The history of National Grandparent’s Day and ideas for grandparent celebrations
If you live in the United States you know how we just looooooove to make holidays for everyone, and September 8 is yet another: it’s National Grandparent’s Day! I’m a big fan of celebrating just about anything and anyone, so I’m totally on the Grandparent’s Day train. While looking around for cute ideas for stuff my kid could do for his long-distance grandparents, I realized I don’t know ANYTHING about the origins of the day. Anyone up for a history lesson/craft party? Let’s do it.
It’s cool if you’re not a woman, and 9 other rules for dating my son
Since the advent of Pinterest and Tumblr, posts venting parental frustrations have been shared, pinned and reblogged with silent nods of understanding, uproarious laughter and the occasional GPOY tag. Now and then, I’ll come across a post intended as humor that really bugs me. When I look at what the post is really saying, it’s just passive-aggressive repetition of the tropes and assumptions that I don’t want to include in my parenting.
Send your college student to school with a Stormtrooper alarm clock because you can
Hey, hey it’s the middle of the summer — which means a certain portion of our readership is getting ready to send their kiddos off to college! My first (and only) dorm room was a pretty special hive filled to the brim with rock star posters and whatever cute stuff my best friend’s mom bought us (because I was flat broke), but that doesn’t mean I’m not full-on enthusiastic about virtually decorating the dorm rooms of your offspring! And lest we forget: at least half of this could totally work in an adult home, or a kid’s room. Or all three.
Too young to be a grandma: advice for moms of pregnant teens
If there’s one group of parents we rarely hear from on this site, it’s grandparents! Mamiverse recently published a piece with 5 tips for moms of pregnant teens.
The Path of Names: what would probably happen if Harry Potter was a girl at Jewish summer camp
I was flipping through the internet one day when I saw a tweet that likened Ari Goelman’s recently published The Path of Names to a Jewish Harry Potter tale, and immediately clicked over to read the article. You guys probably know by now that I take my 14-year-long Harry Potter fandom and all references to the series very seriously, so of course (of course!) I had to check it out.
LeakyCon and 4 other nerd-tastic summer cons perfect for parent-teen bonding
Guys, summer is almost upon is… which means it’s TOTALLY time to get ready for con season! We’ve chatted about taking a small child to a con (totally doable), but never before have we waded into aspirational con territory for many a parent-child duo: taking your teen to a con. Luckily there are tons of options this time of year — there’s a con for just about every form of geekery you can drum up. Harry Potter fan? Check. Horror movie aficionado? You got it.
3 age-appropriate ways to talk to kids and teens about media portrayals of sexual assault
I have this super awesome talent for thinking of the perfect thing to say hours later. A talent which is not in any way useful — unless you have a blog. In which case you can blog about it and get it all out. So here are three possible, age-appropriate, conversations you can have with your children about rape that I came up with.
Hackschooling Makes Me Happy: a 13-year-old talks about his education of choice
Logan LaPlante is 13 years old and he goes to what he calls “hackschool.” Its really not a school at all in the traditional sense. As Logan says, “Hackschooling is a mindset, not a system.” In this amazing TEDx talk, Logan sets forth a bold vision for education — one he lives everyday.