My friends (all of them wives, by the way) and I often joke that we need to hire a wife.  Not to replace ourselves (fully, anyway), but someone to assist in the constant activities and management of busy households. Well, I’m actually hiring one.  No, I’m not kidding.  I’m extremely...

Mommy-Guilt is weighing heavy on me this week.  We attended our first swim lesson of the summer on Tuesday, or should I say “kind-of” attended…as Luke (almost 2 yrs) screamed at the top of his lungs for the first 20 minutes of our 30 minute lesson.  With me holding him.  Hugging...

Our son Jack has become a bedtime stall artist on the grandest scale. I am thankful for the three years of (relatively) easy bedtimes we’ve had with Jack, don’t get me wrong.  Other than two short but tramatic periods – when we had to let him cry it out to learn to soothe himself to...

Your kids want to get in on the pumpkin decorating fun, but handling carving tools is a no-go.  So, what are your options?  Here are a few ideas. FIRST STEP - no matter what decorating option you use, clean the pumpkin using a baby wipe – NOT getting the pumpkin really wet or it is more likely...

We’ve all seen it.  The excited announcement that your 3-year-old will “Do it myself”….followed by a temper tantrum caused by frustration of not being able to. I don’t know that instilling independence now will keep you from getting a drink or making sandwiches for your...

It’s that time of year again…when all the stores change out lawn equipment and pool toys for notebooks and pens, when all the bathing suits (happily for me) disappear and khakis take their place, and the smell of fall is in the air. OK – well, that last part isn’t actually...

We’re blushing. Our inexperience in the world of fall season sports was revealed when we chose the topic for last week: What’s the best way to set your kid up in fall sports? You seasoned “soccer Moms” out there must have thought – ha ha! You’re asking this question...

Life with toddlers. It’s so simple, really. For them. Their world is pretty much black and white. They have no hidden agendas (or at least ones so hidden that an adult can’t pretty easily figure them out). They have two speeds: high gear (for running on the playground and eating birthday...

Barney, the Purple Dinosaur, is not the first example that comes to mind when thinks of intelligence. Einstein? For sure. Ben Franklin? Yep. Bill Gates? Absolutely. All would come to mind before the big, fluffy green-spotted reptile. Even among children’s characters, he would not be the first...

When I started in consulting . . . (for a top-tier-strategy-consulting-firm-that-will-remain-nameless), one of the first things they taught us was to “Ask Why 5 Times”. This, they taught us, is the key to getting to the REAL answer, to the root cause. And it does work. Take this illustration: “Our...