Pictured: Caucus co-chair Sen. Monty Mason speaks during the Foster Care Caucus’s press conference on Jan. 15. He is backed by Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, co-chair Del. Emily Brewer, Sen. Barbara Favola, Sen. Bryce Reeves, Sen. Janet Howell, Del. Chris…
When my older daughter was eight, my wife Kat and I prepared to take her to her first sleep-away camp. It was the summer after third grade and she was ready for an adventure. She’d been active in the local…
I think my 11-year-old son is gay. I’m straight, my husband is straight, and we have no gay friends. I’m about to begin what might be the most important parenting I’ve ever done, and I need some guidance. Do you…
When I was single and a 20-something-year-old pediatric nurse, a child in my care needed a foster home. I loved him, and for about fifteen minutes, I considered it, before realizing I was nowhere near ready for that commitment and…
Do traumatic events in childhood have to negatively direct the course of someone’s life? The Virginia General Assembly will help answer that question during the 2019 session, which starts January 9. Unfortunately, 19 percent of kids in Virginia have experienced two…
Are you kidding me? I mean, come on. Really. You have got to be kidding me. There’s not even three inches of snow out there, and schools are closing? Again? Snow day, you have done it once more – barreling…
The day before winter break started last year, I left work early and headed to our elementary school. As I approached my son’s kindergarten classroom, I could hear and feel the children’s joyous energy before I reached the door. When…
Ten years ago this month, our Christmas budget officially blew up. Perhaps your family was hit by the same destructive force: The Great Recession. If I close my eyes, I can still feel the throbbing that overtook my frontal lobe…
On a special December Saturday in 1983, Dad woke up early to warm up the Toyota. By seven o’clock, my sister Susan and I were inside the car. Then, we waited for Mom, who perpetually ran late. We needed to…
About three years ago, I started helping with a class for expectant dads. Taught by veteran dads, the format allows men to ask all the questions they have on their minds in a comfortable setting. In preparing for the parenting…
