It was a cold dark morning; the sun wouldn’t be up for hours yet.  A twelve-year-old boy suddenly awoke.  At first he might have been happy, in those few moments after waking up, when his mind was coming out of dreams and he thought all was well as it should be.  But then after allowing himself to remember the present circumstances, reality must have hit him like a full blow. Today would be different, the mark of a new sort of life for him.  A life he didn’t want, but had to commit to all the same.  His father had just been sentenced to prison, and although the boy hadn’t even reached his …

There are not enough health care companies out there that put children and families first as top business priorities. But Columbia's KinderMender is the thankful exception.  I found out about KinderMender when it first opened last summer.  A friend had posted a story on Facebook that related to the superior care of that friend's child following an accident: "We drove straight to KinderMender where we were seen immediately. Dr. Rafei was so kind and gentle with her (and me!)...This morning she still has an ugly bruise on her head, but she is healthy, happy, and energetic just as Dr. Rafei …

I have always loved Christmas.  The trees, the decorations, the ornaments, the garland, the spirit.When I was a kid, I’d wake up before dawn on Christmas morning and ensure the rest of the house was up too, as all kids do (isn’t it fun being dragged out of bed as a parent now?).  Then I would run downstairs.  I’d turn on the Christmas tree lights (because it was still dark out) and stand back with a happy shudder.   My months of hard work-- being good-- would be rewarded at that very instant, when my breath was momentarily taken away by the site of Santa’s wrapped presents glinting under the …

Did you read about that restaurant in Croydon (near London) that is getting called out for charging two moms £3 each as a “baby surcharge?”  The babies were being held and breast fed – so they were not consuming restaurant food or taking up seats for paying customers.  In the end, the restaurant claims it was all a “misunderstanding” and apologized.  Blah blah blah.  Seriously? Paying extra for a child is absolutely outrageous, period.  In fact, often we’re used to “kids eat free” nights and child menus with cheaper options. However, what about the idea of child-free restaurants?  This summer…

Crazed: i.e., too much to do in too short of a time span.  Everyone on Earth can relate to feeling that way between situations at work, school, you name it.  They only have a week to get a project done, or a night to grade every test paper or a day to do all their holiday shopping.But for parents, ‘assignment times’ can be compressed.  Sometimes we only have minutes or moments to prioritize, figure out a solution, and act on it.  It is those moments that can be the most stressful moments of parenthood.  But many times, it is those same moments that we can look back on and laugh at (if for no …

The end of daylight savings time let us “fall back” last a couple of weeks ago, and I always looked forward to that extra hour of sleep gifted to us. That is, until I had children. For whatever reason, my kids have a very difficult time adjusting to just that one hour time difference – whether we are starting or ending daylight savings.  Mess up days and nights by travelling over an ocean and they are fine, but try to let mommy have one tiny hour more of sleep? Not so much. This year the little one only took about two days to fall back into her regular schedule but my 6 year old was waking up…

So much has been written about the childhood obesity epidemic in this country.  Enough to fill reams of newspaper and shelves of books.  We’ve all read the statistics:  the CDC tells us that obesity now affects 17 percent of all children and adolescents in the United States.  That’s 12.5 million kids!  And that is triple the rate from only one generation ago. This isn’t news. And yet….the other day I spotted a mom here in Ellicott City buy a jumbo-sized bag of Cheetos for her two year old. In the grocery store. While we were surrounded by fresh fruit and delicious alternative snacks like nuts…

Has anyone started your holiday shopping yet? I know, I know, Halloween was just this week but I’m trying to plan ahead to save my sanity.  This year in our household things are a little more complicated because we are spending Christmas in Shanghai.  We are all overly excited about the trip, but not so much about the 18 hour flight that will get us there.  With a three-year-old and a six-year-old, most of my holiday planning revolves around not only Christmas presents that I can transport to China and back while still having room for the rest of our luggage (and not exceeding the 50 pounds …

Today, trick-or-treating is a staple, a mark of surety that Halloween Night is here. Without it, the holiday wouldn’t be the same. Towns and cities hold Halloween parades, giving out free candy to all the costumed kids. Millions of homes across the country have bowls of tasty treats ready to hand out. And, according to History.com, a full one quarter of all candy sold in the U.S. is sold for and around Halloween.So, how did this all begin?  And where did it evolve?To research this article, I extracted quite a bit of helpful information from Wikipedia and the History Channel.  Here is most of …

In honor of Halloween (such a great kid holiday!!) I thought I'd change things up a bit and spin a tale about two brave little witches Annette and Becky.  The house that they have been dared to enter is the Milverton house, referencing one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes stories.... If you remember last week, we left Becky and Annette slightly terrified in the back yard of the spooky Milverton House. Here's what happens next ...  ….. Both girls gasped as they turned to face whomever was coming.   It was Bennett and Tommy, slowly creeping their way towards them. “Annette?  Becky?” Bennett asked…

In honor of Halloween (such a great kid holiday!!) I thought I'd change things up a bit and spin a tale about two brave little witches Annette and Becky.  The house that they have been dared to enter is the Milverton house, referencing one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes stories.... Annette stood at her window, up on her tippy-toes so she could get a better view. The magnificence of the orange and yellow foliage outside her window alluded her notice for the moment. She actually wished that the leaves had already fallen from their branches; then she would be able to see the sky better from …

Was anyone else as unprepared as I was for the colder weather this past weekend?  We had an outdoor birthday party to attend and about ½ hour before it was time to leave I was in full panic mode. Neither of my kids fit into anything warm. Little wrists were sticking out of tiny sweaters and the term “skinny jean” was taken to a whole new level.  Their coats didn’t fit. Sure, they had shoes, but there were two inches between the ankle and the bottom of the pants, which were unbuttoned. I never did find the hats and mittens. I remember school clothes shopping as a kid and being a great day out …

We’ve all seen the news stories, the “Fleecing of America"-esque exposés, the medical doctors, psychiatrists and nutritionists calling attention to the matter in their frantically-toned interviews saying over and over again: Americans are rapidly gaining weight.    Visit the CDC Obesity website mark, and you can see just how frightening this epidemic really is: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html.   Once you enter the page, the automatic map of the U.S. shows the increasing trend of residents with a BMI of 30 or above (the definition of obese) from 1985-2010: basically a color-coded …

It can be difficult to teach young children about loss. And I don’t mean death; I’m talking about the more general loss of “things.” Children can become so attached to their toys, their stuffed animals, their blankets. How do we make them understand that ultimately “things” don’t matter? Because to them, they do. I’ve had the unfortunate task of having to talk to my 3 and 6 year old girls about this in the last couple of days.  Just this summer my husband put many hours into clearing out and painting our finished basement, making the largest room into a playroom for the kids, re-doing the …

After eight years, three kids and thousands of dirty diapers, I finally got rid of the Diaper Champ last night.  A liberating mark ending a slightly less-stinky era of constant checking, wiping, diaper bags and detaching those odd Velcro-y sticky tabs.  For those of you unaware of the current diaper aroma-control lingo, a Diaper Champ is a contraption that keeps a diaper in its receptacle while letting as little of the stench out as possible.This latest and third attempt at potty training was, I’d say, far less painful than the first go around.  With our first child, we read numerous booklets…

For some of us, the first week of school is done and under our belts, and for others this week marks the start of the school year.  But whenever they head off to school, public or private, here in Howard County, we can rest assured that our teachers are top-notch and the education our children are receiving will serve them well in the future. That said, educator Ron Clark wrote a great piece for CNN this week titled “What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents.” The advice is obvious, but well worth repeating, and for parents it is well worth actually trying to heed this advice. For one thing, …

Over the past week or two, countless parents across the nation have taken their kids to college, many for the first time.   They’ve helped their kids choose and buy needed items for their dorm room, helped them pack up the car, and set off for a new school with unfamiliar surroundings. After arriving on campus, setting up the room, checking out the dorm and meeting the roommates, many parents have had to muster up the courage to pick up the car keys and walk out of the dormitory, leaving their kids behind to embark on the next stage of their lives: becoming a young adult.Many parents these …

Our tomato plants did nothing this year.  Not one flower.  Not one fruit.  Maybe the stems and leaves did their bit by producing a bit of oxygen, but on the whole they were useless. And to make it even sadder, they were our only attempt at a garden this summer.  We had planned on doing more…but time simply got away from us.  Luckily, it’s just the right time to plant a last minute fall garden.  (And if you’re more organized than I am, this could even be your second crop of the year!) There are certain crops, especially root vegetables and greens, which will thrive in our climate in the fall…

I was extremely proud of my 3-year-old this week.  Monday was her older sister’s birthday, but because the party was on Sunday the celebration spanned two complete days, three restaurants, one party, three rounds of presents and lots and lots of cake. Through it all she was a little angel.  She was happy for her sister each time she got sung to, excited to watch her open presents (over and over) and never once asked if there was anything for her. She was sweet and loving and a real “big girl.” For two days she behaved better than I could have ever imagined possible in the situations in which …

Lawrence was furious.  In all his ten years he had never felt so…..disconnected. He sat at the edge of his bed, fuming, kicking around a small toy on the floor in front of him. His window was open slightly and he could hear his friends at the end of the block riding their bikes and scooters.This wasn’t fair.   In fact, nothing had been fair since his mom’s accident.   It had happened three weeks ago, just a mile from the house.  Some idiot hadn’t looked before he ran a stop sign and hit the front of her car. He had been going fast.She was seriously injured, but she was going to be alright. …