All Family
Amber Portwood, Teen Mom star, sentenced to prison. Are you sad?Amber Portwood, Teen Mom star, is sentenced to prison on a felony drug charge. Octomom Nadya Suleman is considering stripping for money. Rather than horrified glee when it comes to public mommy train wrecks, perhaps we should find some sympathy. And yes, even sadness.
Facebook access for under-13 kids is good – if parents involvedFacebook is already used by millions of kids under 13 who lie about their ages to gain access. It makes sense that the social media network design specific guidelines for them, including parental permission.
Father's Day gifts in a divorce: Who buys? Who makes the cards?Father's Day gifts in a divorce fall to mom. Then one day, the teens say, "We got it, Mom."
Pre-school graduation: Sad symptom of accelerated childhoodGraduation rituals – gowns and mortarboard hats - are too grown up for preschool and kindergarten students. Our accelerated – anxiety provoking – modern childhood needs more simple, age-appropriate activities.
Disney: No more junk food ads for kids; and Mrs. Obama backs itDisney plans to junk the junk food ads in kids' TV programming. Anti-obesity crusader, first lady Michele Obama, will be at the announcement today to endorse the move.
Facebook lowering age restriction? Will your toddler friend you?Facebook is reportedly exploring lower age restrictions to allow the under-13 set to get in on the social network. Reality is, many under age are already using it – but do they really need it?
Breastfeeding goals: Over half of new moms miss the markBreastfeeding goals are largely unmet in the US where 85 percent of new moms intend to breastfeed for at least three months; more than half of all new moms miss that mark.
High school graduation: Ode to the average studentHigh school graduation sees loads of 4.0s head across the stage for honors on their way to Harvard. But most wonderful and successful people never went to the stage for an honor. The average student's potential is full of surprises.
Father’s Day gifts: Mom’s dilemma – to surprise or get a listFather's Day gifts are always a Mom's dilemma: Surprise or solicit a list? What does he really want?
Cover StoryEmployment solutions: Can a town’s good deeds lower unemployment?The dollars and cents of good deeds: Communities with high social capital tend to have lower unemployment. Some seeking employment solutions see this altruistic glue as something to study.
Why breastfeeding military moms freak people outThe uproar over photos of two military moms breastfeeding indicates a larger social debate in America about women's freedom and their comfort as mothers in public spaces.
Looking for the 'perfect' nanny: Experience or up-to-date 'expertise?'A nanny's years of experience raising children wasn't enough for one mother looking for the 'perfect' childminder. Have babies changed so much in the last few years that child-care providers need the most 'up-to-date' expertise?
After graduation: Parents still lose sleep over kids’ homeworkEven after the kids' graduation, some parents still wake in the night asking: Honey, did we finish the homework? And just wait what they bring home from the Classroom of Real Life.
Connect with kids' feelings first, then change aggressive behaviorThe first step parents should take to correct a child's aggressive reactions during playtime is to connect with their feelings, not punish them. Then you can address their specific inappropriate behavior.
Post graduation: A mom's defense of her boomerang kid in BeijingThe post graduation boomerang kid – part of the generation of adult children who move back home with parents – is a welcome addition to and American family's new life in Beijing.
Three-year-old kicked off Alaska Airlines for being fussyA three-year-old kicked off an Alaska Airlines flight in Seattle strikes fear and loathing in the hearts of parents of toddlers. This mom asks – is toddler behavior any worse than that snoring guy dozing on your shoulder?
Charles Taylor sentence welcomed by mom who sheltered LiberiansCharles Taylor's forces were just pushing into Liberia five days before an American journalist's wedding day; a few months later she offered her home as shelter to her servants, but was forced by the US to leave the country. She welcomes the sentence and finds that now – as a mother – the horror of his atrocities are trebled as she thinks about what families went through to protect their children.
A mom thanks Sendak for giving her son's “Jester” his jingleA mom's wild rumpus of memories of Maurice Sendak: She read to her son “What Do You Say, Dear?" That son eventually was invited to visit Sendak. And when that young man wrote a book – "The Jester Has Lost His Jingle" – about the healing nature of laughter, but died before it was published, Sendak helped launch it onto the New York Times bestseller list.
Charlize Theron: diapers, dogs, adoption, and some life lessonsCharlize Theron, on the "Snow White and the Huntsman" publicity trail, brings us today’s celebrity mom inferiority complex – but with some thoughts actually worth pondering on diapers, dogs, adoption, and life lessons.
Bullying and suicide: Misinformation and hyperbole link themA teen's fake Facebook page about a child who committed suicide as a victim of bullying raises the need for digital literacy to separate fact from fiction. Facebook isn't a context – life is the context for Facebook.
