Dear City of New Orleans, I had the pleasure of visiting you this past weekend, and let me just say this: You are worth the hype. The French Quarter, the people, the food, the action, the music, the chaos, the smell, the art – are all electric in their intensity. Quite frankly, when I am […]
Tag: Entertainment
All parents know how important it is to entertain our creative kids. Is your family looking for something fun to do this weekend or beyond? Need a night out – just the two of you? Our kids want activities that will satisfy their need to experience new events, and this section is filled with fantastic places to go and activities to do! So come check them out and plan your next family outing.

Ask Amanda: The Read Less Travelled
Q: Entering the children’s section of a bookstore or library can be frightening! The shelves of books are endless and at every turn, there is another perfect choice. To avoid confusion and to save time (since I have none of it!), I often grab a well-known selection for my child or for a birthday gift […]
To Celebrate Spring
Last week marked the first day of Spring (hooray!) and after the winter of all winters that we’ve had, I thought I would share a few famous quotes to celebrate: “It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want -oh, you don’t quite know what it […]
Evolution of the Play Date
I have a confession. When my boys were little, “play dates” totally stressed me out. Now I admit that back in the day, I was a wee bit high strung – so it’s no wonder these organized “dates” that were supposed to help my child “learn to socialize” caused me stress. The whole time I […]

What To Do With Your Child’s Masterpieces
An agonizing choice moms face pretty much daily… What should we do with the piles and piles of artwork our kids bring home from school? Just like you, and other mothers in the throes of it (with little ones in preschool, kindergarten, and after-school art classes), I’m faced with this difficult dilemma virtually every day. I’d […]
Honest Toddler
I think it will come as no surprise to any of you who read my regular newsletter introductions that I like to laugh. And when I do, it’s a loud belly laugh that requires me to throw my head back and slap my own knee. Which is why I was beyond thrilled to learn that […]
In the Strangest Places
When my boys were babies, I had ongoing conversations with my fellow sleep deprived mommy friends about the craziest places we fell asleep due to those numerous sleepless nights. The stories ranged from in the shower, during a bikini wax, on the stationery bike, on the doctor’s table during a physical and even at a […]

Don’t Just Read: More Ways to Engage Our Youngest Readers
As adults, we have book clubs to discuss topics and themes after we finish reading our book. High school and college literature classes delve into deep conversations and write complex papers about books through the course of their reading. Children should have a similar experience while reading; there is no reason to limit reading a […]
