Wondering The Best Way To Discuss Alcohol With Your Child? Tackling tough topics is never easy, but how do you discuss alcohol with your child?Talking to your child, tween, or even teen about drinking alcohol, especially if you drink alcohol, is one of the most ahem loaded conversations you can have. But it's never too late (or early!) to start. Especially if you're around regular drinkers, even just casual ones. If you don't have honest conversations, all your child sees are double standards and unclear expectations around drinking alcohol. That whole don't drink as you drink thing, you ..read more

Is It Time For a Toy Cleanse? Are you tired of tripping over toys or having too many toys in your home that your child doesn't even play with? Then it's time for a toy cleanse. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of toys your child has accumulated, it may be time for a toy cleanse. This process can help simplify your child's toy collection, making it easier for them to engage in deeper play and reducing clutter in your home. In this article, we'll walk you through the steps to do a toy cleanse, using the Simplicity Parenting Toy List as a guide. Simplifying your child's toy c ..read more

Gift Ideas!! Jewelry for 10 year old girl Style It's time to find a present for the tween in your life.  **Cue scary Jaws music** I know it how feels. Having a tween girl in the house, I never know what style will be in from one day to the next. From sweatshirts to sequins, my tween's tastes are ummm.... fluid, to say the least.  Jeans? I love jeans. ---> 2 days later ---> Eww, they feel awful!  And the same goes for what sometimes feels like everything. From food to music, a 10 year old girl's tastes are constantly evolving as she develops her own style and individual ..read more

Thin Frizzy Hair Solutions That Actually Work? Frizzy hair solutions — girl, SIGH! I’ve spent every day of the the last twenty-five years thinking about thin frizzy hair and what could be done to smooth or fix it. That’s a quarter of a century of hating my hair and it’s finger-in-an-electric-socket look.  Heads up: Affiliate links below. We believe and test everything we recommend and may earn a bit of dough at no additional cost to you. Tried All These Thin Frizzy Hair Solutions? Supplements and diets No-poo (cleaning with rye flour) Low-poo (clean shampoos used sparingly ..read more

Best Towels For Camping (I FINALLY Tested Some) For years, I've hauled a weird combination of beach towels, pool towels, and "dog towels" (aka old towels) to campsites, beaches, and pool decks. Every year, beginning with our spring camping trip, I tell myself I'll bring less stuff.  Starting with fewer bulky towels that take up far too much space and take days to dry.  Then I pack them all anyway. Because you never know when you'll need a dry towel, says the paranoid mom-camper in me.  And what if it's rainy and camping towels can't dry? Dirty wet towel smell sucks. A few ..read more

Lately, our family has been dealing with a lot of questions about transgender issues and LGBTQ awareness.    I write for a local LGBT + Ally magazine. My kiddos find LGBTQ and identity conversations to be healthy, but it didn’t happen by accident. My partner and I have made it a point to discuss LGBTQ issues with our children. We want them to have the facts they need to make good decisions and be good citizens.   If you’re interested in raising children who are sensitive to the needs of the LGBTQ community, this blog post is for you! Five Way You Can Raise An LBTQ Ally An ally ..read more

Trigger WARNING! This article about rosacea caused by mites may trigger people with OCD, entomophobia, insectophobia, acarophobia, or other psychological conditions. Understand we all have trillions of living organisms on and in our skin and this article discusses what happens where there are too many on the face. Don't read it if it will um, bug you. Is your rosacea caused by mites? The thought is so gross, isn’t it!? But there’s a good chance those tiny little critters living on your face — Demodex mites —  might be the reason for your rosacea. If you’re searching for the best ros ..read more

A Guide To Crushing Girlhood: Feminist AF Book Review How do you review a book you have no business reviewing? A Guide To Crushing Girlhood: Feminist AF, by Drs. Brittney Cooper, Chanel Craft Tanner, and Susanna Morris is one of a growing collection of girl empowerment books that offers raw honesty and complete support for Black teen girls and their allies. The inclusivity of this feminist book for teens makes it suitable for every teen (and body!) who is questioning societal norms and the patriarchy.  But as a feminist — and BIPOC, trans, queer, disabled, and nonbinary all ..read more

Books On Death For Preschoolers Are Hard To Find So we set out to find some of the best books on death for preschoolers. Maybe it's because Death is a tough subject, and one we too often want to avoid. Saying, "We go to Heaven", is a lot easier than trying to explain something we might not fully understand ourselves. And it's sad. Even if the person or creature lived a full lifetime, or your child is just naturally curious about death, dying is a sad, difficult subject to discuss. The last thing we want to do as a parent is to make our kids sad, or worse, traumatize them with the wrong words ..read more

Most people consider anxiety to be something adults deal with. But, it impacts children more than you might think. It’s estimated that 7.1% of children ages 3-17 have anxiety. More recently, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that number has become more important. Throughout COVID, everyone has experienced anxiety because of isolation from friends, a lack of a normal routine, and the grief of missing out on things they love. Children and teens can actually be more susceptible to anxiety during uncertain times, and may not know how to process or work through it.  As a parent or caregiver, i ..read more