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Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

This summer camp bag checklist could save you from a midday meltdown

Parents / Mom's Advice /

Whether your kid heads to soccer drills, pottery painting or a week of themed chaos at the local rec center, summer camp comes with sunshine, socializing and plenty of opportunities for scraped knees and soggy sneakers.

If you haven’t peeked inside your kid’s backpack lately, you might be missing a few essentials that can make (or totally ...Read more

Kouros F/Kouros F/TNS

Guidebook offers personalized, holistic approach to health and wellness

Parents / Mom's Advice /

If you’ve ever felt discouraged or defeated by diet and fitness fads or overwhelmed by the ever-growing sea of contradictory advice about weight loss, "Do It Yourself Weight Management" by Kouros F. might be the guide you didn’t know you needed.

This isn’t a book about quick fixes and overhyped results. It’s written for the rest of us �...Read more

Pick Your Poison: Heat Stroke or Air Conditioning?

Parents / Georgia Garvey /

If you asked my dad the top three causes of illness worldwide, here's what he'd say:

No. 3: Walking around inside the house barefoot.

No. 2: Leaving the house with wet hair.

No. 1: Air conditioning.

I understand not being accustomed to air conditioning. He didn't grow up with it. In Greece, most homes and some cars don't have it, even now....Read more

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

As Wrigley's first K-pop band, Stray Kids leaves its mark on Chicago and concludes US dates for 'dominATE' tour

Parents / Parenting News /

CHICAGO — Despite the sun having set and a cool breeze drifting through the stands, the tens of thousands of Stray Kids fans in Wrigley Field were just as energetic as they’d been when the band burst onstage two hours before.

“No regrets, I love this feeling/ Down on this road call it the social path,” they belted along with the eight-...Read more

Take Me Out to the ... Never Mind

Parents / Lenore Skenazy /

The season of the minor league ballgame is in full swing, and so are the minor league promotions. Here are some of the less popular ones.

-- Strained Groin Day

-- Usher Autograph Night

-- Free Pretzel in Every Beer: Save money! Save digestion time!

-- LIVE Bat Night: Wear a scarf!

-- Extra Marjoram Madness: Marjoram sprinkled on any ...Read more

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures/TNS

Family guide to new movie releases

Parents / Parenting News /

'F1 THE MOVIE'

Rated PG-13 for strong language, and action.

What it’s about: A seasoned racing veteran joins a failing U.K. racing team with a hotshot young driver.

The kid attractor factor: This is more of an adult drama. Some teens might be drawn to the racing aspect.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Being on a team means putting your ego to ...Read more

Sophon Kethom/Dreamstime/TNS

Ex-etiquette: The trouble with FaceTime

Parents / Family Living /

Q. My ex and I share equal custody of our 2-year-old son, but we do not get along. There is a court order that states that we can each have one FaceTime call a day when our son is with the other parent. However, these calls always turn into an argument, from her not picking up to telling me our son does not want to talk to calling right before ...Read more

Masezdromaderi/Dreamstime/TNS

Lori Borgman: When nature and nurture intertwine with the peppers

Parents / Mom's Advice /

I may be only one bag of Miracle-Gro away from going officially overboard on the whole garden thing this year. I blame it all on a long, hard winter. My survival kit during snowbound months with no sun and sub-zero temps consisted of chocolate and mail-order seeds.

Starting seeds indoors was how I convinced myself winter would one day pass and ...Read more

HarperCollins/HarperCollins/TNS

Mary Alice Monroe explores love, sacrifice and grit in sweeping Southern epic

Parents / Mom's Advice /

Mary Alice Monroe’s latest novel, "Where the Rivers Merge," is a gorgeous read, one of those historical novels that sweeps you up into a time and a place so real and lush you feel you’re there, with a compelling storyline to make you stay.

This captivating multigenerational saga of a wealthy South Carolina family and its land centers on a ...Read more

H. Allen Benowitz/H. Allen Benowitz/TNS

A memoir that finds power in pain and beauty in brokenness

Parents / Mom's Advice /

In "Child of Silence: A Blessing in Disguise," H. Allen Benowitz gives readers a deeply personal and boldly honest memoir of a life endured through adversity, transformed by resilience, and uplifted by love, creativity, and purpose. With vivid prose and reflection, Benowitz chronicles a journey that begins in silence. Born as the son of deaf ...Read more

James Albert Staggers/James Albert Staggers/TNS

80-something couple proves the road to Alaska is paved with stories

Parents / Mom's Advice /

What happens when you give two adventurous octogenarians a Class C motorhome, a loaded itinerary and 15,642 miles of North American wilderness? You get "Ride With Us! 15,642 Miles, Seventy Nights Camping," a memoir by Sportyman (the husband’s pseudonym) that’s equal parts travelogue, survival journal and a love letter to both RV culture and ...Read more

The Awkward Silences in the White House Speak Volumes

Parents / Georgia Garvey /

Before we start, it's important that we all know what "Juventus" is.

They're an Italian soccer team, based in Turin, and they're one of the top squads in the country. Some of the sport's most recognizable athletes, like Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio and Zinedine Zidane, have played for Juventus. I'm not sure what significance Juventus holds ...Read more

Don't Let the Fear of Bullies Ruin Your Kid's Summer

Parents / Lenore Skenazy /

If you're over 35, you probably remember playing outside till the streetlights came on. But today, a lot of parents worry that if they let their kids play the old-fashioned way -- spontaneously, unsupervised, with whoever's available in the neighborhood -- their children will be bullied by kids older than them.

Here are some ways to put those...Read more