parenting Archives

Sometimes, you see a headline in your newsfeed that makes you stop and do a virtual spit take: “Well, THAT can’t be true!” (And by “sometimes,” I mean basically every day, but let’s move… on.) It happened to me when I read the headline of New York Magazine’s story: “Basically Everything Is Improved by an Interrupting Toddler.” As a mother of six kids, I gotta give that one a hard NFW. I feel really well-qualified to speak on this point, since over the past 15 years, I have had… >> Read More

Advice

The Ultimate Guide to Dealing With Tantrums

Lior Zaltzman

Photo of colorful drawing: Little girl screaming the word NO

Tantrums can be mortifying for us as parents, especially when they happen in public. And why do they always seem to happen when you're pressed to get out of the house? Sometimes, it feels like the… tantrum came out of nowhere, or like anything you do just further escalates everyone's emotions. Parenting moments like these make you wish you had some kind of parenting hotline to call for help. And while we can't provide you that, we do have the next best thing: some truly top-notch expert advice. Back in November,… >> Read More

parenting

The Best and Worst Parts of Being a Stepmom

Melissa Cohen

When I met and married my husband, the fact that he had two daughters from his first marriage was an asset. I like kids. Kids like me. My mother is also a stepmother, and I am both a stepdaughter and… a stepsister. I've got a TON of experience at this. In other words, I was blithely confident that being a stepmother would come naturally. And I was wrong. What I learned is that being a stepmother is not even a little bit natural. It can be one of the most complicated and confusing relationships, because… >> Read More

politics

When Our Leaders Lie, Here’s How to Talk to Your Kids About Telling the Truth

Melissa Henriquez

Not too long ago, we could have faith that our national leaders were — for the most part — telling us is the truth when they spoke. But now we’re living in a world where the president, his… press secretary, and his Cabinet regularly tell lies with such frequency that journalists need to fact-check them in real time. Whereas George Washington “couldn’t tell a lie,” Donald Trump and his administration lies, fabricates, exaggerates, or tells “alternative facts.” Most disturbing, there seemed to be little consequences for any of their lies. Until — hopefully! —… >> Read More

family

My Four Kids Have 23 Siblings

Lily Pantaleo

After having donor-conceived children, many curiosities follow. They range from small curiosities like, “Where did they get that chin?” to larger ones, like, “Does alopecia run in the donor’s… family?” But one of the biggest questions that plagued me after my first child was born was, “Are there more kids?” And then, one day in 2011, I looked at my 7-month-old son and my curiosity got the best of me. I typed the word “donor” into a search engine, followed by the unique donor… >> Read More

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