Parenting Advice
My fifth-grade daughter is in with a new group of girls at her school. A few of these families have two homes. One of the mothers has asked me if my child can go with them on an expensive ski…
The Kitchen is Where It’s At!
Our 13-year-old son has a career plan: Zack’s going to open a pie restaurant, where both the main dish of pizzas and the desserts that follow will arrive on diners’ tables in that classic round shape. While he’s not getting…
Fend for Yourselves
You would think, after so many years in this business of raising a family, that we would have it all down to a science. Or at least a well-greased, satisfactorily seasoned, pretty-well-blended routine. Just swing open our kitchen pantry’s floor-to-ceiling…
“When Your Child Is Different…”
About seven years ago, we headed to our 20-week ultrasound, eager to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. The pregnancy had been so smooth – easy even – and it felt like nothing could possibly…
Patience in Parenting
My first-grader is not having an easy time learning to read. It seems like everyone in his class is making great strides, and he is struggling to the point of tears when he tries on his own at home. His…
“Can I Stay in the Car?”
Parenting is a series of ever-increasing circles of distance you let your children get away from you before you freak out and pull them back in close. When they are first born, someone is always holding them. When they get…
Sibling Squabbling
We just spent a weekend with my brother’s family, and it broke my heart! His kids get along perfectly. What can I do about the perpetual fighting that goes on between my kids (ages seven, nine, and thirteen)? Our house is…
So You’re Choosing Childcare?
For the first sixteen months of her life, my daughter Jayda, who at ten is already two inches taller than me, stayed with my mother or her father during the day while I worked. As she grew older, I knew…
Kindergarten Readiness Challenges
My twins will turn five at the end of this month. They are currently signed up for kindergarten in September, but I am concerned that my little boy is not ready. My daughter seems more prepared, but I still have…
The Yard is Yours
Just look at you now. Thirteen years old and well over five feet tall. At ninety pounds, you weigh far more than I did when I was your age, and you keep growing out of everything you have in your…
