If you could give one piece of advice to a parent of a tween, what would it be? What was your best parenting moment?

For the January Tween Stages section of Thriving Family, I'm in need of a few short, practical stories that show a great idea in action. The good news for this issue is that we'll not be sticking to the developmental asset guidelines for the topic. So let fly with your best parenting story, particularly if it is an idea other parents could use.

Each short article (true-life narrative) should be written to parents of pre-teen/tween children (8- to -12-year-olds). Articles should be written in first person, and they must have practical ideas that our readers can implement in their own parenting.

I won't be giving a deadline for this article because I will continue to need these "best tips" into the future. Stories that arrive quickly will be considered for January. But later submissions are great as well. I don't want deadlines to stop you from sending in a great story.

Summary: Best Tween Parenting Tips
Department: Family Stages
Payment: $50 on acceptance
Rights:  First non-exclusive
Word count: 50-150 words
Publication: January 2011
Respond to: vance.fry@fotf.org