Raising children in this climate is one of the major challenges parents face today, and raising kind-hearted children is extremely important to our future.
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10 Fun Ways to Celebrate Halloween
Halloween is one of the most decorated holidays of the season and offers people of all ages a variety of fun ways to celebrate.
5 Important Discussions To Have with Your Teens Before They Start High School
The summer before high school is like no other because it’s the last chance parents have to prepare their teens for this next, very crucial stage in life.
10 Things You Need To Survive the Summer With Little Ones
Finding things to do in the summer is the easy part — the hard part is combating summer woes.
Keeping Kids Fit Without Breaking the Bank
How much are you willing to pay to keep your child healthy?
Mommy Matters: Valentine’s Day
4 Fun Ideas for Celebrating Valentine's Day With Kids When someone says “Valentine’s Day,” we think long-stemmed red roses and gazing soulfully into the eyes of our sweetheart over a romantic dinner. Roses and romance are nice, but did you know Valentine’s Day is a...
Mommy Matters: Kids in the Kitchen
Holiday cooking projects for children are not only fun, but are a great way to create tradition and develop useful skills. BY Nicole Crawford The holidays are right around the corner, and for many people that means an extra dose of family time and food. If your...
Kids & Bellyaches: They’re Often Stress-Related
MOMMY MATTERS BY NICOLE CRAWFORD It was the first morning of our summer vacation trip, and we were all sitting down at the table to get ready for breakfast. Suddenly a scream of terror came from across the bayhouse. It was my daughter, who was 5 years old at the time....
Today’s Teens
Not so driven to get a license When I was a teenager, the ritual countdown to our 16th birthday meant most, if not all, of my friends got their driver’s licenses on their birthdays, or soon after. And there were always the ensuing celebrations—joyrides in friends’ new...
Helping Your Teen Get Smart about Skin Care
When I think back to my high school years, I’m pretty sure my main source of insecurity was my skin. I remember being at a choir concert and feeling absolutely certain that everyone in the audience was surely staring at the giant pimple on my nose. And I almost...
Anonymous Apps & Cyberbullying
The Bully without a Face When I hear the word “bully,” I think of kids who corner other kids in the hallways and steal their lunches. A bully is an in-your-face offender. You know what a bully looks like, and you try to avoid confrontations at all costs. With the rise...
Mommy Matters: Responsibility in Children
Fostering Commitment and Personal Responsibility in Children By Nicole Crawford Your daughter comes home from a long day of school and collapses on a couch with a sigh. “Mom, I cannot go to dance tonight. I just don’t even like it anymore.” You point out she’s only...
Mommy Matters: Finding a mentor for your teen
Last May, I graduated from my 200-hour yoga teaching training and became a certified yoga instructor. The first piece of advice our teacher gave us upon completing the training was to find a mentor. Believe it or not, in my 29 years on this Earth I had never received...
How to set up your adolescent up for academic success
Puberty in the Brain When I was young, my family moved a lot. By the time I was in eighth grade, I had attended five different schools. You would think I would have been used to moving around, but I vividly remember driving to school in eighth grade and holding back...
Siblings: Avoid Rivalry by Parenting Positive Sibling Relationships
Last month my two oldest daughters (ages 6 and 4) competed in the San Antonio Highland Games dance competition. As excited as we all were, I was worried about one thing: They were competing against each other in the same age group. If that’s not a sibling rivalry...
The Benefits of Overnight Camp (And how to beat separation anxiety)
By the time my daughter was 11 months old, it was obvious she could walk on her own if she wanted to. But try as we might, my husband and I couldn’t get her to step away from the coffee table. One day we had a woman come to the apartment to buy our couch. She was a...
The Stress Test
How Parents can help Last month, my oldest son came home from school and announced that, for the third consecutive year, he had qualified to represent his grade in the school-wide spelling bee. “That’s wonderful!” I exclaimed. An awkward silence followed. “OK, mom,...
Mommy Matters: Discipline and your children’s friends
When and how do you do it? When it comes to raising our two boys, ages 12 and 10, my husband and I often joke that we are “making it up as we go along,” especially when it comes to rules. We have always had a few of what the boys refer to as “the biggies.” These are...
