Nine-year-old Liam and his 13-year-old sister, Melanie, are playing in the basement. Their lives, up to that moment, have been what every child deserves: quiet, stable, ordered. The gunshots from upstairs end all that. Their mother is critically wounded. Their…
Q: I gave in this summer and let my 3-year-old fall asleep on the couch most nights while watching her favorite movie. Any ideas for getting her back into her bed and sleeping at an appropriate hour? A: Have you…
My older son, Ben, is a senior in high school, which means that, like approximately 2.1 million other young men and women, he is engaged in the college search. There are several searches that define the arc of parenting. There…
Or as my 8-year-old announced one morning last weekend, “It smells like winter is coming, Mom!” Just like seemingly everything in life, October takes on a whole new meaning once kids are in the picture. Back in the day for…
You’ve been running for months, but you know that sometimes exercise brings on chest tightness. There has been some wheezing, too. What’s going on? Could this mean cancelling your plans to sign up for that half-marathon? Not to worry. You…
My 6-year-old daughter still rides in a car seat with a 5-point harness, which is the safest option for her thirty-six-pound frame. Lucky for me, she has not developed booster-seat envy, despite knowing that the bulk of her kindergarten buddies…
Some of the most smile-inducing parenting memories I can conjure up involve meeting my kids in an elementary school cafeteria for lunch. There’s something about elementary school that announces to us parents, You are welcome here! Yes, most teachers…
“But I can’t have ADHD. I am not hyperactive.” This is what I told the counselor in medical school when I was first diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I knew I was having trouble with concentration in school…
If you’re crazy for Halloween, here’s a fun home décor idea. Can’t you just picture one of these bats in every window, the way some folks use wreaths during the holidays? Or make one for every member of the family…
In an effort to protect funds and plan for the future, people choose beneficiaries, strategically shift assets, or add joint owners with good intentions, but often without fully understanding the potential ramifications. Poor decisions can be costly, sometimes causing beneficiaries…
