Mary Jansen is a grandmother who lives in Mesa. Theresa and Greg Banks are an aunt and uncle who live in Phoenix. Shelly Wilson is a cousin who lives in Goodyear. What do all of these individuals have in common? All of them are kinship caregivers, people who are caring for relatives who are children [...]
Have you ever done something so completely idiotic that you even surprise yourself by your total lack of judgement? Well, welcome to yesterday morning. As is often the case, I walked my 8 year old son, Eli, to the bus stop about two blocks from our house. I also chose to take our two dogs, [...]
I tried to act calm. Eli seemed to be rolling unflappably with the unexpected event. Meanwhile I started texting everyone I knew with my pithy, yet painful observations about time’s fleeting passage.
Now my husband and I were shifting into hard sell mode. We whipped out my lap top and pulled up a U-tube of Hacksaw and Hammer effortlessly spinning basketballs on their fingers and balancing them on their noses. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. It took about 20 seconds and one particularly humorous play in which Flip loses his shirt and shorts and powers down the court in his underwear before Eli was hooked.
Another voice in my head suggested I get myself fed and to work on time and simply allow my husband to handle the poster debacle. Of course that triggered a memory of the time Mark sent Levi to school for dress-up day, costumed in a bed sheet and kitchen mop wig, which wasn’t a disaster I cared to repeat.
My husband is a genius. Please do not, under any circumstance, reveal this information to him. However, I have to tell you that he has invented the single most brilliant behavior modification technique in the history of child-rearing. And it’s actually working!
In the game of child-rearing, it’s not about who screams the loudest. But rather, it’s about who’s willing to stand their ground and wait it out until their opponent’s willfulness begins to wane.
“But it’s only a matter of time before he becomes the laughing stock of the team. Then the kids will exclude him from everything. No one will ever pass him the ball. It’s just a disaster waiting to happen.”
“O.K.,” I said, rather astonished by his catastrophic prophecy. “But I think you’re maybe over-reacting. Does this per chance bring up something painful from your own past?”
I am officially suffering from an acute case of O.R.S. And it is seriously sucking the joy out of my life. You see, I used to be the bees knees, the cat’s pajamas, totally rad. And now? I’m nothing more than an inconvenient embarrassment whose sole value derives from driving small boys to and fro, continuously providing a never-ending supply of cut-up fruit, and paying for…everything!
I heard this author on NPR the other day say that boys named Dennis have a significantly higher likelihood of becoming dentists. Really? I mean the words do in fact sound alike. Could that really be a way of subconsciously directing an offspring’s career path?
A crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help, facing uncharted terrain, evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an [...]
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MAY 2013
$6.00Our 2013 directory of Valley aquatics programs — everything from learn-to-swim programs to diving, racing and synchronized swimming!
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April 2013
$6.00Our April 2013 issue features the 2013 Summer Solutions directory — more than 500 day camps in Maricopa County!
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March 2013
$6.00Our March 2013 issue features the 2013 directory of Overnight Camps in Arizona and the Southwest!
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February 2013
$6.00Our February 2013 issue is all about babies! Learn how to begin building your baby’s bookshelf, make your own baby food, find parent/tot classes and Daddy Boot Camps around the Valley. Plus: gifts, gadgets and great new looks for baby.
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January 2013
$6.00It’s our annual pregnancy issue! Learn about the latest trend among expectant parents: “gender-reveal” parties. Plus: Should you bank your baby’s umbilical cord blood?
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December 2012
$6.00Ice hockey in the desert? Our December issue tells you how to get your kids started. Plus, an insider’s tour of the Arizona Doll and Toy Museum. And two terrific holiday crafts your kids will love!
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