The chocolate in most mass-produced candy bars is as waxy and luscious as any pillar or stick at a mall candle store.
Candy corn tastes nothing like corn and it’s debatable whether it is worth bothering with calling itcandy.
Jaw breakers, lollipops, and gumballs are choking hazards.
Sweet tarts, Sprees, and Smarties are little disks [...]

Editor’s Note: This post is a part of a giveaway for tickets to The Wildlife Experience. Contest details are at the end.

My six-year-old son studied the piles of rubber poop and photos of animals. Different shapes, colors, and sizes represented the astonishing diversity of found on forest floors and sometimes in our own backyards. His [...]

I have a confession.
When we drive by sports fields on Saturdays and Sundays, and I see dozens of uniformed kids and their parents? I am so glad we aren’t there.
American suburban families who do not participate in soccer, baseball, hockey, t-ball, or any other organized league sports are rare. It’s expected for our [...]

We told the kids about the new baby on the same day we told the rest of the world.
Some may question the wisdom of telling young children about a new sibling when there is a strong history of pregnancy loss. My tally is four. Aren’t you afraid they will be sad if the worst [...]

My elementary school-aged kids have just wrapped up their first fundraiser of the year.
They had to sell a well-known book of coupons.
Nobody wanted one. Nobody needed one. Nobody remembers to actually use the coupons if they do buy the book, so everyone passed. If they had a coupon book already, it was because [...]

267 pre-sharpened pencils from our family alone.
Approximately 2,200 sheets of “facial tissue”—enough to sop up the runny noses and tears of the local chapter of the Jonas Brother’s Fan Club for a year.
Baby wipes, zip-top baggies, paper plates, hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes, and oh yeah. Some crayons. It’s nice to see crayons mixed [...]

Her name was Jackie and we were cruel to her.
She lived in a small, weather-worn house across the street from our school. She wore the same out-of-style clothes every day. They were stained and frayed. Her hair was never combed, and her homework was rarely done. For these crimes, a court of spoiled and [...]