpy, hungry and lethargic, it can be deadly. A study by researchers in Australia showed that being awake for 18 hours produced an impairment equal to a blood alcohol concentration of .05, and .10 after 24 hours. In most states, .08 is considered legally drunk. Consider that roughly 86% of Americans commute by automobile to and from work, according to 2013 U.S. Census Data, and you realize that's a lot of people on the road potentially impaired from poor sleep.

When I think about what things were like when I was a teenager I can’t help but make this strange expression that looks like something in between a smile and a grimace. I’m sure most of you make the same face. Being a teenager was fun, it was first loves and first tastes of freedom, but it was also greasy foreheads and relentless acne. When you finally grow out of those pimples you breathe a sigh of relief thinking the pimples and blemishes are just another awkward teen memory.