When my dad turned seventy-five, there was quite a party. We were all together: my four older sisters, my brother, and me, various and sundry spouses, the majority of his…
Browsing: Parenting Tips
Garage sales, rummage sales, tag sales.The sale ing season is upon us. Until I had children, two daughters, I was never the garage sale type. Now you can’t keep me…
He’s downstairs on the computer. She’s up in her room checking Instagram. Mom is deep into another book on her iPad. And me? I’m glued to a tiny smartphone, checking…
Q: My mother is moving in with our family and there are going to be a lot of changes, starting with two of our four kids sharing a bedroom. I…
Q: A close relative has been diagnosed with late-stage cancer. This will be our kids’ first experience with losing a loved one. How honest should we be with them? A:…
There’s a lot of information out there – some of it very confusing – about how our young athletes should fuel their bodies. As parents, it can be difficult to…
You’ll have to excuse me if this column is rushed. I am fitting it in between a performance by the undertwelve bassoon quintet, the regional finals of the distance medley…
There was no more fun to be had. Not for us anyway. The Dippin’ Dots buzz that had sustained us for the last hour had officially melted away. Attention guests.…
Ideas, Questions, and Knowledge, Oh My! by Victoria Ryan O’Toole Be a good role model. Take advantage of your kids’ “monkey see, monkey do” tendencies to increase their curiosity. Whenever…
Q Our four-year-old daughter has a blankie she absolutely cherishes, especially at bedtime. We have a policy of leaving the blanket on her bed in the morning. Lately she has…
I just ordered our third wraparound safety net for the trampoline. Last week, I picked up our fourth fade-resistant, no-mold, never break market umbrella at Lowe’s. If it were…
In 2007, the world celebrated New Year’s Eve without me. I spent the morning with an oncologist trying to absorb his life-changing diagnosis: “You have breast cancer.” What a surprise,…