“I don’t know what I think until I write about it.” - Joan Didion


15



What problem do you want to solve in the world?


1Infant-14



Set up automatic payments so they are initiated on your end, so that you send out money to the bill/ company you’re paying instead of giving them access to take money out of your account.


20



Learning to keep your composure and maintain a respectful tone when you’re frustrated/angry/afraid/upset, etc. is a skill. PRACTICE it.


4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21



Check out the Jesuit Volunteer Corp. A short but deeply meaningful immersion into service, faith in action, selflessness and living on a lot less than you think you need.


19



If you want to know what girls like, read the books they’re reading, watch the shows they watch, etc. Porn is entertainment *not* education. Movies books and shows marketed to 12 year-old boys get it wrong most of the time, can’t learn anything from them. Chick flicks is where you’ll find a little instruction on how to flirt in a non-creepy way, how to kiss, how to be in a healthy relationship. Study the difference between the male gaze vs female gaze.


14



Never trust your tongue when your heart is bitter. Hush until you heal.


12, 18



Go as a family to local high school musical productions.


7-18



Your life is way bigger than one relationship. Or one grade, or one job, or one choice, or one event, or one gift. Make room for all of it even when some of it will most certainly hurt.


17



Sex isn’t something you “score.” It’s not a competition. Whether the encounter is casual or within a committed relationship it’s something that is shared.


16, 19, 20



Remember when you’re faced with bullies, jerks and people who say bad things , follow advice from the Obama's: "When they go low we go high."


1Infant-14



The more you move, the happier you are.


10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 21



Sometimes you have to put aside how you feel about a person and objectively look at how their actions show how they feel about *you.*


16



Never resist a generous impulse.


9, 12, 19



Share a few of our most embarrassing moments. Teach them it’s okay to laugh at yourself and even when you’re mortified in the moment being embarrassed isn’t fatal. (And it happens to everyone.)


11



Challenge yourself to excel at something. You’ll be astonished how good you can get by practicing consistently. There’s nothing magical about high school quarterbacks or drummers. Girls like boys who have something going on.


13, 14, 17



Ask “What are you going to teach ME?” Let him work on something to teach.


11



Monty Python movies.


12-15



Learn to tie knots.


10



Watch the news together. Local and national. Today Show has both of mornings are easier than evenings.


12, 13, 14, 15



Don’t ask for anything until you’ve done what has been asked of you.


5



We struggle so much when we don’t know ourselves. Are you a thinker (creative, big picture) or a doer (meticulous, task-oriented.) Both are great by the way.


16, 21



Don’t confuse impulsive with courageous.


10, 14, 19, 21



Sad but important fact: You’ll never be enough for some people. Never. -Chasten Buttigieg


18



Be generous in all things. That is my hope for you.


14, 18, 21



1

Sometimes it’s easier to describe what a thing is *not* than to describe what it is.


14, 21



Paradoxical Commandments by Kent Keith.


19



101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest. Listen to it yearly!


16, 17, 18, 19, 21



It’s hard to accept that the world can be so cruel and unfair, but sometimes accepting it and focusing on what part of it you CAN change is - I’ve learned - the key.


15