When my daughter was about 12 (1990), she had a friend sleep over and I was to drop them off to meet other friends at a theme park. Before I dropped them off, I had to do some grocery shopping. My daughter's friend made a snide remark to me... More >>

I was babysitting the two oldest children of a good friend, ages 7 and 5. Our kids play together all the time and these kids know me...Well, Mr. 5-year-old and my 5-year-old got in a fight. I didn't see who started it, but it was over a toy. More >>

A long time ago, before I started kindergarten, my mother and I entered a dime store in a small Seattle suburb. As we checked out, we passed those shelves with gum, candy, and sundries where I saw something I just had to have... More >>

Our family's recent activities have reinforced an ugly pet peeve of mine: misbehaving kids whose parents are nowhere to be found or who choose to do nothing about it. I've come up with a term for this type of parenting style: ostrich parents. More >>

Do you spend much of your day trying to figure out how to get your kids to behave, how to stop the chaos, how to make them happy, and how to gain peace in your family? The answer may be surprising. You're doing too much. More >>