Are you deficit spending in the most important relationships in your life? This article will help you get out of emotional debt and turn your failing relationships around.

I have a 15-year-old teenage daughter. Kimberly is her name. She and I have always had a close relationship as father and daughter. Recently, though, I’ve noticed that she doesn’t want much to do with me. In fact our relationship has been strained on a fairly frequent basis. When I see her and say “Hi” she barely acknowledges me. When I ask her how school is going she gives me a scowl and mumbles something under her breath that sounds like “go away and leave me alone.” I couldn’t quite make it out. Anyway, I was getting concerned. I know deep down inside that she loves me. So what was going on here?

I suppose I could chalk up this behavior to the normal teenage tension that goes on between adolescents and their parents, but I just wasn’t buying that. What really was the root cause here?

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Years ago I used to have regular Father’s Interviews with each of my children. I was thinking lately that I ought to start doing that again with my three youngest children who are still at home. Well, this morning I read an entry in my journal about the first time I had Father’s Interviews with my children and it was quite amusing and interesting. It convinced me that I need to start that practice again in my home. Here is the journal entry. Read it and tell me what you think: (more…)

As Christmas approaches my thoughts are drawn back to the memories of Christmas past. When our children were young Christmas was a magical time of the year. The memories are sweet and comforting. One in particular comes to mind of many years ago. This was when my oldest daughter was 6 years old. I cracked open my old journal this morning and read about the experience and felt like sharing it with you. Here is my journal entry from Christmas Eve 1990: (more…)

The goal of self-mastery is a noble one. Yet every day people’s efforts are thwarted because they fall victim to the enemies of self-mastery: Too Little and Too Much. As you work towards mastering your mind, mastering your body, mastering your money and mastering your relationships, nearly all failures can be traced back to the problem of too little and too much.

What do I mean by that? Let me explain by using some examples. (more…)

My wife and I are babysitting our two grandkids for a week while our daughter and son-in-law are off on vacation. We have enjoyed every minute of it. Well, maybe not every minute of it but most every minute getting to know our two grandkids a little more. Their names are Jenna and Carter. Jenna is 19 months old and Carter is 6 months old.

Well, one day my wife and I went out for a while and left our 14-year-old daughter Kimberly to watch them while we were gone. Kimberly happens to be an exceptional babysitter and is in high demand in our neighborhood as a babysitter.

When Lisa and I got home our son Preston was anxious to tell us that Kimberly yelled at Carter because he wouldn’t stop crying. I said, “She yelled at him?” and he said “Yeah.” Well, this disturbed me a little bit. (more…)

One of the most daunting tasks in this life is that of being a father. I was a perfect father until I had children of my own and found out how hard it really was. Fatherhood poses its many challenges and is not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure. One of those challenges is keeping the right balance between being too easy on your children and being too hard. For me, I tended to be too hard. (more…)