Over the River and Through the Woods to Our House in the Suburbs We Go

I used to think becoming a mother was the scariest thing I could imagine. But when my son was born and my husband suggested we move to the suburbs, I found that idea much more frightening. Moving from the city to the ‘burbs! Having lived in the city my entire adult life, I never realized how awesome it was until I actually left.  When we lived there, I could have just about... Read More

P&G Survey Reveals Parenting ‘Tougher’ Due to Social Media

Are you following your children on Twitter? Have your kids accepted your friend request on Facebook? What are the kids recording on Vine or how are they posing in photos on Instagram? Parents today–73 percent–believe they have a “tougher job parenting than their mothers/fathers due to advances in technology and social media,” according to a P&G survey... Read More

Have an ‘Awesome’ Sleepover at NYC Cathedral with Medieval Knights

Imagine seeing a Medieval Times show, replete with epic battles and exciting tournaments, as well as brave knights and budding romances. Now, imagine living it, if only for one night. It was the slumber parties of all slumber parties – The Knightwatch Medieval at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine – and it was glorious. On Friday, March 22, my 5.5-year-old son Aiden and I... Read More

‘Screens Hurt Their Creativity’: An NYC Dad Learns at 92Y Parenting Conference

I squirmed, I sweated, felt guilty and encouraged, I laughed and held back tears, had the weight of the world shove me to the ground, and then was given a hand that brought me back up. And all that happened before lunch. My run through the emotional parenting gauntlet was courtesy of the “What Do You Really Need To Know As A Parent” conference at the 92nd St. Y held... Read More

Boy or Girl? How an Author Decides the Gender of Her Main Character

The title character of my new book, “Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human,” was supposed to be a girl. I held out against Harry Potter for years because it bugged me that J.K. Rowling, the mother of a little girl, decided to write her epic adventure story about a little boy. So I knew that when I sat down one day to write my own... Read More

5 Tips for Your Child’s First Broadway Experience by a Westchester Mom

“Tomorrow! Tomorrow ! I love ya Tomorrow!” These lyrics have been belted out by my children and their 5-year-old friends for the past year or so. When I heard “Annie” was coming to Broadway, I knew it was the perfect first Broadway show for my 5-year-old girls. The writer (right) with her twin girls and their aunt before the show. Are you considering attending... Read More

Making Lemonade in Europe by Author of ‘The Expats’ Chris Pavone

Suddenly at age 40 I found myself living in Luxembourg, sitting on playground benches in the cold damp, watching my small children clamber up dangerous apparatuses, making small talk with vague acquaintances about the things we used to do, and the people we used to be, before we became people who did this, here. We were expat stay-at-home parents. All of us had arrived via similar... Read More

How Childhood Bullying Affected Author Eric Kahn Gale

From third to fifth grade, I was insulted, shunned, and tormented by nearly every member of my class. How and why this behavior caught on, I’ll never know, but I was called Eric Gay, told I had a giant head, and relentlessly picked on for three years. It is telling that when my fifth-grade teacher was absent for five successive Mondays and we had a substitute lead us through our... Read More