3 Steps to Better Family Routines for the New School Year
You want to enjoy your time with your kids, not spend it fighting about breakfast, getting ready, or homework. Thankfully, routines help solve that problem.
How to Make the First Day of School a Total Success – For You
If you really want to get the year off to a stellar start, it’s time to approach this a little differently. Here’s how to make the first day of school a total success – for you. After all, why sho...
"Be consistent" - Susan Sontag's Parenting List
Lists have a bad name on the internet, where websites use them to suck in viral views: "Top 10 Celebrity Bikini Fails," "5 Foods You Should Never Eat if You Want to Lose Flab!" But in real life I ...
Summer Lessons: What We Learned
We're just a few days away from the first day of school. It feels like school just ended; it also feels like forever ago. Summer went by so fast - too fast for many of us. While summer is still han...
Lucky Charms and Donuts for Breakfast
I've accepted that my in-laws consider "spoiling kids" with sugary treats part of their grandparent job description.
Does Your Stress Really Harm Your Kids?
Modern parents are repeatedly told that their stress has a lasting effect on their children's development. For example, this Daily Beast post, alarmingly titled "Stressed Parents Scar Their Kids:" ...
The Milestones That Don't Make Baby Books, Like Smart-Assery
First steps, successful potty training, emerging teeth- all milestones worthy of the baby book. But maybe we should make room for some new ones.
Bedtime Stories for Young Brains - The New York Times
While we don't really need more convincing that curling up with a book is one of the best things we can do with our kids, knowing that it can have long term effects on their brain is a nice bonus...
I Was Rejected by Sub Pop in 1993 – But My Kids Think I’m a Rockstar
I bet you didn’t know I used to be a rock star. In my suburban bedroom. Beyond singing into a hairbrush, I spent my teenage years with an acoustic guitar, a black and white composition book, and ...
30 Fastest Ways for Parents to Reduce Stress, Backed By Science
As part of our series on parents and stress, we researched the fastest ways for parents to reduce stress. All of these link to the study, research or article that backed them up. Make a suggestion ...
Audio Stories for Family Road Trips and Back-to-School
We've previously mentioned how much we love Sparkle Stories. They produce wonderful original audio stories full of non-preachy life lessons, happiness, and humor for kids up to about third grade. B...
?Your Favorite Summertime Activities: Deconstructed
Or maybe your favorite summertime activities deconstruct you.
There's still a chunk of summer left. Promise. Not everyone lives a life with the perfect narrative arc we see in movies or read in books. But how we arrange the plot points of our years can shape ...
When You Think Your Kids Aren't Listening, Read This
This week I had a daily gift. For the first time in nine months, I had a few hours to myself each day. You might think this is a small gift, but I don't. I’m a parent of young kids, a full-time tea...
Start the School Year With Simpler, Better Lunches
Packing lunches ranks right up there with "getting kicked in the face" on my list of "crappy ways to start the morning." I'm not sure why I detest it so much, but perhaps it has something to do wit...
Our Favorite School Backpack is Burton's Marvel Day Hiker (Review)
If there's any back-to-school consolation prize, it's the promise of a fresh backpack. Burton's Marvel Youth Day Hiker is our backpack pick of the year.
Ultimate Back-to-School Supply Checklists
Super convenient checklists of school supplies for elementary, middle school, and high school students, with links to our best value picks on Amazon.com.
Try This Next Time Your Kids Ignore You - And Before You Start Yelling
As parents, most of us will ask our kids to get dressed, or brush their teeth, or go get their homework so we can get in the car. As kids, they typically ignore that first request. We then follow...
The irony in rushing my kids down to the beach for a relaxing sunset is not lost on me. Amy Poehler's Smart Girls latest offering, a web series called "Experimenting with Megan Amram" does for STE...
Food Shopping With Kids – Fantasy Versus Reality
It starts with thinking "?I just need a few things. I’ll take the kids to the local market. It’ll be fun." This is magical thinking, really. You see…
Read this before posting photos of your kids on Facebook - MarketWatch
According to a recent survey, the average parent will post almost 1,000 photos of their child online before he or she turns five. Technology has turned every second into an opportunity to capture...
Tips for Helping Kids (And Parents) Enjoy Family Roadtrips
A quick video of tips for less annoying family roadtrips - including how to answer "are we there yet?" for the 1000th time.
8 So-Called Life Lessons Learned On "Fun" Family Roadtrips
There's still time to load up the Wagon Queen Family Truckster and hit the holiday road before summer ends. You'll definitely learn something on this trip.
Why I Unapologetically Love Family Car Camping
Car camping isn’t cool. It’s the dadbod of outdoor living. What bowling is to sports, car camping is to exploring. It’s something you can do while wearing Crocs. It’s basically what Crocs were made...