This post is sponsored by Best Buy and includes affiliate links What if the toys that are strewn about your house really did come to life like they did in Toy Story? Since 1995 the Toy Story franchise has captured our hearts thanks to new and nostalgic characters whose existence revolves around themes of friendship….
7 Reasons to Try Messenger Kids for Safe Social Screen Time
This post is sponsored by Messenger Kids by Facebook There’s no doubt that screens can be fantastic tools to enhance learning, spark new ideas, and teach new skills. When kids are actively engaging with screens, they’re being productive but where do social interactions on digital devices fall? Any parent who has ever been irritated with…
Sending Your Child to Sleepaway Camp? Read This First!
For parents and kids alike, achieving sleepaway camp status is a milestone but getting kids ready feels like training for an Olympic event. Last week our kids packed up their stuff and boarded a cross country flight for their two weeks of unplugged fun at sleepaway camp. Whether your kids are camp veterans like ours…
Summer Travel: How to Plan a Successful Multigenerational Vacation
This summer travel post is sponsored by Vrbo School is out, summer is here, and if you haven’t made summer travel plans yet, you’re not alone! According to a recent survey by BankRate, 22% of us still haven’t decided whether you’re taking a trip this summer. Our family was in that 22% last year. Our…
How to Manage Mosquitos and Tech Overuse This Summer
This post was written in partnership with Mosquito Squad of Greater DC We love the allure of summer for the promise of warm weather and vacations but at the same time, it can also be a challenging season. There’s so much to look forward to but the reality is the absence of structure, schedules that can…
How to Talk to Tweens and Teens About Digital Safety and Screen Time
This post is sponsored by Google Family Link and Be Internet Awesome I remember when my kids were toddlers and keeping an eye on them meant ensuring electrical outlets were covered, visually sweeping the floor to ensure there weren’t potential choking hazards lying about, and latching baby gates so they couldn’t accidentally toddle down stairs before they were…
20 Books with LGBTQ Characters for Kids Celebrating Pride Month
By Common Sense Media Looking for a way to celebrate and honor Pride Month with your young kid? From books with main characters who are LGBTQ or still figuring out their sexual orientations to stories of straight kids or teens with gay friends or parents, these books portray many aspects of the LGBTQ experience for…
Why The Misadventures of Max Crumbly is a Great Book Trilogy for Boys
Simon & Schuster is partnering with me for this giveaway As middle school students, our kids spend so much time reading books that aren’t of their choosing. English teachers hand them books that are part of required reading and we know that not all of what they’re assigned resonates with them. But now that it’s…
Teach Your Kids to Take Better Pictures with 4-H Digital Photography Curriculum
This post is sponsored by 4-H With improvements in smartphone technology and the cameras inside them, it’s easier than ever for tweens and teens to be photographers. However, a great image is measured by more than how many friends you can cram into the frame of your selfie. Parents with budding photographers can make screen…
Better Hearing and Speech Month Twitter Chat (5/22): Recognizing Signs of Communication Disorders in School-Age Kids
This is a sponsored post When I taught first grade, my main objective was to teach kids to read. I started each year with beginning readers who transformed into fluent readers during the course of the year. But teaching kids to read wasn’t easy. It was often hard to tell if a stumbling block was…
