"School and sports are Addison's focus. We don't require her to do chores at home so that she can focus on doing well at school."

"Joe is really pretty involved with athletics, which doesn't leave a lot of time to help out at home. And besides, it's really just easier to do it myself."

When parents tell me things like this I have to wonder what kind of adult they are planning for their child to be. Let's consider the following possibilities:

Read more: "School and Sports are My Child's Work."

Old Rule: Good parents enroll their children in as many extracurricular activities as possible in order to maximize their growth and development.

New Rule: The best parents limit their children's extracurricular activities in order to spend more time with them at home.

Read more: Out with the Old; In with the New

It’s fairly common for people today to talk about what might be on their bucket list. Some nature lovers want to visit all of our national parks or hike the Appalachian Trail. Others want to watch a baseball game in each of the major league ball parks. The daring sort aspire to crest the highest mountain on each continent or compete in an ultra-marathon. The objectives may vary, but generally speaking, items on a bucket list require effort and ambition or they just won’t happen by themselves.

Read more: What's Wrong with a Bucket List?

Last year I spent five days hiking along the shores of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. We were about an hour’s drive north of Duluth, so the scenery was rugged, beautiful and isolated. In fact, even though we spent every night in a comfortable lodge with breath-taking views of the lake, cell phone coverage was limited and staying in touch with loved ones was challenging. My difficulties in communication, however, paled in comparison to what we learned about the early residents of Minnesota’s north shore—especially the lighthouse keepers and their families.  

Read more: Lighthouse Marriages

I am up against a deadline for a grant application to the Junior League of Springfield today, so this week's posting is likely to be briefer than most. The Junior League's focus on "The Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect" is very relevant to what we try to do through the Operation Us Initiative. Even though many people think of Operation Us as focused on the couple, nothing could be more relevant to the well-being of children than their parents' relationship. If we really want to prevent child abuse and neglect, we must do more than identifying mandated reporters and training them to do a better job of recognizing abuse. Our efforts must extend beyond removing children from dangerous homes. In order to prevent harm to children from occurring in the first place, we must help their parents.

Read more: Relationships are Not Neutral