Buying and selling a home is one of the more wonderful yet stressful events in a person’s life. Recently my family did both. The stress was made even worse by the timing of the move, in the middle of the school year which increased the impact on my children My kids, as many do, are…. read more

April 6, 2011 by Susan Lane in Education, Parenting

I was talking to another mom the other day who was in the midst of planning her son’s birthday party. She asked me if I knew where she could get party supplies with an elephant theme. “Elephant theme?” I asked. “Why elephants?” She explained that instead of the party guests bringing her son gifts, they…. read more

April 5, 2011 by Cindy Sobania in Parenting, Things to Check Out

A pair of informal surveys given seven days apart to the same class of 25 tenth-grader students yielded contradictory results despite having common questions. The only significant difference between the two surveys was that one required students to write their name on the top while was completed anonymously. The surveys each consisted of 30 seemingly…. read more

April 4, 2011 by Staff in Education, Parenting

On any list of the top movie villans of all time, Darth Vader routinely places among the top 5. For example, Vader  is #3 in AFI’s top 50 villians, #1 in the Sunday Times’ top 50, and #2 at listverse.com. According to many sources, Darth Vader was conceived by George Lucas “as the epitomy of…. read more

April 1, 2011 by Scott Copperman in Parenting

Today is Spring Picture Day at my child’s school. This, of course, should not be confused with Class Picture Day or Fall Picture Day, nor should one forget that End of Year Picture Day is just 2 months away. For some reason, my child’s school district has decided that we need 4 opportunities each year…. read more

March 29, 2011 by Parent X in Education, Parenting

An informal survey of 23 seventh-grade students revealed that only 1 of the 23 had eaten a breakfast consisting primarily of eggs, fruit, or yogurt. The complete results of the survey are shown in the table below. Eggs with ham and potatoes – 1 Cold Pizza – 1 Waffle ice cream sandwich – 1 Cereal…. read more

March 28, 2011 by Staff in Parenting

Yes, yes… I now they are a corporation and a ficticious person, but none the less, I have been stewing for a while now over what I feel was a bad message sent to young Hannah Montana fans in the show’s final scenes. You can watch the final 6 minutes of the series finale here….. read more

March 25, 2011 by Scott Copperman in Parenting

I said that once to my daughter. In fact, I’ve said it to her many times. She knows it means I love her a great deal, because she knows her Daddy loves to bake and to eat sweets. Cooking is fun for me, and it’s a social thing for me as well. I cook with…. read more

March 22, 2011 by Scott Copperman in Parenting

An informal survey of 5 parents revealed that at least 4 of the 5 had allowed a child under the age of 13 to watch an R-rated movie on cable or DVD (the fifth parent could not recall whether any of the films their child watched before age 13 had been rated “R”). We found…. read more

March 21, 2011 by Staff in Parenting

As a youth growing up in Salinas, CA, birthplace of John Steinbeck, it was generally expected that every high school student would read at least 5 of Steinbeck’s published works. In fact, it was mandatory to read East of Eden by graduation. Because Steinbeck frequently mentioned Salinas and the surrounding areas in his novels, it…. read more

March 18, 2011 by Susan Lane in Parenting