Each spring brings a rite of passage for a new crop of mothers as they register their little ones for kindergarten. I can still remember what it felt like to sign up my baby girl for school, and what that…

On this mountain playground, like little ones trying to choose which play structure they’ll visit next at a favorite neighborhood park, families delight in deciding how to enjoy precious time together in one of the most beautiful regions east of…

When I was a kid, trees were my monkey bars, from the short mimosa with low, spreading branches to the oak tree that was just right for shinnying up. These ubiquitous giants have been my silent, constant companions: the familiar…

  I grew up near San Francisco with beaches that are rugged, breathtaking, and a mondo-sized failure for kids expecting a real beach. Alcatraz sits one-and-a-half miles offshore for a reason. Make a swim for it and you’ll freeze, drown,…

Some of our kids have grown up wishing they could wear a Hogwarts school uniform adorned with the prestigious Gryffindor crest. But would they have been as happy with khakis and a collared shirt? Others see their wardrobe choices as…

Nancy Thomas of Richmond will never forget the look on her 3-year-old daughter’s face when she saw the IMAX version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at the Science Museum of Virginia back in 2001. “The animation seemed to come alive…

When they take up lodging on our kids’ heads, lice don’t just gross us out. They wage an all-out assault on our confidence as parents. Because I had been informed about lice in various kindergarten classrooms at our neighborhood school,…

We’ve all heard that life upon the wicked stage is a difficult career, full of rejection, brief highs, and lots of blood, sweat, and tears. Getting into a college bachelor of fine arts (BFA) theatre program is no different. My…

Theodora von Hohenstaufen Noll is the first to admit that she had a tendency to hover over her children. Letting them loose in the kitchen, where sharp knives and hot burners could threaten their safety, was obviously out of the…

When my daughter Lily gave me tickets to a roller derby bout for Mother’s Day last year, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I like sports, and I’m always up for a new experience. But roller derby? I envisioned women’s…