Toddler

Now our son is 2, we've begun to discuss how to tell our child about Santa. The old man in red seeps into kids' consciousnesses somewhere after they start to recognize patterns — you don't need to introduce Santa to your kid; the mall has it covered…

If you're like me, the same question plagues you every single December. You talk about it with your partner, with friends, with online strangers. You Google it. I'm speaking, of course, about what the hell to get your kid's teacher for the holidays.…

I love my mother-in-law. I'm not just saying that on the off-chance she will see this article. I mean it! She's great, and it just so happens that the holidays are her absolute favorite time of year and her joy is contagious. So let me tell you some…

With just a couple weeks until Christmas, it's time to make sure you have gifts for all the special people in your life, including your kid's amazing, hard-working teacher. But, it can be hard to find a worthy gift for such a worthy person. So, if…

When it comes to bedtime, lullabies have long held their spot as a staple of most families' routines. But, according to new research, millennial parents are ditching this bedtime ritual, as The Telegraph reported. Now, if you didn't grow up on…

True confession: I've never outgrown my love of kids' books. I always get a thrill every time one of the preschoolers in my class asks to be read to, or when one of my own children becomes engrossed in the pages of a new find. If you have a little…

Women are held to absolutely absurd and impossible standards. When women are also moms? Double the ridiculousness and the impossibility and, insidiously, the pressure we're under to achieve perfection. This crap is hard for any mom, but it's…

Being a parent is hard. With the best preparation and resources and support, it's still a series of fumbling through until you sort of find your groove. And even that is always changing because your child is always changing. One nice thing about…

As Christmas traditions go, having an Elf on the Shelf is now just as beloved as baking sugar cookies or putting a star on the tree. But it can also be a Santa-sized headache to come up with clever ways to pose the little guy for three weeks…

I started motherhood with a sleep deficit. I had been awake for nearly 24 hours when my son was born and I don’t think I got any sleep during the two days we spent in the hospital. I had heard that newborns were supposed to be very snoozy, but my…

The day that we brought our second child, Blake, home from the hospital was one of the happiest days of our life. We lived in New York City at the time and only a few blocks away from the hospital where I delivered her, so my husband strapped on our…

He might be white in your copy of The Night Before Christmas, but from corporate events to malls across America, families are seeking out diverse Santas. After all, why shouldn’t the jolliest and most magical man on the planet reflect the kids he…

While we know a lot about attention-deficit disorders like ADHD, there are still a lot of unknowns. New research, however, is suggesting that there might be a correlation between kids born in a certain season and attention-deficit disorders.…

“One of the big things that still gets me is that I had to do chest compressions on my own child.” Meghan Shuttleworth’s voice is surprisingly steady as she says this to me. She continues, “I have to do CPR training for work, which I just did a few…

For families with medically complex children, each day is a story of survival. Parents' lives are entwined with the medical system that keeps their children alive, and yet go unrecognized by that system when it comes to identifying and treating the…

For families with medically complex children, each day is a story of survival. Parents' lives are entwined with the medical system that keeps their children alive, and yet go unrecognized by that system when it comes to identifying and treating the…

My love of Elf on the Shelf is usually off the charts at the start of the season, but as December wears on, that love dwindles. It's freakin' hard work finding new places for our elf to appear. So I can totally see the value in investing in two…

Last night I committed the cardinal 'Elf on the Shelf' sin — I forgot to move the little guy. I woke up in a fit of terror when I heard my daughter's feet pattering down the stairs to see where our elf had settled for the day. I started Google-ing…

Earlier this week I was prowling around online, looking for a tongue-in-cheek gift for my Secret Santa, when I stumbled upon a poo fishing game called 'Fishing For Floaters.' Needless to say, I had to question if this was actually a legit toy or if…

I've reached a point where I would kind of like to skip holiday meals. Holiday foods like pie and mashed potatoes used to be my favorite part of the season. Now, as a mom, I just don't know how to deal with picky eating during the holidays. I know…