It’s Not My Story to Tell

teens and depression

With the teen’s permission, I am finally able and ready to share the very long story of my silent struggle in parenting our firstborn. I haven’t been able to share this part of my life because most of it is not my story to tell, but in her newfound efforts …read more    

9 Care Packages You Should Send to College

I remember how exciting it was to receive mail at college. Let’s face it, I still get really excited when I find mail that isn’t a bill. There’s just something about knowing someone took the time to send something personal. So, we’re already planning out the care packages we are …read more    

A Pitch Perfect Summer Night for Teens

Thanks to Pop Secret for sponsoring this post.

We’ve had no less than 3 or 4 teens around almost every night this summer. I like being the destination house because it keeps me involved in their lives and lets me know where they are pretty …read more    

How to Get Kids to Clean: Our Chore Card System

Paint Chip Chore Card System

This New Year cleaning resolution tips post is brought to you by Mr. Clean as part of a Type-A Parent Community Sponsored Post.

We’ve spent years trying to get the house clean(er) and the kids to be more responsible at home. Allowance didn’t help. New year’s resolutions didn’t …read more    

4 Life Lessons Kids Can Learn from Dylan Sprouse

Scrolling through Twitter this morning, the first thing that caught my eye was about Dylan Sprouse (whom our kids know best as Zach from Suite Life). A few clicks later, and I could see — in all his glory — what the story was about. At some point, Dylan had …read more    

Holiday Gift Guide Grand Prize Giveaway

When we decided to try a holiday gift guide for the first time, it was important to us that it both reflect who we are as parents and be useful to you as readers. The result — Toys Mom Won’t Hate …read more    

Teen Gift Ideas: Mother-Daughter Book Club (Plus a Disney-Hyperion Giveaway!)

The teen and I read a lot of the same books; my literary tastes peaked at young adult, and Disney-Hyperion publishes some of our very favorites. Percy Jackson, Ghallagher Girls, and <a target=_self href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078685197X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=078685197X&linkCode=as2&tag=miscmom-20" target="top" title="It's Kind of a Funny Story …read more    

Tween Gift Ideas: Skylanders Primer for Moms (And Swap Force a Giveaway!)

We were introduced to Skylanders last year when one of the tween’s friends brought her collection over for a sleepover, but we didn’t really learn much about it until this year. When the boy got Skylanders Giants for his birthday, he and the …read more    

Big Kid Gift Ideas: Dolls with Personality (Plus Beatrix Girls Giveaway)

Dolls are a classic Christmas gift for a reason; little girls love their dolls. A doll has topped our girls’ Christmas lists more often than not, but they have definitely come a long way since Janice and Jen hoped for their dolls.

Now, girls want Barbie and LaLaLoopsy and Moxie …read more    

Why Your Kid Shouldn’t Be on Instagram

I know, I know. You’ve heard it all before. Kids don’t belong on social media, but your kid is using it responsibly. And you’re supervising everything. So that makes it okay, right?

Wrong.

It’s not about what they may see or say online. It’s not even about the cyberbullying that …read more