Parenting tip: How to reboot a sluggish outing with kids

I told you about how I keep kids occupied while out and about. And I told you the simple tip that has improved our kids’ behavior in public. Now I have yet another! (This parenting thing is all about hacks to make the system hum, right?) So say we’re out somewhere and things start to [...]

One easy tip that has drastically improved our behavior in public

Whether it’s the store, a restaurant, church, someone’s house, the Dr.’s office — anywhere outside of our house — there is great potential to encounter “issues” when galavanting around town. I already told you how we try to keep little people occupied while we’re out and about, but there’s another simple thing I do in [...]

One way I find lost items lickety split

This is a little trick I discovered recently and it works within minutes almost every single time. I can’t say it’ll work for everyone, but you just never know when you might find yourself in a situation where it’ll come in handy. We’re forever losing stuff around here — someone’s shoe, my keys, my phone, [...]

How to keep kids occupied when out and about

Photo by Leonard John Matthews Whether it’s at the Dr.’s office, on a plane, in the car, at a restaurant or standing in line, the little ones inevitably get antsy when there’s waiting involved. Here are some ideas to keep them occupied: Always bring the umbrella stroller. That way, someone can be strapped in and [...]

How we talk to our kids about gay marriage & other tough questions, Part 2

Kids ask a lot of questions; it’s their job. As I said last week, as parents, our job is to answer them. Hayley asked an innocent enough question at the lunch table the other day from which a very interesting discussion arose. Naturally, I was the sole adult representation home at the time (where’s Brian [...]

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