One of the hardest things that every parent has to do is watch our children suffer through illness.  It is unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.  Kids get sick and, more often than not, it happens in the wee hours of the night.

If the baby can’t sleep, nobody is going to get any sleep.  Both my sons went through a period when the got so congested that they couldn’t breathe when they would lay down.  Propping them up with pillows will only get you so far.  If you want to get a decent night’s sleep,…

Recently, I was hanging out with friends talking, and we ended up on the subject of air guns.  This discussion prompted me to write an article on air guns.

In this article, I would like to talk about air guns and the different types.  There are three primary types: pellet guns, airsoft guns, and paintball guns.  Most people out there know what a pellet, or BB, gun is.  They are either gas or spring powered and fire a metal ball or slug.  Airsoft guns fire a plastic ball and are powered by electric motors, gas, or spring.  Finally, paintball is a…

During your child’s teen years, it’s inevitable that you will have all sorts of awkward conversations with them. Whether it’s a discussion about smoking, drinking, or relationships… there will be quite a few uncomfortable moments between the both of you. These days, there’s a new topic to add onto that list. Now more than ever, kids are inquiring about plastic surgery. How should you respond?

It’s More Serious Than You Think

Cosmetic surgery may seem like something innocent, but you need to consider your child’s underlying motives. Is she being teased in school for having too large of a nose or too…

The one certainty in parenting is that anything can happen. Some days just don’t end up the way you thought they would. Case in point: when I got up Thursday morning, I never imagined that it would be almost 36 hours before I saw home again. If I’d known, I’d have packed a change of clothes, or at least a toothbrush.

It all started early in the morning, so early that I’d call it late at night.  Our almost-9 year old son found his way into our room at 2 a.m. complaining of a stomachache.  Unusual, but nothing too troubling. …

After my recent post about the swine flu, alert reader Sean Rushforth asked what I think about the swine flu pandemic. In a word: scary.  In several words, the swine flu pandemic is really, really scary.  (Just to buck the system and stick it to “the Man” at the CDC, I’m going to refer to the H1N1 virus as the “swine flu” throughout this article.)

Here’s the thing about the flu.  It kills people.  Not just the swine flu or Spanish flu or some super flu.  The plain old, garden variety flu kills a…