March 2016

I vividly remember picking up my then 10-year-old daughter, Bethany, after her initial week at camp. While I envisioned her jumping into my arms, she shot me a friendly smile and a wave before returning to her new friends. In the moment I was disheartened, but more than a dozen…

The opposing player crouched in the team huddle during a timeout, trying desperately to hear the coach call the next play. But the noise was deafening. The Siegel Center crowd was going crazy, urged on by one of the top pep bands in the country. The player, as well as…

Tiffany Ferreira couldn’t understand why the eczema on her 4-month-old son’s face wouldn’t go away back in 2007. The Chesterfield County resident thought it might be acne, but it continued to worsen. She scoured the Internet and after much searching discovered that eczema can be caused by a milk allergy.…

When my firstborn, Sam, was a month old, my parents came to Richmond to meet their new granddaughter. My baby girl gazed upon her grandma who had just driven eight hours to hold her and let out a scream, the likes of which I had never heard before. “Well, you…

Baby items are a hot topic in my house right now. Our attic is stocked with products we used with our two current little ones, and it’s a good thing. Reusing and recycling baby items is more important than ever for our family, as now we have twins on the…

I have my glazed doughnut, my coffee, and a few sections of the Sunday paper to keep me occupied for the next hour or so. And I see it’s starting to sleet, but as long as I keep the car idling, I’m pretty sure I won’t freeze. I’ve got the…

Spring is right around the corner! And with spring comes thoughts of… that’s right – summer! We’re ready to help you plan out both, with a jam-packed calendar of spring and Easter events in this issue, and all the help you’ll need to book your kids’ summer camps, too. First,…

In parts of the country, there’s a bee shortage affecting pollination of plants. Here’s a fun craft made with the ultimate recyclable (toilet paper tubes!) to get kids thinking about the environment, nature, science, and perhaps most important – spring! We’d love to see some pictures of your Kids Can-Do…

I have a friend who is constantly posting negative thoughts about her daughter on Facebook. I believe they call this kid-shaming, but I’m not sure. There might be a picture of the sink full of dishes she didn’t wash or her really messy room. Or she’ll write something like, “Anyone…

Picture this: You have finally, after months of worry and stress and hurt feelings, moved your aging mother into an assisted living facility. It has been a long road, but it’s really the best thing for her health and well-being. You speak with her weekly, and she complains frequently about…

Would you have guessed that tooth decay is considered the single most common disease facing America’s children? Five times more common than asthma, nearly 4.5 million children (more than 25 percent) in the U.S. experience tooth decay. Of these, three million children have never sought dental treatment. This is a…

This year, enjoy a St. Patrick’s Day celebration without the artificial colors that so many stores, parties, and baked goods contain. Try some of these naturally colorful and healthy recipe ideas. Pot O’ Gold Soup Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook a butternut squash until soft, or about 40 minutes.…

No one ever said raising a family would be a piece of cake – or affordable. Annually, the prices of little things like diapers and baby food go up. The big things, like childcare and education, are on the rise, too. Often, tax credits and deductions for family expenses can…

My father passed away from lung cancer five years ago this month. I was privileged to be one of his caretakers in the last months of his life, along with my mother. One of the things we did to pass time was look through old photographs. It was during one…

Grief. Unfortunately, it’s something we will all experience as part of being human. Of course, children experience grief too, and when they do, they will think, feel, and express themselves differently than adults. Hopefully, your child will not experience a severe loss like the death of a parent, but every…

In an attempt to lure riders to their streetcar line, the Virginia Manchester Railway opened a combination terminal and amusement park just south of the James in 1890. Accessible with a 5-cent trolley ticket, Forest Hill Park was built on an old 1836 estate known as Boscobel. To preserve the estate’s…

In many homes, there are books and magazines everywhere you look – on shelves, in baskets, stacked on side tables. Other families might keep their collection of books out of sight or might not have much of an at-home library. Many parents I know say their children read and do…