Parenting | PulseonParenting

I Almost Got Scammed: How to Avoid Falling Into the Trap

Aug 31 2023

It sounded too good to be true…but. The site looked legit…the business logo was spot-on, the photography professional, and the item descriptions well-written. The discounts were crazy good, so my daughter and I filled our virtual shopping cart and clicked the “checkout” button. Then there it was: scam written all over the payment screen. They nearly had us. I Almost Got Scammed: How to Avoid Falling Into the Trap. So close, yet so far… I had a weird feeling about the site when my daughter told me about it. One of our favorite athletic clothing brands was discontinuing a style…

Aug 03 2023

A couple years ago I made a startling discovery: my children would soon be finishing high school. They would be moving out into either the real world or stepping into the transitional setting of university. And with that sleep-suppressing realization came panic. Had I done enough to prepare my kids to be independent? For the first time in years, I went into cram-for-the-exam mode. Read on to see the five ways I’ve been Letting Go: Parenting our Kids to be Independent. A Generational Difference I grew up very different from my own children: I was a latch-key kid from the…

Jun 22 2023

I hate being lied to, don’t you? I’ve told my kids more times than I can count that it angers me more when they lie than with whatever it is they are lying about. When they lie, it means I can’t trust them. And lack of trust hurts all of us. But telling the truth walks a tightrope: is it kind to be honest, or is it cruel? Is telling the truth always the best policy? The answer to both questions is, unsurprisingly, it depends. How to tell the whole truth…most of the time. The anatomy of truthful people. Truthful…

May 18 2023

I remember a sun-drenched living space and views of Ponderosa Pines from the large picture window. And the quiet. That deafening stillness between hurried bowls of cereal and the afternoon dump of shoes and backpacks on the mud room floor. I also remember sitting on the kid-tested couch, the same one I’m settled into as I type these words. A couch now with a subtle tear along a back seam and a few loose, straight threads emerging from the seat cushions, a bit worse for wear but as comfy as ever. Hello, World And I remember the open laptop screen,…

Teen Friendship Breakup: How to Help With the Trauma

Mar 09 2023

The end of an era. Friendships come and go, as adults know all too well. We’ve been through those ups and downs and growings-apart more than we care to admit. We know the drill. But our children don’t. So when the best friend since Kindergarten drops a bombshell, it feels like World War Three in our child’s life. When friends break up, we need to help our teens cope. “I don’t want to be friends anymore.” Those seven words. And then she walked away. Not a great beginning to high school. When I think back to my 9th-grade year, that…

Mar 02 2023

This week my twin boys turn 18. The good news: they get to register to vote in U.S. elections. The bad news: they have to sign up for the U.S. draft. And the interesting news: they can legally buy alcohol. In other words, turning 18 in New Zealand means the partying turns real. My generation of Americans and younger may find this to be crazy or cool, or somewhere in between. The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in the U.S. has teeter-tottered in the last 100 years: in the early part of the 20th century, it was 21. Then it…

Feb 23 2023

The post I had planned for this week is just not going to happen. So instead, I bring you The Post Without a Title. No time spent on focus keyphrases or headings or ALT text for images or on improving SEO rankings. It’s just not that kind of week, but I hope you’ll stick around and read this anyway. My kids are finally experiencing high school, for real. One of them experiencing in-person, in-classroom learning for the first time since fifth grade (or, the equivalent of 6th level in the New Zealand school system). Learning differences, COVID and our trans-Pacific…

The Last First Day shot of our twin boys.

Feb 09 2023

This week I posted on social media the photo and caption I’ve been fearing. TOW* tall figures stand half-smiling, full sets of straightened adult teeth barely visible, hands hanging stiffly at their sides, empty of the sweet signs announcing which grade they are to start that morning. TOW Mom gets to say: Last first day. Last first day. Milestones Our twins were just eight years old when I started pulseonparenting.com, and if we had stayed in the U.S., their graduation from high school would have been within days of pulse’s 10-year anniversary. Not by design, which makes this a meaningful…

Nov 17 2022

More and more women have children after the age of 30. In fact, the median age of women giving birth is…30. So I did the math: if more women are growing their families “later” in life (“quotes” because geez, 30 ain’t old…), perimenopause will likely collide with having children at home. As if perimenopause isn’t difficult enough, juggling it with parenting is extra challenging. Read on about perimenopause and parenting: how to cope now. First, a pivotal moment. I was sitting on an exam table wrapped in a voluminous hospital gown, a stiff white sheet covering my lap. My healthcare…

Twins may mean "instant family" but make saving for college a challenge.

Sep 15 2022

I know. Ugh. The alphabet soup of savings plans…ROTH IRA’s, 401 A and B’s, 529’s. I don’t know if any of these examples of savings funds are even REAL, that’s how bad I am at anything beyond my personal checking account. (Oh, this just in: those funds ARE the real deal.) But I did some research. 529’s are a great way to stash money away for higher education. So stop, drop and open: start saving for college now. What are 529 Plans? 529’s (AKA Qualified Tuition Programs, or Section 529 Plans) allow you to put away money for educational purposes:…

Category - Parenting

I Almost Got Scammed: How to Avoid Falling Into the Trap

Letting Go: Parenting our Kids to Be Independent.

How to Tell The Whole Truth …Most of the Time.

10 Popular Posts: Celebrating a Decade of PulseonParenting

Teen Friendship Breakup: How to Help With the Trauma

Turning 18 in New Zealand: the Partying Turns Real

The Post Without a Title

The Last First Day: Endings, Milestones, and New Beginnings

Perimenopause and Parenting: How to Cope Now

Stop, Drop, and Open. Start Saving for College NOW.