I know some couples who have been married for 20 years and never have had a weekend without the kids since they were born. I wouldn’t recommend this. Married couples need nights out, and even nights away to recharge the romantic batteries. Whether it’s a motel down the road, or a trip a thousand miles away, try to make at least one trip away each year. Obviously, this is impossible in some situations where reliable childcare is not available or affordable for such a long time away. If, however, you have family around, take advantage of their generosity, and overcome your guilt, even if for just 24 hours. Here are some rules to make that getaway easier for you, and for the kids: 1....

Leave it to The Onion to turn time-tested “get involved and interested” advice into sarcasm. You’ll likely smile while reading this piece since it’s the little devil sitting on your shoulder when you’ re trying to read the paper and your daughter wants to relate the entire plot line, page by page, of the shallow book she is reading. Being a parent isn’t easy. If you’re anything like me, you know it’s hard to find enough hours in the day for working, sleeping, and raising the kids. But leading psychologists agree that taking an active role in your child’s burgeoning interests is crucial to their development. So, regardless of how busy your...

Sure, they say that New Year’s resolutions are never kept, but that doesn’t stop us from writing them up. And, I swear, this year, I’m really going to try. The ones I have in mind aren’t that big a stretch. I’m not going to finally “write that novel” or run a marathon. I just want to make a few simple changes. And, I have a new system to try to keep me on track. Spend ten minutes alone each day with each of my two kids. This won’t be too much harder. The only the trick will be to separate them when I’m doing the daddy-focus time. I usually read a 10-12 pages of Harry Potter to my eldest each night, so check that one off the list. For my four-year-old,...

Happy people spend a lot of time socializing, going to church and reading newspapers — but they don’t spend a lot of time watching television, a new study finds. That’s what unhappy people do. “We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more — visiting others, going to church, all those things — were more happy,” Dr. Robinson said. “TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less.” [From What Happy People Don’t Do - NYTimes.com] While the study can’t definitively say it’s TV that makes people unhappy (versus “unhappy...

Here’s a link to send to your spouse, especially if you’re ready to try anything to get “sex” back in the phrase “sex life.” Mrs. Young (obviously a pseudonym), in her most recent column, as she always does, refers to the sagging love lives of new parents. She suggests reading such recent books as 365 Nights and Just Do It, both books on couples who made planned effort to have sex every day for an extended length of time. If you mentioned these books to your wife as well, you likely got the same nonplussed reaction I did. It sounded more like a desperate trick than a real romantic plan for greater intimacy. Well, maybe then, this “challenge” from...

It’s hard to imagine what goes on in a little one’s mind when he goes to the big school, but you can help him overcome some fears by talking to him before hand. For example, many kids at pre-school and even kindergarten level, are nervous about the bathroom. Reassure your child that he can ask to go any time. Some kids have accidents at school, and he should be aware that this type of thing can happen, and does happen to a lot of kids. If you have given him strict instructions on other people touching him in the bathroom, make sure he is aware of how changes in caregiving my change that policy, for example if a teacher has to wipe him. Some kids will time their bowel movements to...

I always feel horrible for the parents who are arrested for doing something all of us have done at one point: drove without a seatbelt, left the car seat at home, and the worst, left the car seat on the car and pulled away with baby on top. Some of these stories are so sad and injust, just compounding a tragedy that has had major costs to a family. Any harried parent with multiple children has to sigh, and think, “there but for the grace of God…” However, when you read stories like the following, you have to wonder how some folks made the decision to be parents in the first place. A man anxious to see the new Batman movie missed out on the ending after police arrested him for...

When you have kids of your own, you sense the changing of the generations. I hope your parents are young and you have thirty years before you have to think of elder care, but likely they are old enough you have to at least imagine the need some day. This article, written by a New York Times writer specializing in old age issues, still feels she made several mistakes in caring for her older mother. What I Wish I’d Done Differently By JANE GROSS Looking back on the last few years of my mother’s life, with 20/20 hindsight and the belated knowledge that came from four years of reporting about aging for The New York Times, my single biggest mistake was not finding a doctor with expertise...

There has been a lot of talk about sick houses — houses that actually make you sick because of construction materials, cleaners, paints, solvents and pesticides. It might be hard to change houses, but there are things you can do to to make a house less toxic for you and your kids. 1. Get an air purifier and put new allergy rated filters on your furnace every 6 months. Whole house air filter systems work better than portable units. Ideally, use built-in or window unit air-to-air-heat exchangers in rooms where people spend the most time. 2. Get lots of plants. Experts recommend at least two tropical houseplants for every 12×12 foot area to clean up airborne toxins. Use ferns, spider...