By now you have probably seen the video of the two year old who pushed a fallen dresser off his trapped twin. It has been on all the news channels and the video has gone viral. It is amazing to watch and the video is below if you’ve been in a dark hole the past few days. The obvious take home is secure your furniture to the wall and baby proof your house. Baby proofing companies everywhere are rejoicing this incident was caught on camera, as parents of young children are rush

I understand the importance of political correctness — I do. I never want to see anyone’s feelings hurt. I hate to think of kids being made to feel badly about themselves or pressured into doing dangerous things. I think bullying, hazing, intimidation and harassment are very real, deplorable things. I am not denying their existence, and when they occur, the perpetrators should be punished. However, is it possible these words are being used too lightly? Is it possible we are t

I think a lot about the obesity epidemic our country is facing. I see patients with diabetes, hypertension, back pain and depression, and I know if they could lose just a little bit of weight, their physical and emotional health would improve dramatically. The evidence is strong. Even a modest drop in weight will bring down sugar levels and blood pressure. It will improve sleep, mood, confidence and the ability to manage stress. But, it is hard. Even with great resources and

July 4th should have me thinking about independence and freedom. It should be a day to be grateful for the gift of being able to raise children in a country where girls are educated, free speech is embraced and equality is valued. Instead, I will probably be worrying about the danger of fireworks, the choking hazards of hot dogs and the sugar content of red and blue jello. At what point did parenting become paranoid? I remember Fourth of July barbecues growing up. After makin

The bags under Lorelei’s eyes, her complaining and my frustration every morning, finally made me take a better look at how much sleep she was getting. With two older sisters, she goes to bed too late, but even so, she’d always been the kind of kid who could power through. Recently though, the exhaustion hit a whole new level. Embarrassingly it took me a while to realize why, but then it hit me … it’s the damn phone. She went to bed when I told her to, but she didn’t go to sle

It is holiday break time! The airports will be crawling with little kids, escorted by frazzled parents looking forward to some family time away from the pressures of home. Vacations are wonderful, but traveling with small children can be stressful. Even under the best circumstances, flying with babies and toddlers is difficult. When things go wrong, it can be torture. A few years ago, we took a family vacation to Turks and Caicos. My twins were about 15 months old. The girls

A mother is never truly alone. Even on the rare occasion I am by myself, my mind and heart are with my kids. I can look to the New Year as an opportunity for self-improvement, but the truth is, it all comes back to my family anyway. This year, in the spirit of telling everyone what to do, I am going to make realistic nutrition resolutions for all of us. We aren’t going carb free or giving up sugar and mama isn’t giving up the wine, but, we are going to try a healthier diet in

Let me just say … YAY!!! Finally, I have an opportunity to roll my soapbox out into the open. I have been complaining about snacks since I was a new mom in NYC. I’d feed Madelyn a good breakfast and take her to Central Park. There, I’d end up hanging out with other new moms who were also trying to figure out this parenting thing as they went along. The minute a toddler whined or complained, a buffet of healthy snacks would magically appear. From the depths of designer diaper

I hate the mornings. I always have — even when I was a kid. Now, I hate my kids in the morning — sometimes. Some days I just cannot wait to get them out the door — the screaming, the crying … and that is just me. Yet, there are other mornings which seem to go so smoothly, everyone gets dropped off at school with big smiles on their faces, and I feel like a decent mother. While I am not always smart enough to manage my mornings correctly, I do have enough brain cells left to b