by Shannon Popkin | May 7, 2013 | Communication, Leadership, Media, Mistakes, Parenting, Teens
My middle schooler told me yesterday that he took a nap on the bus en route to his track meet.I said, “A nap? Wasn’t it kind of noisy to take a nap?” I was remembering what my bus was like in middle school–with rowdy kids calling out to each...
by Shannon Popkin | Feb 13, 2013 | Discipline, Mistakes, Parenting
A repost from 2009. Cole thinks this story is very funny now. :)My family was all within earshot when Ken said, “Shannon, we’ve got to be consistent with disciplining Cade for talking back. Should he sit in the corner for five minutes?” After we...
by Shannon Popkin | Jan 15, 2013 | Jesus, Mistakes, Prayer, Speaking, Witness
Our first house was in a neighborhood that had no stop signs. Weird, I know. It was a grid of intersecting side streets, and our little house–situated on a corner lot–looked out upon one of the many intersections.There was an unwritten rule in the...
by Shannon Popkin | Jan 12, 2013 | Discipline, Humility, Leadership, Mistakes
“You’re not going to be happy,” I heard my husband say into the cell phone.He was at home, checking whether our dryer had a three or four prong cord. I was at Best Buy, trying to buy the correct replacement. But it turns out we have no electric cord...
by Shannon Popkin | Jan 8, 2013 | Family, Kids' Perspective, Mistakes, Parenting
When I put Cade’s jeans into the washer, I noticed something. There was a unique c-shaped hole in the knee. It caught my eye because it was the same c-shaped hole that I had noticed yesterday.Could I have just washed these jeans yesterday? I called him in, to...
by Shannon Popkin | Nov 27, 2012 | Anxiety, Christian Growth, Holidays, Kids' Perspective, Mistakes
I decided to have my boys help me with the Christmas decorating this year. But maybe I should have started with something like the stockings or the tree skirt. Clearly, setting up my village was more than they… or I… could handle.After giving some light...