My Teen is Homesick & Wants to Come Home from Camp

Every summer I help parents deal with this issue-kids who are homesick and want to come home from camp. This is certainly not an easy one but there are a few guiding principles:

1. Don't immediately panic. Some initial homesickness is to be expected.

2. Try to buy time. Tell your child to give it a little more time and then you'll revisit. In the meantime, your child may settle in comfortably.

3. If you are worried, then get feedback from the camp staff about how your child seems to be doing.

4. Keep in mind, that homesickness is contagious and all of the kids in the bunk maygradually move from homesickness to happiness.

5. If your child is telling you something that is very troubling then by all means assess the situation and consider whether or not coming home is the necessary response.

Parents all Keep Secrets

It's understandable that as parents we all want to present our kids in the best possible light. And,we also don't want to reveal confidences that we keep for our kids. Nonetheless, it sometimes seems like no one else has any problems with their kids because

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In Search Of...Identity

The theorist Eric Erikson is well known for expanding on Freud’s work regarding human development. Erikson understood and acknowledged that before an adolescent could make the transition to adulthood, he/she had to embark on a journey, a voyage of self-discovery, a search for an identity.

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Just Another Manic Mom Day

Being a parent of a teen is in some ways like watching an action adventure flick. There is never a dull moment; just when you think you've got the plot figured out there is another twist. Of course there's also all that drama, seemingly at some moments simply for the sake of drama itself. Like any true adventure movie, there is a bit of romance as a mother this represents your unwavering devotion to your teen despite the sometimes dumb or even disastrous situations in which your teen gets entangled.

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Getting Ready for Your High School Student to Graduate

I remember going through this. My sweetheart was going to graduate from high school and go to college in another state several states away. I can remember like it was yesterday when her name was called at her graduation. It was a bittersweet moment. I was so proud of that young lady who was so full of joy and life and now owned a high school diploma.

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