Having to show up for life and kids can be an exhausting process.

We are in the middle of the holy trinity of “food” holidays, with probably the biggest one this week – Thanksgiving. Halloween candy, Thanksgiving abundance and Christmas cookies can be a lot of fun. But they can also bring on a lot of stress. 

I nursed Coraline until she was two years and seven months old. I never planned to go so long, but I guess I am much more of a hippie parent than I even realized. 

Households are more technologically connected than ever before, from Amazon Echo to smart thermostats to the proliferation of personal digital devices such as tablets, smartphones, and computers. 

As we drove to trunk-or-treat at my daughters’ school, we passed a house festively decorated with multi-colored lights and a red-and-green light-up candle in the window. 

The acronym ADHD, short for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, has become part of the lexicon, but many people are still in the dark what it actually entails.  

In one misstep the day can go from great to “oh man, my kids are going to need therapy,” or more commonly, I’m not doing enough _____ for them.  

Around this time each year, a post starts popping up on Facebook in which a parent pleads for a “no toys, just experiences” holiday season. The post (attributed to different people throughout the years) highlights how their children ask for a toy for Christmas, play with it for a few days after they get it, and then it collects dust in favor of the latest app or game until it’s quietly donated the next Christmas. 

The key to limited meltdowns is obnoxious over-explanation. I swear that this is the entire reason my kid is so well behaved. I am not a psychologist or a geneticist, but for myself, managed expectations are the reason for my emotional chill. I am convinced that also applies to little people.   Nearly all of my family ...