Author Archive: Central Valley Moms
Ask Mr. Dad: Stay with me!
Dear Mr. Dad: My 3-year-old has been going to the same daycare for 8 months, but he’s still anxious and nervous every time I drop him off. I know that young children can have anxiety problems about unfamiliar places and people, but hasn’t this gone on long enough? A: I remember dropping off my oldest [...]
Why it’s worth getting to know your neighbors
In my apartment building, I can tell you what the roommates across the hall fight about and that the guy upstairs has a squeaky mattress. What I cannot tell you is any of their names – and that, experts say, doesn’t do anyone any good. Neighborly relations have declined in the U.S. since the 1950s, [...]
Frumpy Middle-Aged Mom: 10 ways to ruin your child’s day
I really was not surprised in the slightest to read that parents tend to be more depressed, more often, than people who don’t have children. After all, people without kids are never visited by a grim-faced neighbor clutching a baseball with glass shards on it. Strange odors never emanate from ovens they didn’t turn on. [...]
Family Meals Matter: Beef it up
May is National Beef Month! To celebrate, we’ve compiled nutrient-rich, quick-to-prepare beef entrees and convenient side dishes your whole family will enjoy. Each recipe is ready to eat in 30 minutes or less! Beef is an excellent source of protein and a good source of iron, zinc, niacin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. Over 29 [...]
Little feet, little trails: Get ‘em on trails at an early age, dad says
When it comes to hiking with kids, no matter how young they are, just go for it. That’s the attitude of hiking dad Michael Lanza of Boise, Idaho, who believes it’s important to get kids on the trail at an early age and keep nurturing a long-term love for the outdoors. It’s spring, and there [...]
How my special needs son taught me to be guilt-free
My son Andrew continues to offer his unique perspective on the world just by being who he is. I went into this motherhood business thinking I’d be the one to impart of all of my worldly wisdom on my kids, and instead, I’ve learned more from Andrew than I could ever hope to teach him. [...]
Nameberry: May names — Mabel, Mavis and Mae
Today being the first day of the merry month of May, why not consider a name that starts with that upbeat, springlike syllable for your baby born this month? Here are the most likely May names suspects. MABEL When Bruce Willis, who, with then-wife Demi Moore, was one of the original creative baby namers with [...]
Colleges grow their wait lists, leaving more students in limbo
After months in limbo, Morgan Lundblad recently opened her long-awaited email from Harvard University to find only more uncertainty. She had been wait-listed. The senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Chicago had applied to a dozen of the nation’s most elite colleges. When the smoke cleared, Lunblad still did not have a definitive path forward. [...]
Travel Goods, Gadgets & Gear: Teched-up family road trips
A summer road trip with the kids may seem like a fun, old-fashioned notion but we’re traveling strictly 21st-century style these days and that means plugged-in fun, luggage with attitude and a short albeit snappy packing acronym to help even the littlest travelers get road-ready. P.A.C.K. is the strategy Rachel Stephens, a children’s packing and [...]
Family guide to new movie releases
THE AVENGERS Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference What it’s about: Superheroes are summoned by a secret government agency to battle an alien invasion. The kid attractor factor: It’s Iron Man and Thor and Hulk and Captain America, plus Black Widow and Hawkeye Good lessons/ [...]
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