I just wanted to share my mom’s website with any parents who might be interested or struggling. My mom is a retired principal who writes for several local magazines about raising children. I don’t have kids, but I can attest that she is the best mom, grandmother and educator I have ever met… That is my completely unbiased opinion 
. She has a free blog and an amazing amount of knowledge. I was not an easy kid to raise in the least… and if I didn’t have such amazing parents, I have no doubt that my life would have gone in a completely different direction.
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From the article below:
“How did we go from following rules because such was the right thing to do, to having to be rewarded for doing so?”
By the time I was a teenager I had come to respect the idea that contributing to ‘earning your own keep’ was not a bad thing. I may not have liked it very much, especially worrying about the smell of cow dung on me when attending school, the broken blisters on my hands or the cold rain when working in ‘the woods’. Did I get a reward? Yes I did. I got to go to work on the community hall grounds voluntarily, to make ‘improvements’ and perform menial maintenance jobs with my neighborhood friends (circa '75-'85). Situated beside a lake, we had a safe place to swim in summer and skate in winter. The neighborhood ‘fathers’ made it safe for swimming, by a floating rim of connected logs around the swimming area to keep the boaters away. It was generally understood that anybody caught inside ‘the boom logs’ would be reported to the police. Not by the locals, but by the ‘boaters’ family in the form of a missing person’s report. I witnessed one group of partying young men thinking they could launch their boat there. My father just happened to be there and read the ‘riot act’ to them. They hesitated until the owner of the property next door appeared from the bushes and determinedly strode towards the group. Take on one fifty something grey head? Maybe. Take on two of them with only five young guys? Not a chance in hell. It’s amazing how quickly an affable yet competent border collie can turn into a great pyrenees. A smart coyote pack leaves upon the approach of a second pyrenees. They also know they’re taking a chance with just one.
Thanks for the link! 
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Thanks for checking it out! I bet you had a blast growing up! I can just picture that scene 
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