Card Carrying Book-aholic
A library is a place where all are welcome, and learning is the first and only rule. If you or your family members don’t have a library card, there is no time like the present to get one.
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Daydream a Little Dream
Dreaming is a perfectly normal and healthy part of a child’s daily life.
Read ArticleThe Time Has Come-for Daycare
Just bring up daycare. Full-time or part-time? One provider per child or several providers for many children? In-home care or daycare center?
Read ArticleDad Fashion
Here are six dad fashion trends you can rock right now. The best news? They’re likely already in your father’s closet, and that will save you money-a total dad move.
Read ArticleJust Like a Mother
This Mother’s Day, do me a solid and tell the mother in your life the things that you appreciate about her.
Read ArticleFinding Fitness: A Potential Love Story
Ask five different people about their association with the word fitness and you’ll get five different answers.
Read ArticleBig Steps Toward Love: Accepting a New Stepparent
Adding a new stepparent into the family dynamic can be tricky.
Read ArticleNourishing Your Tribe
Making small adjustments can help create new habits over time-and one of the easiest ways to start is with food.
Read ArticleThankfulness: As Easy as ABC
‘Tis the season to be grateful. Check out our list of 26 things to be thankful for as we kick off the holidays with warmth and love.
Read ArticleAn Ingredient for Life
As any chef will tell you, a recipe is only as good as its ingredients. Some of those ingredients are less important than others, while a dish can be ruined without one certain element that is vital to its success. For the Community Blood C…
Read ArticleDiscipline Mistakes Defeated
Unfortunately for parents, doling out consequences and punishments can be challenging.
Read ArticleMama on the Mend
The pressure on new moms (and second-time and third-time moms) to immediately revert back to the person they were before their babies arrived is worse than ever before.
Read ArticleScaling Back to Keep From Burning Out
Parents are feeling burned out and tired in a way that is at best problematic and at worst detrimental to their mental and physical health.
Read ArticleThat’s a Wrap
It’s only natural that around this is the time of year parents, teachers and students start to take their foot off the gas pedal of learning-but that doesn’t mean it’s a great idea.
Read ArticleLove Bites
By the time parents have been with their baby for a few months, a relative rhythm begins to feel established. Until ¦ the teething begins. And your life is suddenly upside down.
Read ArticleJust One Thing ¦
Today, pick just one thing to make you feel like a better, more relaxed parent. Just for today.
Read ArticleWays to Refresh and Replenish
When you are at your best, everything else follows suit. Take the time to take care of you.
Read ArticleI’m Expecting, but I Didn’t Expect This!
Allow me to share with you the truth about pregnancy that you will never, ever read in any book.
Read ArticleGoal Getter
Those objectives become a central part of our existence as we continually reach for the next achievement.
Read ArticleGrowing Gratitude
How do we instruct our children to grow in gratitude? After all, small children and toddlers don’t naturally view gratitude as a high priority.
Read ArticleGetting Over Over-Parenting
Here are some tips to keep your children engaged and learning but to tamp down that need to over-parent them into an over-scheduled frenzy.
Read ArticleDefeating New Mom Isolation
Many moms begin to deal with a common feeling called newborn mom isolation. Let’s take a look at what you can do to combat this if it happens to you or someone you love.
Read ArticleYou’re Doing Great, Mama
Here are six ways you think you’re failing as a parent, but in reality, you’re kicking some serious mother tail.
Read ArticleCut the Yelling, Start the Healing
Long days, short fuses and an endless stream of potential catastrophes that leave our nerves frazzled and frayed fill parenthood.
Read ArticleGo Ahead and Go: Kicking Separation Anxiety out the Door
It’s so hard to say goodbye—especially for kids. Whether you’re leaving your child at school for the first time or just dropping him off after spring break, a youngster’s separation anxiety is a very real challenge every parent must face.
Read ArticleBreaking Bad Behavior
Children know how to press their parents’ buttons. It’s how they’re wired. In fact, on a number of occasions I have wondered if their actual job title is “Make Mom Crazy at All Costs.”
Read ArticleSprucing Up Without Going All Out
There’s no time like the present, so here are some ways you can spruce up your space, without taking up too much time and precious resources.
Read ArticleAdvice, Advice, Baby
We’ll keep it quick. Pay close attention. You might just learn something that gets you a few hours more rest, and wouldn’t that be great for all of us?
Read ArticleAvoiding Gift Overload
How do we avoid that inevitable gifting and wanting overload? Here are a few tips:
Read ArticleYou Can Do It! Tips toMotivateKids
What can we parents do to keep the motivation train running smoothly on the tracks? Here are five tips to implement in your kids’ daily lives.
Read ArticleSpeak Up! Teaching Kids to Use Their Voices Effectively
Here are three tips to raise children who can effectively and respectfully assert themselves today and, more importantly, beyond tomorrow.
Read ArticleDo You Wanna Have a Sleepover?
Being a kid can be tough. School, rules, chores—what a world! Fortunately, one of the greatest, most exciting childhood rites of passage still persists: sleepovers.
Read ArticleUdderly Consumed
Whether you’re a new mom, a soon-to-be-mom or planning on becoming a mom, hear me. You are doing enough, and your baby loves you.
Read ArticleDiscipline Like You Mean It
Parents to mean what we say and say what we mean. In the moment, giving in and letting bad behavior slide seems harmless.
Read ArticleThe Anti-Pinterest Birthday Party: A Peek Behind the Curtain
Pinterest parents, we seriously love you, but today it’s our time to shine.
Read ArticleTeacher’s Pet or Peeve: How to Handle Your Child’s Position in Class
Teachers do their level best to make certain each of their students is treated fairly. In fact, the idea that a teacher would favor or slight a student is likely in the top hits of an instructor’s no-no list.
Read ArticleBe Better, Not Bitter: Navigating Through Tough Times
Here are eight ways to help your children navigate the valleys, so they can quickly get back to the peaks.
Read ArticleTake the Bite Out of Bad Behavior
Here are the top situations for biting and how to quell them-quickly.
Read ArticleThe Momtourage
Moms need a group of friends to help navigate this very specific frontline we call parenting. Not just any friends, either. A momtourage.
Read ArticleThe Quiet Place
We’re many months into this journey of constant togetherness, so we made some adjustments to help tune out the crazy clatter.
Read ArticleThank You for Being a Friend
The value that true friendships bring to a child’s life cannot be overstated.
Read ArticleHave Kids, Will Play
Here’s a reminder of how to stop and enjoy the parenting, even when things are uncertain.
Read ArticleWarning: Learning Curves Ahead
The toughest parts of life are what shape our children into the amazing adults they are meant to be.
Read ArticleBaby Sleeps Through the Night: A Journey
Arguably, one of the biggest new baby hurdles is bedtime.
Read ArticleParenting Truth Bombs
Here are a few parenting truths you just may need to hear right now.
Read ArticleMy Name Better Not Be Mud
The moniker you give your child will be wrapped up in just a handful of letters strung together.
Read ArticleMartyr of the Year: How to Avoid the One Title You Don’t Want
It happens when you aren’t looking. It creeps up slowly, quietly and without warning…
Read ArticleWreck the Halls: Keeping Toddler Holiday Tantrums at Bay
I have some solutions to help you prepare for what’s coming—and maybe make those meltdowns a ghost of holidays past.
Read ArticleThe Consistent Parent
Here are five ways you can start to be more consistent with your children today and tips to stay consistent with those efforts.
Read ArticleSalt in the Womb
You have an infertile person in your life. In fact, you probably know several. It might be your neighbor, your coworker or even your best friend. True, you may not be aware of them, but trust me, they are there. And they need your support.
Read ArticleHave Baby, Will Travel
Travel is a great distraction from all the changes and stress that show up long before your baby.
Read ArticleIt Bears Repeating: The Need for Repetitive Play
The wheels on the bus go round and round, but that’s not the only thing repetitive in your life right now.
Read ArticleVitamins: Does Your Child Need Them?
Are vitamins all they’re cracked up to be? Do our kids really need to take them?
Read ArticleRefresh and Replenish: 24 Ways to Bring Fresh Energy to Your Fall
Take a step back to mentally and physically recharge and appreciate life.
Read ArticleSeeking Sleep: A Parent’s Guide to the Importance of a Child’s Consistent Slumber
A full night’s sleep for children should sit at the top of your family priority list. Unfortunately, bedtime is one of the easiest habits to let slide. Sleep is essential to a child’s growth, development and health in more ways than one.
Read ArticleWhat Kids Bring Home from Camp
When children attend a sleep away camp, they may be leaving home for a few days, but what comes back with them is where the real good stuff lies. So what can you expect when your kids get back?
Read ArticleTrimester by Trimester: Pregnancy at a Glance
Few things will throw your body and mind for a loop like pregnancy.
Read ArticleWhat Kind of Holiday Mom Are You?
Ignore the dust mites under the TV cabinet for a few minutes and take our quiz to see what kind of holiday mom you are.
Read ArticleHitting the Road: How to Deal with a Teen Driver in the House
One of the best days of a teen’s life is simultaneously one of the worst for a parent: driver’s license day. It’s inevitable-Independence Day is here. While parents enjoy some benefits-no more back and forth to soccer practice!-the worry an…
Read ArticleGuide to Fighting Through Morning Sickness
Sometimes getting to the baby finish line is tougher than it needs to be because of a pesky little side effect called morning sickness that, according to the American Pregnancy Association, affects nearly 50 percent of pregnant women.
Read ArticleAin’t Life Grand?
Year over year, decade over decade, these men and women help solidify our family bonds, remind us to stay grounded and stuff our kids with candy they shouldn’t be eating. And life wouldn’t be the same without them! So what makes a grandpare…
Read ArticleA Parent’s Guide to Dealing with a Sick Baby
Babies are confounding little creatures when they’re perfectly healthy, so the arrival of an illness can send a parent’s worry-machine into overdrive. Is that fever too high? Could it just be gas? Is that color of vomit normal? Should the b…
Read ArticleIn Transition: A Guide to Big Baby Changes
To be a parent to a baby or toddler is to be a pro at change. Rolling over, first words and laughing are the easy ones. The rest¦not so much. Here’s how to handle the bigger transitions headed your way in the coming years.
Read ArticleTween ‘Tudes: What Are They Really Saying?
So how do you read between the very angst-filled lines and decipher what your tween means when she’s saying something completely different out loud? We’re here to help.
Read ArticleYou Might Be an Okay Mom…
No one is perfect, and mediocrity is bound to work its way into your parenting. But don’t sweat it; every mom has been there.
Read ArticleThe First Year with Your Baby
Kids change year over year, but babies change day over day, hour over hour, minute over minute. What will she be surprising you with in the coming months? Here’s a basic guide to help you know what to look for and when.
Read ArticleHack Your Home: Keeping a Cap on the Chore Chaos
Here are five ways to hack your home in 2017 so it becomes a well-oiled (and dusted) haven for you and your whole family.
Read ArticleGuide to Peacefully Co-Parenting Through the Holidays
For children living in two separate households, things can get extra complicated. Overhearing arguments between divorced parents is the last thing a child should experience during a time that is supposed to be filled with love and compromis…
Read ArticleEight Creative Ways to Assist a New Mom
Bringing home a brand new baby is no easy task. Even for a seasoned mother on her second or third child, the process isn’t any less daunting. It’s especially important during this time that the new mom feel love and support from her tribe: …
Read ArticleNew Relationship as a Stepparent
Marriage is tough; marriage where children are already involved can be even tougher. After all, you are stepping—pun intended—into an established family dynamic. The good news is women and men becoming stepparents are not alone.
Read ArticleBringing Home Baby
The nurses have waved their final good-byes, you’ve loaded up the government approved car seat and you are driving ever so slowly back home. You are officially the parent of a brand new, living, breathing child. And you are on your own.
Read ArticleLearning Beyond Books: Skills Smart Kids Need
If you identify with the song lyrics “Times, they are a-changing,'” you’re already behind. The times, they have changed. As parents, we strive to stay up to date on technology, clothing and music. Practical life lessons are more important t…
Read ArticleClutter Into Cash
The dark shadow of winter has finally left us for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, that beautiful spring sunshine is now highlighting the stacks of ill-fitting winter clothes, puzzles with missing pieces and toys that haven’t been pla…
Read ArticleThe Good, Bad and the Ugly
Secrets are a normal part of a child’s life and actually even can help foster an ability to problem solve and get out of sticky situations. Maybe a math grade has fallen below a C and the child works really hard to bring the grade up, with …
Read ArticleWhen Family Dinners Don’t Work: 9 Other Ways to Connect
Traditional dinners are difficult. They take a lot of preparation and cleanup, and if no one is around to enjoy the meals, it’s all a lost cause anyway. Here are several ways you can incorporate that all-important family connectivity back i…
Read ArticleCrying “Bully”
Over the last few years, there has been a vast metamorphosis in the word “bully.” A term that used to explain a relatively rare situation has seemingly been downgraded to describe any type of emotional discomfort a child may experience from…
Read ArticleJoin the Club
Enrolling a child in sports is generally a no-brainer. After all, sports are healthy and exciting, and really, you can’t beat the twinge of pride when your child sinks her first free throw.
Read ArticlePursuing Popularity
Popularity in school is often viewed as a ticket to victory. After all, being the “it” girl or guy in school translates to success and likeability later in life, right?
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