• Last updated 8/6/12 by Marcy Axness

Four Ideas for Simplifying Life While Enriching Education I’ll begin by apologizing for even mentioning the BTS-word while summer is still (imho) in full flower. But by now it’s a quaint, old-fashioned notion that vacation extends until Labor Day — ha! These days some students have to devote that three-day weekend to cranking out their first papers or projects. In my day [best stated in crochety, old-lady voice], we were very excited for back-to-school, in large part, I think, because summer’s pace was soooooo much slower than it tends to be these days. There weren’t all... read more

• Last updated 10/25/12 by AdinaL

Thank you to Nancy Cowles, Executive Director of Kids in Danger, for this guest post. You may have heard or seen on the news or social media about the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) suing the makers of Buckyballs to stop sale of these magnetic desk toys.  This might seem like an abrupt or overreaching effort by this small government agency, but if we take a look at the background and the hazards of these tiny powerful magnets, it will start to make sense. Before a young boy named Kenny died in Washington State in 2005, no one thought... read more

• Last updated 10/8/12 by SavvyHomeschool

In this episode, we discuss recent birthday parties, other podcasts we love to listen to, ways to save on homeschool resources, getting organized for the new school year, and how we talk to our children about national tragedies. Some links from this episode: Discount School Supply Homeschool Buyers Co-op The Wired Homeschool The Sociable Homeschooler To see the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, please visit our website: The Savvy Homeschool Moms, episode 10.   To subscribe to or download our show, check us out on iTunes, or our... read more

• Last updated 7/23/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Lynn Dewing Web Exclusive My two children attend a private school 45 minutes from home. If we drive this twice a day, five days a week, how many hours do we spend commuting in a typical month? Move to the top of the class if you guessed about 30 – a work-week worth of time when you add stops for groceries etc. This used to be downtime. At best all three of us would zone out into personal reveries or be distracted by ice cream. Sometimes I would look for the letters of the alphabet in street signs with my daughter while her brother built something with Lego. But they... read more

• Last updated 10/25/12 by AdinaL

Like so many of you, I’ve been stunned and saddened over the carnage in Aurora last weekend. I cannot shape my mind around any adequate words to address the sense of loss, of anguish, of sorrow — particularly for the families of victims, but also for all of us whose sense of safe-home has been a bit further eroded. Our human instinct is to do something, yet we do not know what. It reminds me of a parable I share in the epilogue of my book: Three villagers are strolling along the bank of their community’s river, and suddenly to their dismay they see a child,... read more

• Last updated 10/25/12 by AdinaL

Even those of us who are against smacking will routinely use other discipline techniques to control and mould our children’s behaviour from a very early age. Below is a list of non-physical discipline measures in common use today that come highly recommended by ‘experts’, and a description of what is really going on psychologically for the child. Time-out – Removing a child from a situation for inappropriate behaviour for a set number of minutes. Often an apology is required before the time-out can end. When our children behave ‘badly’ they are either... read more

• Last updated 7/23/12 by Mothering Editorial

Cycling Into Fatherhood By Joe Diomede January 10, 2012 Bicycles have always been a part of my life. My childhood days in The Bronx seemed to be spent on the seat of some sort of bicycle or another, delivering meat for the local butcher or building ramps to jump off with my friends, the bicycle was ever-present. Many people have childhood memories of their first bike, but I seemed to have kept alive that child in myself, and although I’m now 50 years old, I still love the two wheeled invention that has literally shaped my life as a person, a partner and a father. I... read more

• Last updated 7/26/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Elisabeth de Mariaffi Web Exclusive When I mention to other parents that we are shopping for that-next-step of family-hood, the minivan, I invariably get the same response: "So, you're going for the DVD?" The short answer is no. We are not looking for a backseat DVD option now offered by most, if not all, minivan manufacturers. And not just because of the cost differential, either. Although I'll admit my husband and I did allow ourselves a few dreamy, wistful moments of consideration (ooh, think of the quiet!), we never really gave it a chance.... read more

• Last updated 7/26/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Lucy McCauleyWeb Exclusive, April 28, 2008 When my daughter, Hannah, was one-and-a-half years old, I took her with me on a trip to Spain. On day one, at the Prado Museum in Madrid, I found myself waiting behind a crowd that had gathered around The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch's Medieval triptych. I had Hannah in her stroller, and after a while she got fussy. People shot looks our way. Soon she began to cry, the sound reverberating against the walls and lofty museum ceiling. While she was effectively clearing the room, I found her sippy cup, and she... read more

• Last updated 7/21/12 by Brian Leaf

Kids have no filters. At nursery school pick-up, they’ll point out to their teacher that you didn’t wash your hands in the bathroom, or they’ll ask you loudly if a woman with a bit of a mustache is a man. Eight years ago, before I was a parent, my four-year-old nephew shouted angrily at me in a public men’s bathroom, “Stop sticking your finger into my tushie!” (I was not, though, perhaps, I was wiping too thoroughly.) More recently, though, my own son, Noah, woke up to the fact that I had hair on my body and that he didn’t. A developmental landmark, to be sure.... read more