“Daniel, let me wipe your face. You have ketchup all over it.” “Here?” Yes, come here and let me wipe your face.” “No, I got it, Mom.”

If you're looking for a hostel to take your "tribe,"  any group of kids, hold a big family get-together or just hang out with a bunch of buddies, we spent a nice weekend up at a spot  in the mountains called Yosemite Bug. It accommodated our group very well — we took more than a dozen teens and half a dozen [...]

Is it possible to be born with a "I-have-an-amazing-ability-to-question" gene? Because if it is, then my younger two kids have it. I have always said my parenting style differs dramatically between my two sets of kids, but I often catch myself needing a break from one set more than the other. While taking my break, [...]

First impressions of the Valley and American life in general always interest me.  I wonder what people from other places are thinking when they first get a look at us!  Last weekend, we were off with a group of a dozen or so international teenagers who have just had their first month in the U.S. Here's a sampling of the [...]

Do you know that you and superdad will change from 5,000 to 7,000 diapers in the first two years of your baby's life?  Wow. Sometimes, it's better not to know! The Boston Globe has a story about an ongoing debate about paper vs cloth diapers and which is the "greener" choice. The Casey Center for [...]

Naming a baby isn’t going to be easy. I’m 11 weeks pregnant and already hitting a roadblock. Just so you know, I’m not unreasonable. In fact, I’m fairly flexible. My guidelines for names are: They can’t be in the top 100 of the social security popular names list, it needs to sound pleasing and Jimmy [...]