Would you pay your child $100 for making the honor roll? Or $20 for each A? Some parents swear by monetary grade incentives, reports the Hartford Courant. Others say the practice sends the wrong message, and the good behavior will disappear if the reward does. They also worry it may cause parents to ignore the
Gardening season is upon us, even here in the Northeast where winter tends to linger. To get in the spirit before you tackle tomatoes or cabbage, try making a grass-seed caterpillar with your kids. The short instructions are to mix dirt and grass seed and stuff into an old nylon stocking, then water and wait.
A major new study on GLB adoption and fostering has found that an estimated two million GLB people are interested in adopting. More than half of gay men and 41 percent of lesbians want to have a child. The study, Adoption and Foster Care by Gay and Lesbian Parents in the United States, by the
Allison Einbinder of Queercents has written an informative post on the tax benefits of being a parent. Did you know that if you finalized an adoption in 2006, you may be eligible for an adoption credit of $10,960 for the 2006 tax year? Or that you can deduct expenses such as temporary storage of both
Women’s History Month is coming to a close, but I wanted to make sure I included the poem “Heroines” by poet and lesbian icon Adrienne Rich in my series of quotes about women and history. I am cutting here for purposes of length and copyright, but that is doing some injustice to Rich’s work. I
My laptop experienced a fatal error yesterday that required a complete mindwipe and restore. Luckily, we have more computers than creatures in our house (even counting the cats), so it didn’t affect my blogging. Twice lucky, I’d just done a backup, so it didn’t affect my sanity. As I sat watching a repeat of last
My son is in the throes of pre-reading mania. He reads letters on everything from milk cartons to street signs to his vitamin tablets. He points to the words on a book cover and moves his finger along, saying the title. He’s not actually reading it yet; it doesn’t work if he doesn’t know the
Last week’s episode featured the clever parenting trick of using code words to deceive your children. This week, we see yet another childhood staple—kids plotting with one parent to deceive the other. It’s not as evil as it sounds—I’m talking about surprise birthday presents here, not anything with malicious intent. Shane conspires with Paige’s son
The only time in my life I was on birth control, it was in order to have a child. Specifically, it was to get my partner pregnant, using my egg. The birth control pills were to synch my cycle with hers so the doctors could do their reproductive magic. I get almost as worked up
