What month produces the most snowfall? It depends. One year, I was in Minnesota for a library conference and a record-setting snow was the trick or treat. Another year, our family went to downtown Chicago for a matinee show during spring break.  Read more...

For most parents, last year was eventful, to say the least.  Not always pleasant, not always clear, but eventful. After all that stress of red states and blue states, it’s time to take a little detour to the land of folk heroes and a special bear’s house.

FunSlides Carpet Skates
from Simtec Co., www.funslides.com, $17.99

We prepare children for all sorts of things in life—a new babysitter, the first day of school, the arrival of a new baby. The preparation is important because children, like adults, find comfort in knowing what to expect. That same sense of security is key to helping a child feel good about seeing a psychotherapist.  Read more...

Pregnancy can be tough. Pregnancy with asthma can be even tougher. How do you control your illness while avoiding drugs that might harm your baby?  Read more...

Reader Essay
My son’s favorite color is pink. There is no arguing this. Linus is 3 years old and his favorite color is pink. No apologies. No regrets.  Read more...

Remember treehouses? The heady concoction of peace, independence and freedom that you experienced sitting among the branches on a breezy summer day, watching the world go by? When the block was your universe, owning the keys to a palace above it all was powerful stuff. Spending an afternoon in a treehouse fell in the same category as having a lemonade stand or catching fireflies after dark—all old-fashioned rites of passage.  Read more...

Reader Essay
Every parent will be interrupted 100 million billion times before their kids hit 18. They never explain this in parenting books. And they never tell you the long-term consequences of interruptions.  Read more...

They haven’t won a Pulitzer Prize—yet—but they are some of Chicago’s youngest reporters. Sisters Shira and Devorah Taxer, 11 and 12, and their friend, Sori Raizman, 12, have been publishing their own newspaper, the “Far-go,” since June 2003.  Read more...

It usually takes a few days of balmy weather before a groundhog knows enough to come out from its den, so these furry rodents are much better at summing up past weather patterns than prognosticating.  Read more...

It took about 200 gallons of paint, 2,000 light bulbs and 11 days of hard work, but the John G. Shedd Aquarium is a bit more kid friendly and a lot more clean, sporting better washrooms and some new exhibits featuring popular amphibians and marine animals—all in time for the Shedd’s 75th anniversary.  Read more...

Reader Essay
My father was not easily flustered. He survived the German bombing of London during World War II and later escaped the Kremlin with only an ulcer. He went on to become managing editor of The New York Times, marry a president’s daughter and raise four sons.  Read more...

Reader Essay
I remember my first Father’s Day. I was a dad in theory but my son wasn’t living with me. He doesn’t now and he probably never will. Most dads bring their sons home from the hospital. I drove home alone that early morning.

What’s 252 feet long, weighs 700 tons and takes you back in time to 1944? The answer: The U-505 submarine.  Read more...

For the past two and a half weeks I’ve used the Stroller Stretcher from Berkeley Baby Products, a stroller handle extension that is supposed to make it easier to steer and push a stroller. This is a blessing for taller parents (I’m 5 feet, 8 inches; my husband is 6 feet), and it was so nice to not have to stoop over the stroller.  Read more...

Just one more story, please," is a common request voiced by children who aren’t quite ready to settle down for a good night’s sleep. If one more sounds reasonable, here are a few new releases that will help pave the way to dreamland and end the day on a positive note.  Read more...

My 6-year-old son, Will, has a wide range of musical tastes. I am hoping his willingness to listen to diverse styles will survive the inevitable peer pressure to settle into the usual pop fare. From his earliest days, I have exposed Will to my favorites. I would change his diaper to the sounds of "Zoot" (rhymes with "poop") Sims and then we’d ride down the road reciting obscure Waylon Jennings tunes.  Read more...

This is one of those great times of the year. We get the beauty of nature in the fall colors and the fun of Halloween. What could be better? Here are a few books that include activities for you to enjoy. The illustrators will provide extra pleasure for you with their colorful pictures.  Read more...

In postpartum desperation, I scoured the bookshelves for advice on helping my newborn sleep. After an unscientific survey of friends and family and hours in the library speed reading their recommendations, I found what I was looking for: Dr. Marc Weissbluth’s Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  Read more...

A new at-home test promises to tell expectant parents the gender of their baby with 99.9 percent accuracy as early as five weeks into a pregnancy.  Read more...

The only resource of its kind in the Chicago area and one of only a few in the country, the Erikson Institute’s Fussy Baby Network offers a range of services on a sliding-fee scale for parents worried about their baby’s sleeping, eating or crying. Services include support groups and home visits.
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

After hours of labor in a sterile hospital, you’re probably ready to go home. Before you do, there are some important questions to ask your nurse or doctor. The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, a group representing 22,000 health care professionals worldwide, knows.  Read more...

Exercise during pregnancy is a good thing. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends 30 minutes almost every day. Not only is it good for your health, but it can mean shorter deliveries and fewer problems, says Dr. Foti Chronopoulos, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

The caption to a photograph in Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth reads: "Unmedicated, first-time mother experiencing birth ecstasy." Ina May Gaskin, the midwife whose 1970s book, Spiritual Midwifery, inspired baby boomer parents to buck the system and have their babies naturally at home, now presents a book with the same message of self-empowerment but that also provides information on hospital- and birth-center deliveries.  Read more...

Baby Makayla Quin was blocking her face as her parents watched, hoping to get a glimpse of her. Finally, it happened. Makayla moved her hands away from her face, and her parents saw her for the first time. Makayla had been in her mother’s womb for 28 weeks. And her parents desperately wanted a picture.
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

Walk into any baby store and you’ll find cute curtains, hardwood cribs and thick flannel blankets. But more important than designing a fashionable nursery is keeping your baby safe. So as you furnish your baby’s nursery, consider these safety tips from the National Safety Council, American SIDS Institute, National Safe Kids Campaign and the American Red Cross:  Read more...

I know this is the month when many families celebrate Halloween with parties and trick-or-treating, and I do have a video suggestion for the spooky season—a how-to make-up guide from two Hollywood experts just in time for the local costume contest.  Read more...

The kitchen of my new house has an important feature I’ve been missing for a long time: a junk drawer. It’s a place to stow those odd but valuable items that don’t fit anywhere else.  Read more...

Kids’ corner
This April, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation launched a new Web site, www.architectstudio3D.org. Architect Studio is a teen-targeted program that allows users to choose from a list of clients and design a 3-D home based on each client’s needs and personality.  Read more...

Spotlight
Millions of children across the country started school the week Hurricane Katrina breached the New Orleans levees and brought images of horror into the nation’s living rooms. Schools and parents were confronted with not only helping the disaster victims, but also helping their own children cope with the nightmare unfolding on their television screens.  Read more...

Reader poll
Parents monitor kids’ television viewing habits in different ways. All of us struggle to ensure our children aren’t watching too much and too many bad shows. We asked you to share your strategies. Here is what you said:  Read more...

How does a parent know what to do with a new baby who seems hardly able to do anything? Even though they seem helpless, we know those wonderful minds are working overtime as babies go through critical development stages. This can make even experienced parents head to the books to find out if they are doing the right thing to stimulate their baby’s nerves, muscles and brain.  Read more...

A ninth-grader in a Rogers Park school knits as her teacher lectures. If she were in a traditional school, she might be punished. Certainly, she would be told to put away her knitting. After all, the thinking goes, you can’t be listening to the teacher if you are knitting.  Read more...

We all know that science can be fun. Some of us even may have been fortunate enough to have teachers who made the curriculum come alive. Now, we as parents can help stoke that fire of excitement for science through songs designed precisely for that purpose. Here are two great CDs I recommend. A fondness for science is not a prerequisite.  Read more...

When another child is expected in a family, many questions arise about this new arrival. Several of the following books will help children to not only understand the development of the baby, but also what it will mean to have a sibling and how family life will change with the addition of a new member.  Read more...

Bike helmets that won’t protect in a fall, flotation devices that leak and deflate and sunglasses covered in lead paint are just some of the recent children’s product recalls. As this list of recalls shows, brand names, trusted retailers or expensive products are no safeguard against defective products.  Read more...

Dr. John Anastos demonstrates how this special computed tomography, or CT, scanner lets kids watch movies on ceiling screens during the procedure.  Read more...

Just one in 10 elementary kids walks or bikes to school, a drastic drop from three decades ago when some 60 percent of students relied on the heel-toe express to beat the morning bell.  Read more...

Like any other kid, 13-year-old Shaun Selagea of Prospect Heights can’t wait for Halloween. And Shaun thinks this Halloween will be much better than last year, when his braces turned the day into a sticky disaster.  Read more...

BY THE NUMBERS
There is no job easier than teaching if you don’t care—and no job harder if you do." A teacher, LeMay Smith, the writer’s mother, once said that. And there is no way we can do enough for the many teachers who care.  Read more...

Please tell us...
November is Thanksgiving time. Time for family and festivities for kids. Tell us how you share this time with your kids and help them learn about this American tradition.  Read more...

It’s tough to find a parent who hasn’t, at some time, used TV as a babysitter to occupy younger children while trying to take an uninterrupted shower. It’s even tougher to find a parent who hasn’t at some point argued with older kids about how much TV they are watching and what shows they choose.  Read more...

While I do not have a daughter, I do have five beautiful nieces and they amaze and delight me almost every day.  Read more...

Lisa Hannum's son was struggling with reading. She found help at a conference sponsored by the Illinois branch of the International Dyslexia Association.  Read more...

Ten tips
It feels as though school has barely started. But if your child’s school hosts a science fair competition, it’s not too early to start planning the project. Most science fairs happen between January and March. A good science experiment can take as long as five months to complete, so now is the time to get started.

Halloween is the greatest of all kid holidays—a chance to dress up and have people hand you candy by the bagful. But it’s also a time for scaring—a little or a lot, depending on the age and sensibility of your child.

Researchers who studied children born with toxoplasmosis now recommend all pregnant women and newborns be screened for this potentially fatal infection caused by a parasite passed from mother to fetus. Early detection and treatment can prevent brain damage and vision and hearing problems, they say.
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

As you agonize along with a teething baby, or admire the first tooth sticking through, taking that baby to the dentist can seem a lifetime away. But pediatric dentists say that first tooth should mean the first trip to the dentist.
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

New parents intent on exclusively breastfeeding their babies are facing a new issue—liquid vitamin D supplements, which are increasingly being recommended for breastfed babies.
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

Rose Nocita of Chicago wanted peace of mind when her children were born so, during each pregnancy, she arranged to store the infant’s umbilical cord blood.  Read more...

I need a haircut. My 5-month-old son has recently learned how to maneuver his arms so that his hands dive in the direction of his interest. And his fingers, those miraculous little appendages, flex and close with a grip so tight that he rivals a grown man trying to open a pickle jar.  Read more...

"Teletubbies" is marketed as being good for babies' development but there is no research to support the claim.

Fall 2005
Yes, that's me as a baby. When I look at that picture, I first think about how cute I was. How much fun my mom must have had when I first smiled, crawled and walked. 

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For many parents, deciding whether to circumcise their son is straightforward. The majority of parents in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world answer the question with an unequivocal "no." For most parents in the Midwestern United States, the answer is a firm "yes."
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

Reader poll
This month, we asked readers to share their secrets for teaching kids about the traditions and meaning of Thanksgiving. Here are your answers.  Read more...

Are you looking for a new idea to celebrate the holiday season this year? Wondering just what to do with the kids on that two-week break? Or wishing you could find a few things to do with your family that don’t require taking out a home equity loan?  Read more...

Every year we are deluged by holiday cards. Many are simply pre-printed, pre-signed, pre-addressed cards from a printer. But getting your kids involved is a way to encourage creativity, spend time together and even learn about other faiths.  Read more...

THE NEW DAD’S SURVIVAL GUIDE:
Man-to-Man Advice for First-time Fathers, by
Scott Mactavish, Little Brown and Co., 2005, $12.95.  Read more...

Ten years ago, my daughter, Abigail, was born screaming into this world. My husband and I brought her home on a crisp, clear morning in December, and she continued to cry vigorously hour after hour, day after day.
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

Kids’ corner
When I recently met Katharine Holabird, author of the popular Angelina Ballerina series of children’s books, she said that she was hoping to make a live ballet out of the series. As a fan of these books that tell about a friendly little mouse who one day dreams of becoming a ballerina, I was excited. I knew that thousands of other girls like me would be excited about it, too. So I decided to write about it.  Read more...

The holiday season is growing near. That means it’s time to ask the question: What do you give to the teachers, coaches and other people who care for your kids? And do you give anything at all?  Read more...

Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago has always been a good museum. But with its new, expanded building in Glenview, which opened last month, Kohl is now a great children’s museum. With the additional space and open floor plan, kids can more easily explore the terrific interactive exhibits.  Read more...

Marian Casey’s son was diagnosed with a learning disability at age 4, which qualified him under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for an individualized program of study and regular evaluations. And the special services helped him so much that last year, at age 10, he was deemed no longer eligible for special services—which, Casey fears, means he now will fall behind his peers.  Read more...

Ear infections, strep throat, infected cuts: This is familiar territory and a familiar worry for us as parents. But the problem is quickly solved by a doctor visit, a trip to the pharmacy and several days of antibiotics.  Read more...

Jan. 15 is Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. To help your kids celebrate his legacy, you could easily turn to a history book or PBS special. But Paul Freeman, music director for the Chicago Sinfonietta, has an alternative: Come hear his orchestra perform Tchaikovsky’s "Romeo and Juliet" Jan. 15 and 16.  Read more...

It was 218 years ago that Benjamin Franklin was asked, at the close of the Constitutional Convention, what kind of government we would have. "A republic, if you can keep it," he said. It hasn’t been easy, but we have kept what he helped to give us. And we might stop to thank him—statesman, diplomat, writer, scientist, inventor, musician, philosopher—each January, when his birthday, which should be a national holiday, occurs.  Read more...

Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago closed its Wilmette location Sept. 4 and is gearing up for a grand reopening in Glenview Oct. 20.  Read more...

"The first thing I say to anyone about this holiday is that: 1.) It is not Halloween; and 2.) the tone is closer to Memorial Day," says Cesareo Moreno, visual arts director of the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum  Read more...

Getaways
We stumbled upon our love of caves while driving home from a trip to Orlando, Fla., to visit Grandma, Grandpa and Mickey Mouse. A look at the map showed we were within a few miles of Kentucky’s famous Mammoth Cave.  Read more...

Truth be told, most adoption stories do not start out with two people sipping neon-orange-colored rum drinks by a pool in the Dominican Republic.  Read more...

When Tanisha Brunt started eighth grade, her mom, Sonya, watched her daughter slowly turn into a rebel.  Read more...

When I first gazed into my baby’s eyes, completely whacked out on after-birth hormones, I vowed to raise our child absolutely flawlessly. Since someone had made the serious mistake of entrusting my husband and me with an actual human infant, it was mandatory that we achieve parental perfection, and quickly.  Read more...

Two veteran children’s music performers, Tom Chapin and Red Grammer, have released new CDs worthy of your attention. Each is an award-winning artist with a commitment and history of creating exciting and memorable music for children and families.  Read more...

Yes, you know it—time flies and another year is upon us. This month’s selections help you make the most of a fresh calendar by learning something new. In this case, a wonderful introduction to different genres of music from Buster Bunny and how to help your little one shed the old diapers.  Read more...

Reader Essay
It’s not quite 4 p.m. on a typical suburban stay-at-home-mom day, and in the last eight hours my husband and sons have asked me to find the following items: a pair of socks, the ketchup (twice), GI Joe’s football helmet, an adult baseball mitt, Advil, car keys (twice) and a 20-year-old set of plastic poker chips.  Read more...

Ten tips
With the school year under way, countertops across the country are disappearing under mounds of school papers, quizzes, art projects and permission slips. The carefully plotted strategy of organized backpacks and tidy refrigerator magnets is in shambles. And these are just skirmishes. The true battle lies ahead when the deluge of holiday crafts rains down. Fear not. The battle against paper clutter can be won.
 Read more...

Are you feeling as though you have no time? Truth is, you probably don’t.  Read more...

Teen with Asperger syndrome offers insight
Tips for handling the threat of school terrorism
Stan and Jan Berenstain offer parenting advice  Read more...

The "magic of theater" is working wonders for the new Chicago Children’s Theatre. Co-founder and Artistic Director Jacqueline Russell is used to seeing that magic happen on the stage.  Read more...

It’s freezing outside. You’ve been stuck in the house with your kids for the past two weeks, and they’re going stir-crazy. Their new LEGO sets and board games have suddenly gotten old. What do you do?  Read more...

Reader poll - January 2006
This month we asked readers about their family resolutions and how they ring in the new year right. Here’s what you had to say:  Read more...

Reader Essay
It’s bad enough kids hear the repeated rules of life’s road: "Look both ways before you cross," "Don’t talk to strangers," and the beloved "Eat your vegetables." Add to that an ethnically trademarked phrase in our home, "Hayeren khoseer," and you could qualify to join the Child Naggers of America Club.  Read more...

This is a great opportunity to remind you of some of my favorite productions and give a little more guidance when it comes to which viewers will get the most out of the story.  Read more...

Babies develop so much between 6 and 12 months, it can be hard for parents to keep up. Six-month-olds can seem like turtles stuck on their backs, but before the year is out they become mobile little people who may pull your leg, point to a passing puppy and blurt "Doggie!"  Read more...

Ten tips
Whether they’re nibbling away on the plastic food, setting the table, buttoning up dresses or rocking baby dolls, the toddlers at Carole Robertson Center for Learning in Chicago are pros at acting like their moms and dads.  Read more...

It doesn’t take flashing flowers or musical critters to capture the attention of preschoolers at play. Simple, imaginative toys that allow kids to be creative fared far better among our toy testers at Pilgrim Community Nursery School in Oak Park than those that needed batteries installed before kids could get their hands on them.  Read more...

Your basketball star wonders if the counselors will keep score, your picky eater worries that the food will be gross and you’re concerned about the safety and supervision of your child.  Read more...

Pssst. Know any way a Chicago family can get free transportation to and from 10 of the city’s coolest museums, as well as free admission and free yearlong family passes?  Read more...

Kid-tested travel - January 2006
Do you want to break the sound barrier or fly the space shuttle to the moon? It’s a much shorter trip than you might think.  Read more...

"Can I borrow your pink blouse, Mom? You know, the one with your initials embroidered on the front pocket? Now that’s really nasty, really perfect."  Read more...

What is it with parents who are so obsessed with Halloween safety that they spoil the innocent joy of children eating candy corn, bobbing for apples and, of course, worshiping Satan?  Read more...

There is a new and surprising tool for parents in the fight against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): a pacifier.  Read more...

Megan and Andrew Sluzas of Downers Grove, ages 4½ and 3, were both determined to be the first on the favorite family tricycle. The wrestling match that followed ended in a brief timeout for both.  Read more...

Picking a pumpkin is one of the great rites of fall, the first step toward that greatest of all kid holidays: Halloween.  Read more...

As a young child, my oldest son lived in a world ruled by rodents and filled with space-age gadgets. His younger brother visited this world from time to time, but he was more likely to be found in our world, learning how to juggle and gathering techniques for producing cartoon renditions of objects in his environment.  Read more...

This is my favorite time of the year. The kids are settling into school, the natural beauty of fall is still with us and we get to enjoy the calm before the rush of the holiday season begins in earnest. It’s always a good time to enjoy a DVD—but films such as the new "Star Wars" are, in my mind, not appropriate for younger viewers, no matter how much marketing is focused their way. So "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" is not among my reviews for this month.  Read more...

Sleep is scarce in Paul and Crystal Kelly’s South Holland home. Their 2-year-old son, Jordan, who a few months ago graduated from a crib to a bed and his own room, simply won’t stay there. Jordan eventually will go back to sleep, but that can take up to two hours. And by that time, his sleeplessness has ruined everyone’s night.  Read more...

The backpack: Think of the backpack as your child’s car. It’s what takes them out into the world. Give its selection process respect. Perhaps your child already knows exactly what kind of backpack must be obtained. You must find that backpack.  Read more...

Back-to-school shopping can be a nightmare, with or without your kids. There’s the whining, the crowded stores, the prices. How about turning it into a game? That’s what my 8-year-old sister, Sofie, and I did. We set out on a hunt for Chicago Parent to find the latest back-to-school fashions and buy as much as we could with $100.  Read more...

The new secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, will take over in Washington this month. She will preside over the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which continues to cause an uproar in many school districts that have failed to meet the tough new standards for all students.  Read more...

Reality-based fiction with central themes of divorce, bullying and loss of a loved one has its place. Action-packed thrillers definitely have an audience. But for younger kids ages 6 to 9, a steady diet of gentle tales that entertain or teach without a heavy hand is preferable. Here are my recommendations for recordings that are a perfect match for this age group.   Read more...

If the most recent Nancy Drew mysteries on CD-ROM are any indication, kids are smarter than they were in my day. When I was in school, my best friend and I had enough trouble deciphering the Nancy Drew books—cute little yellow-bound tomes read in a few afternoons. The mysteries were exciting, not scary but too mysterious for us—we never guessed the culprit.  Read more...

14 Hours ’Til Bedtime: A Stay-at-Home Mom’s Life in 27 Funny Little Stories
Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues
The Baffled Parent’s Guide to Coaching Youth Hockey

As you agonize along with a teething baby, or admire that first lone tooth sticking through, it can seem like a big jump to think about the need to take that baby to the dentist. But pediatric dentists say that first tooth should be accompanied by a first trip to the dentist.  Read more...

Five years ago I won the CHAOS contest, or “Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome,” because my house was so cluttered and disorganized.  Read more...

Maurine and Brian Smith of Chicago had parenting discussions long before they became parents. They were not debating discipline or bedtime. They were talking about which faith they would use to raise their children.  Read more...

New Year’s Eve evokes images of formal attire, champagne toasts and staying up until the wee hours. Not exactly a child-size recipe for fun. Luckily, there are ways to celebrate that meet the needs of the whole family.  Read more...

If you grew up attending neighborhood public schools, chances are you thought your children would follow in your footsteps. But if you find yourself researching private schools, you’re not alone.  Read more...

I often have to think deeply about when to let go. It is my challenge as a parent: Can I let go of anxieties and concerns that only stand in the way of the growth of my children? Sometimes it’s so hard.  Read more...

When Charlie and Sophie were babies, I would glowingly tell my older sister how adorable they were. She warned me that babies come this way so that we fall deeply in love and don’t kill them later. While she was likely thinking of her own adolescent children, I have come to see what she meant.  Read more...

I like to think of the Chicago Parent reader as a very special audience. I like to think of myself as a friendly, if opinionated, family advisor. This marks my one-year anniversary of reviewing quality videos you don’t want to miss, and hopefully helping you wade through the hundreds of titles that become available each month.  Read more...

Kati,” I say, “how about a weekend in Minnesota, just the two of us?” Kati, my 14-year-old, just shrugs. “C’mon Kati, we’ll stay in a hotel, eat out, it’ll be fun.” No response. I pull out my trump card. “We can go to the Mall of America.” “OK,” she says. “Let’s go.”  Read more...

Ten tips
It’s time for you to meet with your child’s teacher. Whether it’s a routine parent-teacher conference at report card time or a special meeting to address a problem, a parent can sometimes leave feeling little was accomplished. But it’s possible to accomplish a lot, even in a meeting that lasts as little as 15 minutes.  Read more...

No kid wants a Mario who can't run, jump or duck. No kid wants a Pikachu who can't growl or thundershock. So who, our testers wondered, will want Neopets who can't do much of anything?

Complicated directions were bad news for the fourth-graders in Laura Anderson’s class at McKinley Elementary in South Holland. Anderson let the kids loose to figure out the toys and she found the kids often simply ignored the directions and played their own version of the game.  Read more...

Essays from moms
Exactly two weeks after turning in my office keys and my company ID to become a full-time stay-at-home mom, I found myself in the throes of a serious identity crisis. Had I really chosen to relegate myself to the position of full-time poop changer, mess cleaner and complaint resolver? Was I ever going to have a complex or coherent thought again?  Read more...

ReaderEssays
Many mothers talk of the monumental surge of maternal love they felt the first time they held their child in their arms. Or the first time they heard “Mommy!” pass those tiny lips. It hits suddenly and without warning. Our hearts swell to infinite proportions and we realize, “I am a mother.”  Read more...

When 20-year-old Viviana Salgado has dinner with her family this Thanksgiving, she might not get to sit at the table. That’s because the rest of her extended family will be there, too—all 39 of them. But Salgado is used to eating with this large crowd. She does it every week when the family gathers for Sunday dinner at her grandmother’s house on Chicago’s North Side.  Read more...

Many evenings at dinner, I ask our 5-year-old son and our 4-year-old girl/boy twins to name some of their blessings. Depending on their mood and what has happened in the past 10 minutes of their lives, I get varied, quite serious responses ranging from "our car is a blessing, because otherwise we could not drive" to "the rope swing that I made for my pink doggy is a blessing."  Read more...

Ten tips
Before my daughters started elementary school, my knowledge of PTAs was based on the old song about Harper Valley’s. The lyrics involve a group of snooty PTA women officially scorning the dress and behavior of a young, widowed mother.  Read more...

Timber Ridge
November 5
Free animal shows at 11 am and also a 3 pm. going Places event at TimbeRidge in Lake Geneva Wisconsin. Parrots and nacaws ride bicycles, play basketball and more courtesy of Lake Geneva Animal Gardens.

Baby Faire
November 5 and 6
10 am to 6 pm - Everything from A to Z about babies, pregnancy and child-rearing! Stephens Center at Rosemont Horizon

World's Largest Play Group
November 9
10 am to 3 pm - Join the fun at Water Tower with Moms and Tots!

Old Town School of Folk Music
November 12
11 am and 3 pm - Celebrate Wiggleworms' new CD release "Wiggleworms Love You!" in a live concert!

Stratford Square Mall
November 12
11:30 am - Free kids club in Bloomingdate featuring The Rockettes - Radio Music Hall in New York City's celebrated singers and dancers usher in  Read more...

A little girl with golden curls, hot bowls of porridge and a family of bears have been entertaining young children for decades. "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" often sent me into dreamland when I was a young child. As a new teacher, it was the first story I shared with a classroom of wide-eyed preschoolers. And when my first born was old enough to utter the familiar request, "Tell me a story," he was treated with a journey to the forest to visit a little log cabin inhabited by mama, papa and baby bear.  Read more...

In my mind, fantasy is getting lost in the totally believable, totally terrific imaginary world of these very fun books that are, in my opinion, completely "unrestricted by reality."  Read more...

Holding a printed magnet above her head, Marlo Rimalovski, 5, scampers beside an ancient Chinese scroll, trying to find the matching figure holding the red umbrella. The actual ancient scroll is under glass, but she’s searching along a replica on the wall, playing a kind of "Where’s Waldo," with a 600-year-old piece of art.  Read more...

Reader essay
It is kindergarten roundup day at school, held three months before the first fall bell will ring. While we parents are prepped on school rules by the principal, our children—the kindergartners of 2005—are introduced to their classroom by their future teacher.  Read more...

Cerebral palsy has stiffened the muscles in 3-year-old Steve Bustamante’s arms and weakened those in his hands, which makes it tough for him to grip a toy like other children his age.  Read more...

Eleven-year-old Kevin Michaud of Elmhurst couldn’t understand why all his friends were mad at him when he walked into school one morning.

When Hinsdale mom Amanda McKnight was looking at preschools for her children, Martha, 4, and Laura, 2, she was more interested in a school that would foster a love of learning than one that would stress academic accomplishments. Her search led to a new school based on an Italian approach to early childhood education.  Read more...

Remember mystery meat, jellied fruit cocktail and mashed potatoes swimming in gravy? All are staples of the stereotypical school hot lunch fare that has been the focus of jokes, disdain and dismissal over the years—the same stuff that you might have eaten while growing up.  Read more...

Reader essay
They were both five tantalizing outs away from going to the big game for the first time in decades.  Read more...

Ten tips
Without missing a beat, I say, "Oh, no. I’m sure you are mistaken. He has a very dry scalp and we are treating his dandruff problem."  Read more...

As parents, we are literally deluged with music. To my ears, most of it is mediocre at best, so pay attention to this month’s picks because we only spotlight what we feel is really worthy of your attention. This month we highlight two of the CD projects that have found their way into my “got to find time to write about these CDs” pile. The first features a longtime favorite with Chicago audiences, Bonnie Koloc, who just released a book/CD combo that was eight years in the making.  Read more...

Arabic music is playing over the loudspeaker and there is a swirl of hip scarves and veils. Is this a new Shakira or Britney Spears music video shoot? No, everyone here is pregnant. They are practicing the shimmy during a belly dancing class. This isn’t your predictable prenatal aerobic class. These moms-to-be are looking for fun and alternative exercise routines to keep fit.  Read more...

Stop reading if you’ve never uttered the words, “did too!” (“Did so!” is a valid equivalent.) If you can’t remember, you’re too mature to read any further.  Read more...

Winnetka kids draw their best reasons

And let’s go ahead and call it Valentine’s Day

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It was good, but gross.” That anonymous comment, written in a guest book, sums up “BODY WORLDS: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies.”  Read more...

For most public school students in the Chicago area, the first Monday in March brings yet another day off from school—this time it’s the most obscure holiday of all, the celebration of the birth of Casimir Pulaski.  Read more...

At our house, we love vegetables. OK, I still have trouble getting the boys to eat the real ones, but they’ll watch the animated ones. Even as they get older, they will stop and watch a VeggieTales show.  Read more...

Mention the history of Chicago to a 4-year-old, and chances are he won’t listen for long. Ask that same 4-year-old to wiggle like an otter as a way to understand how the Chicago River fueled the city’s development, and you’re likely to get much further.  Read more...

Ten tips
Just thinking about a long car trip with kids can be daunting for many parents. Sibling squabbles, bathroom breaks and plain old fidgeting can make parents rethink a vacation before it even begins.  Read more...

Trudging back to the office after a few days off is tough for most adults. But for some children, the prospect of re-entering the classroom after spring break can cause them to dig in their Reeboks and refuse to leave home.  Read more...

What do “infertile” couples look like? Maybe they are wealthy yuppies who put career goals before family wants. Or maybe they are a same-sex couple trying cutting-edge reproductive technologies. Or maybe they are a couple pushing a stroller with a biological child or two inside.  Read more...

Browsing through the classical music section of any music store, shoppers expect to find collections of Mozart’s symphonies and piano concertos. These days, stores are also stocking CDs with such titles as “Mozart for Mothers-to-be” and “Build Your Baby’s Brain.”  Read more...

Want your toddler to eat better? Portion control, persistence and even a little underhandedness might be the answer, according to instructors at area hospitals that offer courses in toddler nutrition.  Read more...

Want to learn how a pickle can prepare a baby for science? Ever wonder what playtime teaches children or how gender affects the classroom? Or maybe you just want to learn if a Montessori school is right for your child.  Read more...

If it runs by remote control, the kids in Katie Rauch’s second-grade Lake Bluff classroom want it. The children at East Elementary put KG Racers (Kid Galaxy, $17.99) through the paces—crashing them and driving them off the desks—but the cars came through unscathed, although fourth-graders in a separate test did break one.  Read more...

It’s been four years since we began this adventure to gather together bunches of toys and get them tested by the experts—kids. We’ve waded into this each year with a new approach but the same goal: to give parents as much information as possible about which toys work, which keep kids engaged and which break in the first 15 minutes, if the kids haven’t already abandoned them.  Read more...

Click here to sign up for the Chicago Parent E-News Update.  Read more...

"A Christmas Carol" We all know it. It's a family favorite. And every year we go for the tradition of it. But how could anything about Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" possible feel new?

A proposed state law would hold school officials responsible for reporting allegations of child abuse. S.B 208 would add school board officials to the list of “mandated reporters’’—people such as doctors, nurses and teachers who are required to notify authorities about any reports of abuse.  Read more...

The Marshall Bag
Family Facts Family Life Organizer  Read more...

Chicago Parent welcomes letters from its readers. In order to publish a letter, we must have the name and phone number of the writer, and the name of the town in which he or she resides. Names can be withheld upon request. We may edit letters for space or clarity. We will not divulge the address or phone numbers of letter-writers, or forward messages to them.

Mail
Susy Schultz, editor, Chicago Parent Magazine, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302

Fax
708/524-8360

E-mail
sschultz@chicagoparent.com

The following is a sampling of the products recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission from Dec. 13 to Jan. 14. A complete list of recalled children’s products is available at www.chicagoparent.com. For more information, call (800) 638-2772 or visit www.cpsc.gov.

South suburban resource guide
Finding ways to tear your kids away from the warmth of the couch and their favorite TV shows may seem like more of a challenge during the winter months. So we’ve compiled a list of great winter activities for families in the south suburbs. From storytelling to game nights to night hikes, you’ll find plenty of reasons to brave the cold and make some family memories.  Read more...

I can remember the first time I felt really angry at one of my children. Anthony was 18 months old, it was the middle of the night and he wouldn’t stay in his crib. I was pregnant and my husband was out of town. I desperately needed sleep, not middle-of-the-night playtime.  Read more...

Arts education usually means kids with crayons and paper, right? Not necessarily. In fact, in one fourth-grade class, arts education is choreographing a scene from the novel Holes. In another school, it’s a boat tour of Chicago architecture. And in still another, it’s painting a five-panel ceramic tile mural with a professional artist.  Read more...

Think circus and you think bright colors, clowns, tight-rope walkers and elephants, all part of the Greatest Show on Earth, as P.T. Barnum liked to say.   Read more...

OK, I admit it. When we decided to go to Cocoa Beach, Fla., the first thing I thought of seeing was not the Kennedy Space Center, the keystone of our country’s 40-year history of space exploration and now home to NASA’s space shuttle fleet. Nor did I think of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, the 140,000 beautiful acres which surrounds the space center and is home to some 500 wild birds and animals—some of them endangered.  Read more...

One Friday morning this past fall several hundred children, adults and even a few pets huddled together on an Evanston beach at 6:30 a.m., waiting patiently for the sun to rise.  Read more...

"Aon!” seven boys shout. Their teacher raises one finger as the class counts to 10 in Gaelic. “And two?” she asks.  Read more...

Sometime between March 7 and 18, nearly every third- through eighth-grade child in Illinois will take a standardized test. In grades 3, 5 and 8, students will be tested in reading and math; fourth- and seventh-graders will be tested in science. The results of those tests will determine which kids, schools and districts are succeeding, and which are failing in the eyes of the the federal government.  Read more...

I don’t usually review programs I’m ambivalent about, but I’m making an exception in this case because these CD-ROMs are tie-ins to popular children’s movies that you might be tempted to think—as I did—are appropriate for children.  Read more...

It is Grammy Awards time again, and for as long as I can remember, albums from major media companies such as Disney have dominated the children’s music nominations. This year, I’m happy to say, not one of the five final Grammy nominees comes from a movie soundtrack or a television program. This points to a shift to a more authentic representation of children’s music that puts the spotlight on real artists who are committed to making real music for children and families.  Read more...

Recall roundup
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a record number of recalls and fines to companies for failing to report hazardous products—397 and $8.8 million, respectively—in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Officials hope the penalties will convince more companies to cooperate with the agency.  Read more...

It’s tough not to love an undersized chicken with green glasses as big as his heart. But it’s easy not to love the sort of scary aliens who attack his town.  Read more...

You’ve picked a crib. And a stroller. And a car seat. How about … a preschool?!?  Read more...

OK, so getting to the Turks & Caicos chain of islands can be a little grueling. Fly to Atlanta. Change planes. Stop in Miami. Get off the plane and wait. Get back onto THE SAME PLANE and fly another hour and a half. But, somehow, it all seemed worth it when we got off the plane in Providenciales, Turks & Caicos.  Read more...

It is much harder to pick a few favorite books than to choose several around a theme. After much consideration, here are our choices for 2005.  Read more...

This year, I offer three terrific new selections and one old favorite.  Read more...

Reader Essay
We’re refugees" the other mom explained in a mocking tone. A smile was in her voice, but there was an edge to her words. We were part of an angry, frustrated group of parents who’d been mistreated and misunderstood by The System. But we weren’t hurricane victims standing in the Louisiana Superdome. We were in the lobby of my boys’ new school, the Science and Arts Academy in Des Plaines.  Read more...

Click here for the contents page of the December 2005 issue...

Narnia: For the young at heart, not young kids Powerful and beautiful movie is best for 10 and up.

My kids and I were in the car and one of our favorite songs came on the radio, Sheryl Crow’s "All I Wanna Do." We were smiling at each other and singing very loudly when it hit me: That is what this column is all about. All of these books are fun. That’s it. Fun.  Read more...

As the cold winds blow this January, I’ll be knitting an afghan. As the afghan grows on my lap, it keeps me warm and comfortable when the temperature outside is freezing. I think that’s the perfect project for a long winter night, but knitting is far from the only way to spend a cold evening.  Read more...

In November, Chicago Parent published a story about vinyl lunchboxes that may contain—and expose kids to—dangerous levels of lead. And while scientists have yet to figure out whether these lunch sacks put kids at risk, one prominent lead expert in Chicago, Dr. Helen J. Binns, a pediatrician at Children’s Memorial Hospital, suggested parents play it safe and use paper sacks instead.  Read more...

ReaderEssay
My body talks to me. Unfortunately, it often doesn’t say what I want to hear. Multiple sclerosis doesn’t care that I have two children who want to be chauffeured, fed and helped with homework. When this chronic neurological disease decides to play havoc with my body there is no negotiating.  Read more...

Principal Voyia Davis has seen a lot of programs come and go, but she thinks Reading In Motion, implemented last year at Parker Community Academy in Chicago is a keeper.  Read more...

Ten tips
Aryan Madhu, 3, couldn’t wait to be a big brother. So when he found out his mom, Anu, was pregnant, he was thrilled.  Read more...

Cheaper by the Dozen 2
Throughout this movie, I kept thinking: What a waste of wonderful talent.

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The LaSalle Bank Winter WonderFest at Navy Pier
This looks just beautiful. Several years ago, we hit this festival and there was nothing wondrous about it. It felt as though an ice rink, a few inflatables and a stage were thrown into a warehouse. Not anymore. The whole place is now filled with magical touches, including decorated trees everywhere and a blue sky effect that highlights the twinkling snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.  Read more...

Don’t take young children to see "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," unless they’re inured by heavy television watching to violence and cruelty. My opinion? The movie is for children 10 and up. Younger children should stick to the books.  Read more...

Boomwhackers are just what their name suggests: whackers that make a booming sound when you hit them against something.  Read more...

Christmas is still THE holiday chez nous, but Halloween is pushing a close second. Even before the new backpacks and school shoes have lost their sheen, my kids start planning their Halloween ensembles and the countdown to trick-or-treating begins.  Read more...

This month I am reminded of how old concepts can become fresh again. Remember the stop-motion animation from "Frosty the Snowman" and "Gumby"?  Read more...

Teeth are brushed. Stories are told. Hugs and kisses are given and the lights are off. It's time to put up your feet, sip a cup a tea and read a good book.  Read more...

Halloween. Always a fun time with parties, costumes and a day when children can get their fill of candy.
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Seven teenage girls straggle into a common room at Maryville Academy’s B Home, some chatty and excited, some reserved, some feigning indifference. One girl wears a System of a Down T-shirt; another wears a cotton candy pink one with a glittery red iron-on that declares “I [heart] Bad Boys.” Everyone is a bit antsy: It’s the tail end of another long Monday, and dinner’s not for an hour.  Read more...

Essays from moms
I miss Dr. Laura. I’ve moved to another state where Dr. Laura seems to be persona non grata on the local radio stations.  Read more...

Essays from moms
So I’m a working mom. Although I can run an errand at lunchtime in a fraction of the time it took me when I was home with my kids, my life is all about balance. How do I balance my job with my 7-year-old and 10-year-old?  Read more...

The battle over the television can begin the moment a toddler learns to operate the remote control.

So we asked you to tell us how you control the television, how much TV is too much and which shows are appropriate for your children.

Immigration isn’t really a kid word. But through hands-on exhibits—including a milk-able cow—the Children’s Museum of Immigration on the third floor of the Swedish American Museum helps children understand a complicated concept.  Read more...

It is spring, and a good time to take a long walk off a short pier—into a boat, is the best—and go fishing. Or from the shore of a river or creek. Or anywhere the fish are biting or sometimes maybe not. It is not a bad way for a family to spend time, and a number of families do, according to the numbers:  Read more...

For a seven- or eight-hour trip, getting to Marquette, Mich., from Chicago is easy. Take the expressway to Green Bay, turn right at U.S. 41 and drive until the world ends.  Read more...

Should a woman be able to choose to have a Caesarean even when there may not be a medical reason?  Read more...

My son Rogelio, 17 at the time, had been asking me for quite some time to let him buy an AirSoft gun. For quite some time I had responded with an emphatic “no.”  Read more...

The Music Institute of Chicago celebrated their Chicago Parent co-sponsored Free Spring Family Festival on Sunday, April 17 from 2 – 5 pm.  Read more...  Read more...

SUE, the world's beloved T.rex, invited everyone to join her in 4 days of birthday fun at her Field Museum home.  Grammy award winner Al Jarreau ledguests of all sizes in singing "Happy Birthday" and acclaimed chef Wolfgang Puck presented Sue with a dino-sized and dino-shaped chocolate ganache cake.
Read more...  Read more...

Whether it’s T-ball, Little League, minor league, major league or playing in a neighborhood field, baseball is perennially popular. History books even record men playing a form of the game between Civil War battles. I especially enjoyed learning the history of baseball and the many ballparks. Your little ball player can sit down with these books and a grandparent and find out what parks they have visited.  Read more...

I am pleased to recommend three videos to help kids get physical and have fun over the summer months and one that introduces young viewers to the wonders of the physical world.  Read more...

Ten years ago, my daughter, Abigail, was born screaming into this world. My husband and I brought her home on a crisp, clear morning in December, and she continued to cry vigorously hour after hour, day after day.

The snow has fallen, the kids are eager to hit the local sledding hill. You hand them coats, snow pants, scarves, gloves and helmets. OK, maybe you don’t hand your kid a helmet. But according to safety experts, you should.  Read more...

Debra Lazar-Pearl, a mom in Hinsdale, has hit upon a way to get kids to spend time with their families, learn more about science and explore the wonders of the universe all at once: Have families explore the cosmos.  Read more...

Can there be two words more precious to a child than “Disney” and “World?” Certainly, we parents like to think that perhaps “mom” and “dad” might rank up there—and probably they do—but when it comes to child-centric vacation destinations, there’s nothing like the draw of Mickey Mouse and his Magic Kingdom.  Read more...

Norma Zuckerman’s daughter used to wake up after nap time at school in pain. “At the end of my daughter’s kindergarten year, the school nurse told me that everyday after lunch, during nap, my daughter would come to her office complaining that her head was stuffed up and that she had a headache,” says the retired school psychologist from Skokie.  Read more...

When I became editor of Chicago Parent in March 1990, my son was 5 years old. I left six years later when my husband and I became foster parents of a newborn baby girl, whom we would adopt in another three years. I find looking back that the experience of editing this magazine and the experience of parenting are difficult to separate.  Read more...

My sister and I grew up eating Pop-Tarts and soft-boiled eggs for breakfast. Perhaps this standard menu embodied my mother’s mixed feelings about nutrition. On the one hand, the kids need some healthy food. Start the day with a stiff shot of protein. On the other hand, they whine so about those eggs. Placate them with a Pop-Tart.  Read more...

Click here to view: General advertising information  Read more...

Quirky Kids: Understanding and Helping Your Child Who Doesn’t Fit In—When to Worry and When Not to Worry
Stop Arguing with Your Kids: How to Win the Battle of Wills by Making Your Children Feel Heard
Beyond One: Growing a Family and Getting a Life

Essays from moms
I always knew I would love being a mom. I knew I would love my kids. I knew I would love being with them, coming home to them and waking up to them—especially after 7 a.m.  Read more...

As a child, I remember worrying about being assigned to one particular teacher for third grade. I heard she was mean and gave lots of homework. Word in the hallway was that having her for a teacher was a fate far worse than dropping your hot lunch tray in the middle of a packed cafeteria.  Read more...

Sleepover camp brings to mind swimming, canoeing and singing around the campfire. Last summer for 50 kids, including Danielle Dedeoglou of Des Plaines, it also meant losing weight.  Read more...

Remember trickle-down economics? If the rich are doing better, their money will trickle down to everyone else. President George W. Bush’s proposed federal budget has a trickle-down effect as well—the massive cuts in the federal budget will trickle down to hurt our kids.  Read more...

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Henry Sawyer wants his daughter, Jasmine, 2, and son, Caleb, 9 months, to be happy and healthy. The 37-year-old environmental consultant and his wife, Tanya, a computer programming analyst, work hard to provide the things that their children need.  Read more...

Well, it has finally has happened. This month, I have to rant about a movie that I love and one that I truly hate.  Read more...

May brings not only May flowers, but Mother’s Day. I hope all of you, including those who are grandmothers and great-grandmothers, enjoy the day.  Read more...

Ahhh, at last: Summer. Beaches, sunglasses, flip flops, sunscreen, bathing suits, sprinklers, wading pools, shorts, T-shirts, summer camp. After the initial thrill of freedom from school-year routine comes the inevitable "There’s nothing to do." "It’s hot." "I’m bored."  Read more...

A long about Arizona or New Mexico, Jeff Spaetzel figures things will get a little lonely. There he’ll be with his friend Adam Dabrowski, just two guys on bicycles in the middle of the desert, pedaling their sweaty way home to Chicago from Newport Beach, Calif. Nearly all of the 2,400-mile journey will still lay ahead of them. Hours will pass without a word.  Read more...

I argued against using an entire page of Chicago Parent to review Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety. This book, the latest tome on what’s wrong with moms and motherhood, simply doesn’t deserve so much ink.  Read more...

Where you headed?” asked my neighbor as we loaded up the suitcases.  Read more...

There’s a time for joy,
A time for tears, A time
we’ll treasure through
the years.
We’ll remember always
Graduation day.”  Read more...

These students at Alphonsus Academy and Center for the Arts learn in all of the traditional ways. They recite multiplication tables and write papers. But this year, they have been learning in non-traditional ways as well. In particular, they have used the visual arts to reinforce classroom lessons under a program led by resident artist Meltem Aktas. “If they’re learning about the Egyptians, I teach them Egyptian art,” she says.  Read more...

Not always, wedding planners say
So you’re thinking of dressing up the kids and trundling them to your husband’s cousin’s black-tie wedding—only you’re not sure they’re invited. Well, if you’re not sure, they probably aren’t, says Judy Alden, owner of JuWil Wedding Consulting in Hoffman Estates. If the bride and groom wanted your kids there, it would be on the invitation.  Read more...

When I was little, my favorite baby doll was one that came with her very own, almost real, peach fuzz skin. At least it was my favorite until my sister, 18 months younger and old enough to know better, drew on the doll’s face with Magic Marker.  Read more...

Without looking at a calendar, I know it’s March when McDonald’s begins selling green milk shakes, grocery stores have sales on corned beef and cabbage and perky little men dressed in green are smiling at me from store windows. I’m not Irish, but I’ve always enjoyed tales from Ireland, which are rich in magical creatures and spells. Introduce your child to the enchantment of these folktales with the following recordings.  Read more...

Reading to children at bedtime is a relaxing way to get them to calm down after a busy day. What is the bedtime routine in your house? Often children want just a little more playtime before putting things away and beginning to settle down. Dreams and imagination are included in this month’s selections. Two of the stories this month are based on nursery rhymes. Whatever your routine, I hope you enjoy these bedtime stories.  Read more...

A generation after Congress passed the Clean Air Act, people in much of the Chicago area—including the north and west suburbs—regularly breathe in levels of soot and smog that endanger the long-term health of children, according to a Chicago Parent investigation.  Read more...

It’s a Sunday afternoon, and the kitchen of this Forest Park cooking school is bustling. Ten students surround a high butcher-block workstation and a stainless-steel stove top and oven.  Read more...

Reader Essay
Analyzing your own parenting mistakes can be discouraging. Pointing out a spouse’s can be dangerous. From a safe distance, identifying other people’s parenting mistakes can be fun and educational. Test your skills at the expense of the “Smiths” with the following scenarios:  Read more...

Haley Kramer, now 3½, took her first steps toward an education at Chicago’s Near North Montessori soon after she could walk.  Read more...

Much of the stress and anxiety that accompanies Thanksgiving preparations can be eased if you just pause for a moment in your hectic holiday schedule to appreciate your blessings, relax your shoulders and take a deep, deep breath to ... What’s that burning smell? Oh, my God! How high did you set the oven?  Read more...

When a parent dies, kids grieve just like adults, but with one key difference: “Kids don’t have the language skills to talk about their grief like adults do,” says Alan Irgang, a licensed clinical social worker in Chicago.  Read more...

Health roundup
Little kids don’t always like to share, unless, of course, you’re talking about their germs. That’s the one thing they share without even being asked.  Read more...

Spotlight
Each day you make a decision about your child’s lunch: Will you let him eat the hot lunch at school, even though you doubt it’s healthy enough? Or will you pack her a healthy lunch in her favorite lunchbox, the soft-sided vinyl one with the Powerpuff Girls picture?  Read more...

Between Halloween and Thanksgiving is a holiday dedicated to remembering those who should not be forgotten—a day for honoring veterans. Although not often thought of as a holiday for families, Veterans Day is an opportunity to pay tribute to the men and women who protect our country.  Read more...

When Lisa Rayford was first diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1993, her kids, Tyrone and Lisa Marie, now 14 and 12, didn’t have peers who understood what they were experiencing. But five years ago, they became members of Gilda’s Club Chicago—a free community center for men, women and children whose lives are affected by cancer—and all that changed.  Read more...

Now that summer is winding down, I am reminded again of how fortunate we are to live in a city with such a thriving and vibrant music scene. This summer was full of live music concerts the whole family could enjoy. Whether at Grant Park or Ravinia, a local park district or any one of dozens of neighborhood festivals, live music filled the air.  Read more...

There’s something about the start of the school year that always makes me nostalgic.

I love to hold a book in my hand and turn the pages, and so do my children. Yet, I spend a huge amount of time sitting in front of a computer screen reading. My children spend their computer time playing, but I’d like to change that.  Read more...

Time flies when you’re having fun, especially in the summer. But now the kids are back in school—or starting school for the very first time. That doesn’t mean the fun has ended. In celebration of another school year, here are some great back-to-school books that show just how much fun learning can be.  Read more...

You never forget your first time. That is, unless you didn’t have one.  Read more...

By the numbers
The second week of November is World Kindness Week. And what better time to review kindness, civility and good manners by the numbers? That is, if it is perfectly all right with you.  Read more...

please tell us ...

How do you make holidays magic?  Read more...

Given that we rarely leave Chicago, we made the most of an invitation to visit family in Arizona. Our trip took us from the cactus-laden deserts of Phoenix to the stunning red rocks of Sedona and the snow-capped mountains of Flagstaff.  Read more...

Thanks to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, kids will have to eat more than their vegetables—they’ll have to finish their whole grains and low-fat milk, too.  Read more...

Ten tips
At a friend’s baby shower in 2003, the guests were encouraged to offer advice to the mom-to-be while she opened presents. I had no children, so my ignorance left me with only one piece of solid advice: Read to your child. OK, it’s good advice, but not very creative.  Read more...

Few people can credit a trip to the chiropractor’s office with the inspiration for an online business. But that’s how Orland Park mom Michelle Maxia came up with the idea for Toy Swap (www.toyswap.com), a Web site that allows parents to trade the toys their kids don’t play with for toys their kids want.  Read more...

It was the kind of damage one could expect when Hurricane Katrina came knocking at the door of the oldest school in Mississippi.  Read more...

A 9-month-old infant seated on her mother’s lap sustained fatal head injuries during a 1994 airplane crash in North Carolina when she flew out of her mother’s arms.  Read more...

Despite a $2 billion-plus budget gap and a governor who has pledged not to raise income or sales taxes to increase revenues, advocates say children and families fared pretty well in the 2005 Illinois legislative session, which ended May 31. OK, not as well as they could have, given the defeat of a bill that would have increased from eight to 24 hours the amount of time parents can take off work for school functions.  Read more...

Tweety needs to go see Mr. Ernie,” my sons agree recently after watching a cartoon. “Mr. Ernie” is Ernest Cherullo, their former speech therapist.  Read more...

For many parents, deciding whether to circumcise their baby is straightforward and free of angst. The vast majority of parents in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world answer the question with an unequivocal “no.” For most parents in the Midwestern United States, the answer is a firm “yes.”  Read more...

When 11-year-old Kailey Hopkins and her family moved from Lincoln Park to Highland Park two years ago, she left behind a slew of friends who liked to play tag and kickball. Kailey found herself trying to fit in with girls who were more interested in socializing than sports.   Read more...

The first time it happened, my son was about 2. He was screaming in the middle of the night. His eyes were open and he was sitting up in his bed, pointing to the corner of the room, terrified. My husband and I looked, but there was nothing there. We held him and spoke to him, hoping to wake him out of his nightmare.  Read more...

For most people, Sept. 11 brings memories of a horrific day four years ago. But this year, because it falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day, it is also a day for another sort of remembrance. That’s because Sept. 11 is also National Grandparents Day.  Read more...

One year after removing the writing assessment test from the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, or the ISAT, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed legislation that will bring it back to Illinois public schools.  Read more...

Six years. That’s how long Zachary Tran’s parents, Jayson and Michelle, had with their son. Two years ago, Zachary died when he was struck on the head with an unanchored soccer goal post.  Read more...

The kids are back in school—and they aren’t the only ones worried about homework. How much should you help your 8-year-old struggling with spelling or your ninth-grader trying to grasp algebra? Should you help at all?  Read more...

A new school year arrives this month. Fifth-graders move to sixth grade. Juniors in high school claim their coveted seats in the senior class. And many members of the class of 2005 will begin college careers in places where few folks have debated the Cubs vs. White Sox.   Read more...

School is just around the corner, which can bring a sense of desperation to the last days of summer. But that isn’t what summer—or life—should be about. So we put together some of our summer favorites. Most are cheap or free; some are worth the big bucks. The key is to make summer memories to warm your family through the coldest Chicago winter.  Read more...

OK, I’m not sure why, but I have been thinking a lot lately about death.  Read more...

September arrives, leading us away from summer. There are the last picnics and the first days of school, the rustle of the leaves as the trees start to turn, and all of it glows in the fading autumn light.  Read more...

The instant you step inside Morton Arboretum’s new Children’s Garden, you are immersed in the trees of the Midwest, the focus of this four-acre "wanderland" set to open Sept. 10.  Read more...

Give a room full of kids a few paintbrushes and some construction paper, says art therapist Susannne Barzacchini Sheehan, and you’d be surprised how quickly they open up.  Read more...

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Once you have kids, the thought of moving to a new town takes on a whole new dimension. No longer is finding just the right house in just the right neighborhood the only thing to consider. There’s also the need to find just the right school.  Read more...

For many adults, going to the drive-in movie theater is a cherished memory. Perhaps you remember the crunch of the gravel as you walked to the concession stand or the echoing of the soundtrack in the night air.  Read more...

I was a little leery of reviewing kids software from Digital Praise, a company that publishes “Christian entertainment software,” but I needn’t have worried. While the company’s stated goal is to “spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” the Christian values it espouses are pretty universal: patience, charity and kindness.  Read more...

Don’t see family hits like “Shrek 2” or “The Incredibles” scheduled for the big screen this summer? Don’t worry, you can make your own blockbuster on the small screen any time, thanks to movies on video and DVD.  Read more...

The time is almost here: Time for classes, time for books, time for teachers welcoming and pleasant looks. This will take some preparation. Back-to-school supplies by the numbers:  Read more...

When my son, Will, was born 6½ years ago, his mother, Cynthia, immediately started immersing him in the soothing sounds of the standard, predictable, generic children’s music—the tired nursery rhymes and infant sing-alongs that we’ve endured for generations.  Read more...

Mary Kay Betz had never heard of thimerosal when her son Riley was born prematurely five years ago. So she thought she was doing the right thing by agreeing that he receive early immunizations. 

When the new foster parents first brought their daughter home in 1995, she was 3 days old and already going through withdrawal from the illegal drugs her birth mother had taken.  Read more...

ReaderEssay
To clean, or not to clean: That is my weekend dilemma. Between the piles of laundry, the stacks of dishes and, of course, the endless sweeping, vacuuming and dusting, when do I fit in the kids’ bedrooms?  Read more...

Reader essay
Many mothers talk of the monumental surge of maternal love they felt the first time they held their child in their arms, or the first time they heard "Mommy!" pass those tiny lips. It hits suddenly and without warning. Our hearts swell to infinite proportions and we realize, "I am a mother."  Read more...

In July, Congress passed a transportation bill that includes vital new safety measures. The bill requires that:  Read more...

If Mr. Harnchin and Mr. Gambino had not been there that day, the truth may have never come out. I was crouched behind a thick, green hedge at the edge of our yard when I heard the scream. The rock I’d thrown had made a direct hit.  Read more...

Kids say silly things. We asked readers to tell us some of the funniest phrases their kids have ever uttered. Here is what they say:  Read more...

It’s tough for a parent to pick out the perfect birthday or holiday gift, but a festival at Navy Pier offers a solution—let kids try it themselves.  Read more...

Think Wisconsin family getaway and chances are you (or at least your children) are thinking wet and wild water parks. But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Read more...

The Peace Museum has a mission: to promote peace through the arts. And 14 Chicago high school students have been taking up that mission this summer by putting together a new exhibit that will open at the Peace Museum Sept. 1, about three weeks ahead of World Peace Day on Sept. 21. It will then tour the country and possibly make a stop at the United Nations.  Read more...

Ten tips
Several months ago, Luz Flores found herself looking for a daycare center for her daughter, Emily, 3. It took four months of research and visits to several licensed facilities, but now Flores is happy and so is Emily.   Read more...

When Susy Schultz invited me to create a comic strip suitable for Chicago Parent, I was hit by a big wave of memories.
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Working in my garden was a bittersweet experience on one of those rare days of Midwestern summer perfection. Let me first get the bitter part out of the way: The many weeds and dry spots were nagging reminders that I have not had much time to spend in my little patch of urban green. The sweet part was that I still have time to enjoy the yard and to sit on my porch swing.  Read more...

I can't believe how quickly this summer zoomed by. Year after year, I suffer from "endless summer" assumption. As summer comes, I behave as though it will last forever; the result is that many of the summer projects on my list are still there when school rolls around. It's too late to finish up those projects. Now, it's time for a new school year. With "back to school" as our theme, I thought I would introduce you to some great new music-all with an educational focus.  Read more...

A few things had fallen behind my desk; others were buried under piles or hidden in drawers when I started my spring cleaning recently. Fortunately, I am a pack rat, so nothing is ever truly “lost” in my house, just misfiled.  Read more...

When you look into today’s classrooms, you see children from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Schools are offering foreign-language experiences as early as kindergarten. There are many materials available to help us become more familiar with our new neighbors, including books. The International Children’s Digital Library, www.icdlbooks.org, offers free books in a variety of language choices available for printing. The following are a handful of stories that highlight other cultures and languages.  Read more...

Spotlight
Erin McEvoy tells her class they’re making a sandwich today. “You can put anything you want on it,” she tells the two boys and three girls, ages 4 to 6, who make up her Saturday morning ImaginAction class at the Second City Training Center in Chicago.   Read more...

Some 10 to 15 percent of all children born in America each year suffer from stunted intelligence, or reduced IQ, caused by mercury pollution, according to a study by scientists at the Mount Sinai Center for Children’s Health and the Environment in New York.

Summer vacation goes much too quickly, but it's fun to get ready to go back to school. This is the time to see friends and catch up on everyone else's summer. That first day is especially exciting for a child entering school for the first time. Here are some suggestions to help you have a good school year with all of your friends as well as some of mine.  Read more...

Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day.” But the rain doesn’t go away—at least not for long. And it comes back with remarkable persistence. This is the familiar weather pattern of April, which is not welcomed by children and parents who are eager to enjoy outdoor activities. The abundance of precipitation in this early spring month can’t be changed, but you can temporarily transport your youngster into the outdoors through stories. The following recordings are sure to bring a little sunshine into an otherwise dreary day.  Read more...

Every time I hear a classic song in a commercial or as a cover tune, I am reminded that the entertainment world is full of imitations and strange re-workings of original material. Movies are a prime example—they recycle everything to come up with something that’s sort of new, but rarely better.  Read more...

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Given the disruptions created by daylight- saving time, spring break vacations and the general chaos that comes with warmer temperatures, it’s probably a good thing that April opens with National Sleep Awareness Week. Parents will have plenty of awake time to think about it.  Read more...

Atari, Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox: Ask just about any child—and some parents—and they will regale you with tales of adventure, intrigue and war, all taking place on their living room video game systems.  Read more...

When Disney executives show up in Los Angeles later this month for the annual Girls Leadership Conference, they’re likely to get an ear full from 10-year-old Chicagoan Willa Sachs.  Read more...

When officials were planning the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, which opened its doors Feb. 19, they wanted to make it a place that would be warm and welcoming to the children who would come there for treatment. So they turned to other kids.  Read more...

Many kids nowadays enjoy reading fantasy books, and many good books don’t get as much fame as others. Two examples are Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow.  Read more...

A team of researchers who studied children born with toxoplasmosis now recommend all pregnant women and newborns be screened for this potentially fatal infection caused by a parasite passed from mother to fetus. Early detection and treatment are key to preventing vision and hearing problems, as well as seizures and brain damage, they say.  Read more...

Brian Mullen’s passion is baseball. The 14-year-old Forest Park resident has taken his love of the game to a new level. Nearly every day, Brian suits up for the Chicago Roos, a traveling baseball team based on Chicago’s Northwest Side.  Read more...

Reader Essay
I was furiously counting stitches, praying I hadn’t mistakenly dropped one, or more, which I tend to do when I get sidetracked or nervous or both. As I concentrated on reaching that 150-stitch mark, I couldn’t help but glance up to the front seat where my 65-year-old mother sat with her head bent over the Arizona state map.  Read more...

When Stephanie and Craig Sellers brought their newborn daughter, Katie Jane, home from the hospital, their first “child”—an 80-pound Rottweiler named Hank—had an identity crisis that transformed their “gentle giant” into a Tasmanian devil.  Read more...

Remember how we joked about our parents’ generation and Saturday night sex? Growing up, we swore that would never happen to us—we’d manage jobs and kids and the house and still have time for a passionate sex life.  Read more...

Reader Essay
My friends Sami, Rena and I were sitting around the kitchen last May over coffee discussing our children’s summer plans.  Read more...

The second time Pamela Thomas went to prison, she lost more than her liberty. She lost her daughters. Thomas wasn’t a violent criminal but she was addicted to cocaine.  Read more...

On a recent chilly day, 2-year-old Kaya Caouki, of Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, is indoors, having a great time running from room to room, hopping on and off the beds and pausing momentarily to check out massive decorative displays. His dad, John, has taken him to spend some time at The Land of Nod, a children’s decorating store, and Kaya is delighted to be looking for new items for his bedroom.  Read more...

Your child is about to graduate from eighth grade. So you’re thinking about graduation, planning a party and where she will attend high school.  Read more...

It accompanies the budding trees and blooming flowers everywhere: It’s what Wilmette pediatrician Dr. Lawrence Elegant calls the “allergic salute.”  Read more...

Like most everybody else, Stacia Garriott had heard plenty about the wonders music can work for a baby’s brain. Even before her son, Griffin Kass, was born, she decided she wanted him to be able to keep a beat and carry a tune.  Read more...

After my parents informed me that our family was going on a six-month trip around the world, I realized I had better plan well.  Read more...

When I taught preschool, a loud shriek, followed by running footsteps, often indicated there was an insect sighting. On the other hand, the same creature could elicit, "Teacher, look at this," and a string of questions. Whether your children are screamers or budding entomologists, the following stories of creeping, crawling creatures are sure to entertain.  Read more...

What began as a whimsical poem Chicagoan Michael Tyler wrote for his young son has, 10 years later, turned into the first book to be published by the Chicago Children’s Museum.   Read more...

Ten tips
I envy my friends whose parents live nearby. Not only is free babysitting just a phone call away, but their children are privileged to develop a special bond with their grandparents. My son’s grandparents, aunts and uncles live thousands of miles away in Pakistan. We try to visit every other year or invite them to come here, but it’s not the same as living close by.  Read more...

Last fall, I participated in an almost universal rite of passage: I sent my eldest child off to school for the first time. At the same time, my youngest daughter entered the “terrible 2s” and decided she could do everything “self, self.”  Read more...

Ten tips
Normally, my daughter won’t even touch vegetables on her plate, but one spring day she ate a wild mushroom in our backyard. After a nerve-wracking trip to the emergency room and an overnight hospital stay, she was fine. We learned the hard way not to mess with mushrooms—and that the backyard can be far from benign. Many parents assume that their yards are safe, but before you let your kids loose this spring, take a few safety precautions.  Read more...

Graco Children’s Products of Elverson, Pa., has been fined $4 million for failing to report defects in 16 of its products that can injure children.   Read more...

When 9-year-old Carolyn Barnett reads aloud, her audience is usually Prince, her dog. Hopefully, she’ll be reading her action, adventure and comic books to him this summer, because it is even more important to be reading when school is out—no matter who is listening.   Read more...

If you’re madder than a hatter about mazes—and a fan of Alice in Wonderland—Morton Arboretum’s “Live on the Hedge!” (through Aug. 21) may be for you. This summer installation uses the classic Lewis Carroll tale to introduce visitors to the arboretum’s newest permanent exhibit—a giant maze garden that opened in May.  Read more...

Spotlight
Between burping, cooing and crying, infants play with words. It’s not just babbling, it’s their language.  Read more...

Tis the season for graduations, weddings, Father’s Day, fireworks, family reunions, camp outs—and food poisoning.  Read more...

Living in a major metropolitan area has many benefits, including a beautiful lakefront and great parks. But raising small children in Chicago’s temperamental climate leaves me grateful for the indoor attractions as well, including wonderful children’s museums. Over the past four years, my boys and I have visited these museums many times.

Often, when we think of daddies and daughters, the images are stereotypical: the “daddy’s little girl,” the toddler in pink standing on her father’s feet as he teaches her to dance, the bride being walked down the aisle by a father who will “give her away” to the groom.

It’s hard to imagine a hotel so captivating to kids that, when given the choice between staying inside and going to Disney World, the kid would choose the hotel.

Ever since a Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue was bought by the Field Museum in 1997 for a whopping $8.36 million, she has dominated the Midwest dino scene, much as paleontologists believe the T. rex dominated the planet 65 million years ago.  Read more...

Should a woman be able to choose to have a Caesarean even when there may not be a medical reason?
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

Ten tips
At a friend’s baby shower in 2003, the guests were encouraged to offer advice to the new mom while she opened their presents. Before I had my daughter, my ignorance of children left me with only one piece of solid advice: read to your child. While that’s good advice, it’s not very creative.
* This is an updated version of a story that originally ran in Chicago Parent.  Read more...

EXHIBITS

“BODY WORLDS: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies,” features more than 200 human specimens including entire bodies as well as individual organs and transparent body slices at the Museum of Science and Industry, Feb. 4-Sept. 5. Families. Call for exhibit prices that include museum admission. 5700 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago. (773) 684-1414, www.msichicago.org.

“Underground Adventure,” explore a larger-than-life soil system and get a bug’s-eye view at the Field Museum of Natural History. Families. Exhibit is $7 adults, $4 ages 4-11. 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago. (312) 922-9410, Read more...

Click here to view the entire distribution list.  Read more...

For more than a decade, Illinois has hovered near the bottom of the pack when it comes to collecting child support. Currently, Illinois is ranked 50th out of 54 states and territories in the United States. The state’s system is rife with problems, says Debbie Kline, executive director of the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support.  Read more...

To tell you the truth, the Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles doesn’t really look any different from your typical hotel. It has all your basic things: two queen-size beds, a desk with a chair, a TV, a bathroom and a copy of a van Gogh or da Vinci on the wall. But for a few days in mid-April, it was filled with about 100 girls.  Read more...

Traditional Indian sand designs called rangoli and lights called diyas will appear at Hanover Park mom Jignasa Patel’s home early next month. A team effort between Patel and her 4-year-old daughter, Mansi, the decorations are part of the family’s celebration of Dawali (also called Divali or Dipavali).  Read more...

ReaderEssay
It was a warm September afternoon, and I was sitting on the porch swing with my three children, talking about our family camping trip to Niagara Falls earlier that summer. I recalled my first impressions: the sheer immensity of the falls, the thundering water, the cold spray on our faces. But as I listened to the kids, I realized they had their own unique memories—quite different from mine.  Read more...

Andrew Roth always wanted to deliver babies when he grew up—like his dad. When he became an obstetrician, he joined the practice with his father. But last year, with medical malpractice insurance premiums running more than $200,000 a year and jury awards targeting doctors’ personal assets, Roth’s father retired.  Read more...

Hey Mister, how come you got so many kids?” “Well, they come cheaper by the dozen, you know.”  Read more...