The Puzzling Rise in Nearsighted Children - WSJ
"Nearsightedness among Americans has increased quite a bit over the past few decades, but it's nothing compared to the spike in Asia. In a recent study, "80% of 4,798 Beijing teenagers tested as ne...
"In the months that followed my ordeal, I struggled to see myself as that stranger had seen menot a mother running an errand, making a judgment call, juggling demands, but a criminal, a threat to ...
The Importance of Eating Together The Atlantic
"The average American eats one in every five meals in her car, one in four Americans eats at least one fast food meal every single day, and the majority of American families report eating a single ...
My recipe for (temporarily) bringing everything into balance
Food is my speciality. Im happy to delude myself into thinking that making something like meatballs will bring everything into balance.
For kids and grownups, savoring a daily dose of nature
Being in nature is therapeutic on so many levels. In a forest of 100,000 trees, every tree is different. Yet in the natural world, the trees belong, as do the rocks, plants, raccoons, birds, and in...
Tiny Homes for families - from Dwell
This Dwell article highlights some cool "Tiny Homes" for families (usually with one child). The photo above is of a 607 square foot home in Manhattan. That's a bit smaller than the average 818 sf h...
Our Push for 'Passion,' and Why It Harms Kids - NYTimes.com
"By the time a child rounds the corner into high school and certainly before he sets up an account with the Common App, the conventional wisdom is that he needs to have a passion that is deep, easy...
What you need to know about archiving your most important photos on Facebook
Facebook is a great place to quickly share photos, create shared albums, and tag photos of friends. However, it's not the best place to archive your most important, treasured photos. That's because...
Use Medical ID on your iPhone as a safety shortcut
40% of US homes no longer use a landline. Meanwhile, 91% of adults have cell phones. If you asked your child who they should call in an emergency, they'd likely answer "9-1-1". But if you handed t...
Why Facebook’s Scrapbook Is Bad For Your Baby | TIME
"Facebook has a parent problem — teenagers don’t want to hang out where old farts are analyzing Claire’s hair on House of Cards. This new scrapbook feature is an obvious attempt to nip that issue i...
A missed point in the debate about screen time and kids
Glowing rectangles can't replace tactile experiences, but kids can still use them to learn, create and explore their curiosity. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "today’s child liv...
Ask Angela: I've become undateable
My husband and I recently made a promise to go on one awesome date every month. I suppose that when we made this promise I knew we might eventually have to break it, but I certainly didn’t imagine ...
Breakfast tips for real-life weekday mornings
You’ve heard it a million times: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You probably also have heard of studies suggesting that kids who eat breakfast will be more focused, do better in ...
Top 5 reading list for parents 3/20-3/27
There are only so many hours in the day. Here are 5 things you might have missed. This weekend, I shall invest in a set of dry erase markers and re-write the programming at my house, using the exac...
Hey Kids! Go Outside, Already via On Point with Tom Ashbrook
American kids today spend only four to seven minutes a day playing outdoors. There are all kinds of reasons, but at heart it’s a lifestyle change. Listen here: Hey Kids! Go Outside, Already | On P...
How to respond to a rude child (even one that's not yours)
Question: I have a nine-year-old who is so rude to people when they come over that they are completely taken aback. I, of course am embarrassed and angry that after 9 years this child still refuses...
via Mark Bittman, "Feeding Kids Well"
"Eating patterns are set when we’re young, and 31 million kids eat federally assisted school lunches. Thus the school lunch program is more than just an opportunity to feed hungry kids. It’s an opp...
via Time: "Why Girls Should Play More Video Games"
"Playing video games can improve girls' spatial skills — an important contributor to career success" by @anniemurphypaul via Why Girls Should Play More Video Games TIME.com.
via The Atlantic: Study: Many Parents Are In Denial About Their Kids’ Obesity
This dissonance, according to pediatrician and lead study author Kyung Rhee, may have to do with what she calls “the normalization of obesity.” “There are so many kids who are overweight—and so ma...
It's National Unplugging Day. Via Medium, "Unplugging Mom: A One Man Play"
A 2014 study by UCLA researchers found that sixth graders who spent five days screen-free were better at reading facial expressions and nonverbal cues of human emotion at the end of the period than...
"Dear Parent Co" tackles: How to stop keeping score
Dear Parent Co. - My husband and I are constantly keeping track of who does what in our family - specifically the necessary day-to-day tasks. It’s become a competition and a source of resentment wh...
via Psychology Today, "Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD"
A provocative article: "In the United States, at least 9 percent of school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADHD, and are taking pharmaceutical medications. In France, the percentage of kids...
A Census Inspired Playlist (no one has ever written that before.)
According to the most recent census, the average age of first time moms in the US is 25.1. What topped the charts in 1990, the year THEY were born?
This morning, I woke up with my head seemingly sewn to the pillow. The aches, chills, and hacking cough that had wound their way into my body yesterday had hunkered down much like the winter, which...