By Ann Hartter
The older the artist, the smaller the crayons become. Many kids don’t have a problem with broken crayons. Many kids ignore them. Many kids get gifted several boxes of crayons in a year, or build up a collection over time. Throwing crayon pieces away is one of the most dissatisfying clean-up jobs to […]

By Ann Hartter
Babies draw. Toddlers draw. Kids draw. They color from the first time they get a crayon in their hand to the time they learn to write, as sketches and drawings are their best way of written communication and expression. As parents, we become extraordinarily fond of the smacked-on dots and lines when babies […]

By Meredith H. Kaiser
How much does it cost to raise happy children who go on to be productive citizens? My husband and I decided not to be parents since our few surviving houseplants have to spell out H2O — like the Village People dancing to YMCA — just to get water. However, since I […]

By J. Alan Maguire
For the first day of kindergarten, I walked in to my daughter’s classroom and at each child’s place at the table lay 3 pennies. These were fake pennies, but as our kindergarten information packet stated, they were worth something.
Every day, the children get three pennies, which they put in designated […]

By Ann Hartter
I remember my mother being hit with that little piece of paper once a year: the school supply list specifying discretely the ways your child will be ridiculed if you skip something, or worse, choose to empty your wallet on alternative items. I know, I was sometimes that child. I think a kid […]

By Ann Hartter
Newspapers are handy inventions. They are delivered to our door once a day, whether we want it today or not. They are at every grocery store, en masse. Wrinkle and shake one open, and you can find all sorts of gift ideas for your sweetie, or mom, or kid (or self). You […]

By Shannon Christman
One thing that causes parental frustration is paying a high admission price to a park or event only to have the child complain the whole time or discover a sudden interest in something he could see for free, like ducks (just like those in a neighbor’s pond) when you’re on a trip to […]