Posted Thursday, Feb. 12 by Shannon Riggs

I recently logged into my Facebook account and found an announcement that my 14-year-old daughter was "in a relationship," along with a link to her boyfriend's page. This status was not news to me. After all, the boy had been on our living room couch the entire day before, and I was driving them to the movies that evening. The surprise for me was that my daughter was announcing her personal relationship details… Read More

Posted February 6, 2009 by Kimberly A. Brehm

The automated message from my daughter's junior high school sent a shiver of fear to my heart. The school was in " lockdown mode." There was no immediate danger to students, the recorded voice said, but that did little to calm my nerves. And just like during their practice drills, school officials instructed students to stay in their supervised classrooms while police searched the premises.

These days, safety drills for violence threats in school are… Read More

Posted January 29, 2009 by Diana McKeon Charkalis

Even though it's not swim season, I recently found myself staring into the depths of our backyard pool, freaking out about what dangers might lurk below the surface. Was our family's favorite summer hangout actually a deathtrap?

What sparked this wave of angst was a totally disturbing story about how the suction of a pool or hot tub's drain can entrap a child, causing paralysis and disembowelment.

Thankfully, a new federal… Read More

Posted January 22, 2009 by Tommi Lewis Tilden

When going out to dinner with other parents, I've learned to avoid two topics that can cause arguments, embarrassment and the dissolution of friendship. One is politics and the other is infant vaccination. If a parent is anti-vaccination and you're not, they'll fight you to the death to convince you they're right, and vice versa. I even know parents who lie about whether their kids have been vaccinated to avoid being ostracized by… Read More

Posted January 15, 2009 by Emily Miles Terry

There's a nasty little four-letter word associated with parenting that no one tells you about before you have kids. Oh, they'll go on about sleepless nights, teenage attitudes, and back-breaking college bills, but no one discusses the really scary stuff. I'm talking about those little buggers that really keep us up at night: lice.

The other day I received an email from a mom friend that took my breath away. I had to pick up… Read More

Posted January 8, 2009 by Kimberly A. Brehm

"Mom, check out what I made on the computer," Ally said proudly as she admired her efforts. "It looks really cool." I sure didn't feel cool as I glanced at the screen. In fact, my body temperature quickly turned up a few degrees as I realized my 12-year-old had just made a profile on MySpace.com, complete with personal photos, names and lists of her likes and dislikes.

This didn't seem like a good… Read More