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...
Back to School: A FREE Video Class for Better Family Routines
This free, quick-paced video course from parent educator Vicki Hoefle shows parents how to use back-to-school to implement new (and better) family routines.
If I ask 100 people about their thoughts on control, 99.5 will whisper “I am a control freak," as if this is a bad thing. Personally, I embrace and celebrate my “control freakish” nature. Why? Beca...
A "Wild" Parenting Message: "Where the Wild Things Are"
“Where the Wild Things Are” has always been a classic children’s story, well before it hit the big screens in 2009. I think Maurice Sendak is something of the Faulkner of children’s literature; I ...
There have been plenty of initiatives to promote civic engagement among the teenage set. Harvard's Project Zero program "Children Are Citizens" is bringing that same idea to preschool. Qualitative ...
The Real Hero of the "Corduroy" Book Is the Mother
Don Freeman’s classic children’s story, “Corduroy” tells the tale of a stuffed bear who travels through a giant mall on the lookout for the button that has gone missing from his green overalls. On...
Our favorite links from all over.
This Week's Links to Share With Your Curious Kids
Share awesome, fun links with your kids curated by Today Box. Today Box curates fun and educational facts, videos, photos and jokes for curious kids, parents and educators. View past Internet Field...
Why Dad's Night Out Gets My Full Support
There are few nights of the week I have more appreciation for than my husband's weekly "Dad pack" date.
Today’s Exhausted Superkids - The New York Times
In today's opinion piece for the New York Times, Frank Bruni addresses the plight of sleep-deprived, over-stressed teens. Teens who, for better or for worse are being pushed to keep up with high-ac...
As the parent of a little girl, I can say for certain that raising her to be a strong leader is an everyday consideration. Yet in reviewing the research of Harvard Graduate School of Education's ...