Author: Peyten Williams, Bowbend Consulting
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Newsletter 12/17/2025, “Your Kids Physically Fight?” Yes. Let’s Talk.
I remember so vividly when a friend was sharing a parenting strategy with me for when kids fight—something she called the three B’s. I looked at her skeptically and said, “That won’t work when they’re pummeling each other.” Wide-eyed, she responded incredulously, “Your kids physically fight?” I started laughing. “That’s pretty much the only fighting they do.” If your kids mostly fight…
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Newsletter 12/11/2025, Parenting Introverts in an Extroverted World
One of my children is wired on the shy side—more introverted, happy to play by himself. Recently, I asked if he wanted to have some friends spend the night, and he said, “Nah. I like doing that only on special nights like Halloween or my birthday.” As someone who had to learn to be extroverted, I…
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Newsletter 12/4/25, How to Help Your Family Thrive This December: Maslow’s Hierarchy, Gratitude, and Meaningful Gifting
I start planning for December in… August. In our family, we have a birthday on December 15th, 18th, 19th, and we also celebrate Jesus on the 25th, so December is a month full of cake. And presents. And parties. And events. And well…it’s a lot to plan for. So I often feel very justified participating in…
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Raising Kids in an AI World: What Parents Really Need to Know
Back in September, Stan and I hosted a dinner party where ten of us gathered around my circular table. The topic: Artificial Intelligence and Parenting. Not the hype.Not the fear.Not the headlines. Just a group of thoughtful parents trying to figure out how to raise healthy, grounded, human kids in a world that’s changing faster…
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Raising Free-Range Kids in 2025
How do we raise free-range kids in a world where we can track their location… forever? And what does healthy freedom look like in an age of smartphones, AI deepfakes, and endless online noise?
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Newsletter 11/27/25, Overcoming Entitlement: Raising Grateful Children
After picking up carpool one day, I spontaneously drove through the line at our favorite fast-food spot and ordered five simple ice cream cones. Then, from the back seat I heard a whine: “Man! Can’t we get a milkshake?” My head nearly exploded. Entitlement! Ungratefulness! I briefly imagined rolling down the window and sending all five…
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Top 10 Parenting Gifts
Bowbend’s Top 10 list of books, gear, and goodies to inspire and equip YOU to raise thriving kids of character. 10. Bananas shirt. Whenever I want to say a bad word, I say “bananas” instead. I love this shirt because it makes my kids laugh. Like we’re sharing an inside joke about something naughty. 9. An inspirational mug or two. Sometimes it’s…
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Raising Kids in High-Achieving Environments
we wanted to explore whether we can motivate our kids to be hardworking and successful without pushing them into anxiety, burnout, or depression – particularly since we are lucky enough to live in an affluent, high-achieving community.
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Newsletter 11/20/25, Table Manners: A Parent’s Guide To Prepare for Thanksgiving
The truth is: ALL parents struggle with teaching table manners. But Thanksgiving gives us the perfect reason—and deadline—to practice some skills that will serve our kids for a lifetime.
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Raising Bilingual Kids: Why Dual Language Learning Builds Smarter, More Confident Children — with Katherine Hamilton of Ensemble Learning, Podcast Episode 18
In this episode of What Great Teachers Know That All Parents Can Use, host Peyten Williams of Bowbend Consulting talks with Katherine Hamilton, Vice President of Programs at Ensemble Learning, about how dual language and bilingual programs unlock opportunity, equity, and brain growth for children. Katherine explains how multilingual classrooms help students become bilingual, biliterate,…