My two daughters are 7 and 9 and both participate in seasonal team sports - soccer in the fall and spring and now that soccer season is over, they have just joined a pretty low key swim team that meets twice each week for an hour. They also ski at least once each weekend during the winter. That said, they sound pretty active, but they do not - beyond these scheduled activities - play outside or engage in “active play” every day. When they were toddlers and in pre-school, we would go to the playground each day, play in our...

Clutter. The bane of my existence. I often feel like I spend most of my time shuttling “stuff” from one area to another in my house. What qualifies as “stuff?” Drawings, paintings, spare socks, library books, stuffed animals, party favors, team uniforms, and don’t get me started on shoes. My back stairs serve as a dumping ground for the family’s belongings that I don’t know what to do with or I need transported to bedrooms, laundry, the play room, etc. Current inventory of my back stairs: one flashlight, 4 books (3 kids’, one of mine), one pair girls’ flats, three...

Monday night was Animal Fair’s Magazines 9th annual Howloween Pet Costume Party, with proceeds benefiting the Humane Society of New York.  Apparently, I spent too much time barking at the big dogs and shivering pathetically last year, so I was not allowed to attend the event– but in spite of this setback, I am here to let you know it has my full support.  Rescue dogs like Isaboo and me have to pack together! And speaking of packs, Isaboo and I would love to hear how you and your pack are dressing for Howloween.  Pet packs and people packs both, send...

Of my three kids, only one of them is a huge fan of dressing up, but a huge fan she has been since she was a toddler. My oldest daughter is one of those kids who from ages 2 through six or so spent more time in a costume - always of the princess variety - than out. She went through phases of favorites - for many months, a Snow White number I found at Target (not one of the authentic Disney Store get ups but a flimsy knock off) was her favorite to the point that while it was...

I am in day five of being home with my kids, who have been sick since last weekend. Various combinations of the three kids have been home depending on where they are in their illness - just as my son returned to school, my younger daughter fell ill, while my older daughter has held consistent and been home all week. Some type of flu is running rampant through my kids’ school where nearly half of the students were out last week with high fevers, sore throats and coughs. I was feeling very smug as my kids remained healthy last week...

My kids were juice hounds from the very beginning. I have to admit that one of my son’s first words was his version of “juice,” right behind “mama” and “dada.” I always made sure to buy 100% juice and would water it down but I began to wonder, what are the recommendations as far as how much juice babies, toddlers and kids should have each day? I looked into it and the answer is, not much! Babies under six months shouldn’t have any juice Babies 6 - 12 months, no more than 4 oz. per day (about 1/2 a drinking glass) Toddlers/Kids 1...

We all have the best of intentions but when you have a baby (or babies) you are often low on time - and energy. Some of my friends currently with babies have been raving about a baby food that they swear tastes like homemade (I think all moms - and some dads too - can admit to tasting some jarred baby food and it can rarely taste like the food it’s supposed to be). It’s called HAPPYBABY (www.happybabyfood.com) and what sets it apart is the fact that it’s all organic and the baby food is frozen (in individual serving cubes),...

It seems like more and more children today have food allergies - dairy and peanut in particular. It is truly a mystery to me coming from a time when 90% of kids brought PB&Js to lunch at school each day, compared to now when any food with peanuts can’t enter the building (I’ve had many a granola bar sent home). Is it environmental? Over diagnosed? Was it ignored in the 70’s and 80’s? Milk and other dairy items are the foods we often think of first when it comes to providing calcium, but what if your child has a dairy free...

We all know the regular kid-food standbys - chicken nuggets, french fries, pizza. There are some regulars on the kids menu (at home and at restaurants) that are actually good for kids. It’s up to us parents to help our kids make healthy choices, but it’s not hard when we have the opportunity to steer them toward these old standbys, which actually are nutritious (shhh….don’t tell the kids): Cheese: American and Parmesan are favorites of most kids; they’re high in calcium, relatively low in fat and melt well. Make veggies more attractive by giving them a cheese topping. Peanut butter: PB & J is a good choice when you...