When my first child was born, I like most parents, became reacquainted with television for children. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Sesame Street had a new character that shared a name with my oldest and at the same time, disappointed at not being able to find anything as entertaining as Electric Company….. read more

April 21, 2011 by Paul Goebel in Parenting

“Mommy, is the tooth fairy real?” I should have known this question was coming! My eight-year-old daughter, Ashleigh, has lost three of her front teeth in the past few months, and she is in third grade – where kids start questioning what their parents have told them about the tooth fairy and Santa. I paused,…. read more

April 19, 2011 by Cindy Sobania in Parenting

An informal survey of 13 children ages 4 through 15 revealed a surprising lack of familiarity with fruit. Only 2 of the 13 children could name more than three types of apples Only 4 of the 13 children had ever heard a discussion of whether a tomato was a fruit or a vegetable None of…. read more

April 18, 2011 by Staff in Parenting

Having been born in 1970, I was exposed to some of the greatest fandoms of the last century in their hey day.  I was able to experience Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, John Cusack films, MST3K, Marvel and DC comics, Saturday Night Live, the Rolling Stones, the Police, not to mention a bevy of…. read more

April 15, 2011 by Scott Copperman in Parenting

The other night, I was at the movies with my girlfriend and she stopped to peruse a poster for the new Smurfs movie. She expressed concern that the Smurfs were drawn to look fuzzy, as if they were covered by  short blue fur. I said to her, “That’s what concerns you? Not the fact that…. read more

April 14, 2011 by Paul Goebel in Parenting

My father was a school teacher for 32 years. Although he spent 2 years teaching at the middle school level (which he refers to as a time when he thought of changing professions), he spent most of his career teaching high school students.  My dad would often share his wisdom about high school, and there…. read more

April 13, 2011 by Susan Lane in Parenting

I’m sometimes a bit sad that we missed all of our son’s “firsts”; you know, first step, first tooth, all that. We picked up our son from China two days before his 2nd birthday, which meant we were just in time for the “terrible twos”, so we had that going for us. But even having…. read more

April 12, 2011 by Rose F. in Parenting

An informal survey of 8 high school freshmen revealed that seven of the 8 recalled playing “educational video games” when they were younger. Of those three categorized the games as “cool” while the other four labeled the games “lame.” More important than their opinions of the games, however, are the clarity of their recollection of…. read more

April 11, 2011 by Staff in Education, Parenting

I’ve enjoyed 10 years of being my son’s idol. He wants to grow up and be the person I am: work at the same job, do the same activities, be the man I am. So many of the choices he makes stand out to my wife and I as having “what would Dad do?” in…. read more

April 8, 2011 by Scott Copperman in Parenting

The television matriarch has certainly come a long way. Gone are the days when June Cleaver and Donna Stone stayed home all day and kept the house immaculate while wearing spotless dresses and glamorous pearls. These days, TV moms bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, make some awesome BLT’s, and look…. read more

April 7, 2011 by Paul Goebel in Parenting