If your yard is like mine, fall means one of the biggest clean-ups of the year, before a single leaf falls. There are summer vegetables and flowering plants to cut down and clear out, in addition to months’ worth of smilax, wisteria and every other green pest you can imagine. As satisfying as the work is when it’s over, the process isn’t often loads of fun. All the more reason we enlist the help of our young son. He’s old enough to do a good bit of bagging, dragging and wheelbarrow filling, though he isn’t always the most willing participant. So we offer him financial incentive for his …

Yes it’s true that summer could choose to linger, but there is the irresistible pull of fall in the air—even under a blistering sun. Here are a few cheap thrills to help you usher in this long-awaited season. Get outside If you’re like me, this summer was often too much to face and a lot of it was spent in air-conditioned hibernation. Once the humidity and temperatures drop, many of us can finally resume the activities that heartier folk never stopped doing, like rambling walks, runs, hikes, bike rides and long, neighborly chats on the sidewalk. Catch a game  For those football fans out there…

With tornado season upon us, make sure you know what to do in case of a weather emergency. Be informed Whether you have an emergency alert radio or get alerts on your cell phone (not much help if reception is down), establish a way to find out about dangerous weather, road closings or any other local emergency before you need to. Assemble a kit Once you lose power or have to seek shelter in a safe part of your home, it’s too late to wonder if you have the supplies you need. Be sure to put together an emergency kit now that includes, among other things, a three-day supply of food and water, …

Get off to the right start this school year by establishing methods that can make homework easier on your entire family. Get organized Regardless of what age your school children are, establish a method for them to record their assignments. Younger grades may use an agenda or some other daily journal that students can write homework assignments in every day. If your older child eschews obvious organizational tools, get him or her a phone app or a datebook that doesn’t look like one to encourage writing down the details every day. Communicate As soon as your child is home from school, find out…

It’s a struggle year-round, especially if you’re a two-income family. How do you make the time to earn a living, be a parent and a partner and do it all well? Now that school is in session again, many parents have further stress put on already tight schedules. There are more meetings, events, sports activities and the reappearance of homework to manage, in between the paycheck and quality time with partner and kids. What can you do? Well, time with our loved ones doesn’t usually manifest itself like the parting of the Red Sea, a massive and undeniable pause in your everyday life. It must be …

Well, it’s official — just about all of metro Atlanta is back in school. So deep breaths all ‘round as we figure out what kind of animal this year will be. As a result of redistricting, your child’s school may be more crowded, with larger class sizes or trailers. Or you may be attending a new school. Maybe your kid didn’t get in the class you were hoping for or a well-loved teacher or administrator has retired. A new year brings new experiences, both good and bad, so the trick, as a parent, is to pace yourself. Getting involved in the school PTA or a school council, if you have one, is a …

Many of us will be starting school again on August 8, parents and children alike returning to linoleum-floored halls, with classes, teacher-parent conferences and lots of school events. When your kid is in school, so are you. At our house, mornings start pretty much the same year-round for my husband and me, with a 5:30 a.m. alarm. But with the coming of the school year, leisurely breakfasts are replaced with frantic lunch-making and the hunt for matching socks and homework pages. And that’s with just one child! The school year brings things I enjoy too, like seeing the parents of my child’s …

As the summer winds down, the impending costs of school supplies loom ahead. If you haven't yet taken a peek at what your child's grade will require for supplies, now's the time. Beginning in mid-July, stores of all kinds begin their back-to-school sales. Check sites like Southernsavers (11Alive has a price comparison) or get a good price on per-grade packaged supplies from Schoolpak. When it comes to clothing, ask yourself if you really need to buy your children brand-new "school clothes." When my son isn't wearing a costume of some kind, he's usually in jeans and t-shirts all year long. …

Coverage vs. Cancer: A Cell Tower on Your Kid's School? This week, the DeKalb County Board of Education amended a proposal to place cell towers on 12 area schools, removing three of them due to community protest—closed Medlock Elementary, Brockett Elementary and Meadowview Elementary. The other nine schools on the list are still slated to get the towers. Community members argued that the unsightly towers could lower property values and, more importantly, that the affects of EMF radiation from the towers is not known, so why place them on schools? The debate has raged, both here, across the …

Parenting Approaches: How Do Men and Women Differ? No matter how egalitarian you want to be about child-rearing, it is impossible to deny the difference in the way that men and women deal with their children.  And whether you're a mom or a dad, you've probably believed (secretly or otherwise) that your way of handling the kid or kids is superior to the way the other does it, right? So what are these differences? In my experience, and making some anecdotal generalizations, dads seem to worry less than moms, be less emotional when a child is having a crisis of some kind, and avoid the guilt and…

You may have heard the recently cited statistic that a child dies every five days in a portable pool during warm-weather months. A study by Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus and Independent Safety Consulting in Rockville, Md., focused on small wading pools less than 18 inches deep on up to inflatable and soft-sided pools as deep as four feet. Most of the deaths in the study were children under 5 and 73 percent happened at home. In many cases, the casualness of a portable pool, which doesn't usually inspire the vigilance of an in-ground pool, contributed to the accidents. In some of …

You may not hear much about Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever or ehrlichiosis around the water cooler, but all of these diseases are present in ticks found in Georgia and are on the rise. Do you know what to do to keep your family safe? What's so scary? Ticks are the most dangerous bug of the spring and summer months (though active year-round in climates of 35 degrees and above) and carry an array of debilitating diseases. According to the CDC, nearly 30,000 cases of Lyme disease were reported in the U.S. in 2009, just one of the illnesses ticks carry. Many cases go undiagnosed, …

For millions of Americans and millions more people worldwide, alternative medicine such as acupuncture and chiropractic is a common method of improving and maintaining health. Maybe you see such a practitioner regularly. But would you or do you take your child? Real danger or old mythology? The notion of having someone adjust your child's spine or insert needles into his skin is a squeamish one for some parents, though comfort level is largely based on how one feels about alternative healthcare for herself. In the U.S., where acceptance of these methods for the adult population has finally …

Especially as kids get older, it's tempting to take a pal approach to parenting, avoiding the role of the heavy. But how effective is being a buddy, as opposed to a rule-setter? Can you be both? Be honest For many parents, talking to their kids about difficult issues is an experience that both parties would rather avoid. Try sharing some of your own youthful struggles, without delivering too much information. When your child sees that you're willing to talk about your own mistakes, she may be more comfortable sharing her own. Presenting a non-judgmental attitude can put you both in a more …

On May 16, Forest Park passed an indecency ordinance that prohibits women from nursing in public if the child is over two years of age.   “It sets up a process whereby we can try to control nudity throughout the entire city,” City Manager John Parker told WBS-TV Atlanta, noting that the council had used the exact breastfeeding wording that already exists in DeKalb County and City of Griffin public indecency ordinances. Not surprisingly, local mothers (and maybe everyone else) laughed at the idea that such control was needed—that metro Atlanta was swarming with half-naked women clutching …

Once again, the school year has reached a shockingly fast end, traveling incognito under the other things that vie for May's attention. In between sports play-offs, school events, crushing work deadlines and the latest round of strep throat, help your child through the home-stretch by thinking of some good ways to say goodbye to friends and teachers. Give a gift Many schools have a Teacher Appreciation Week that runs during one of the last weeks of school. At my child's school, students bring different gifts on assigned days (flowers, cards, food) and the PTA provides a breakfast and lunch …

With school out soon, some families are already looking ahead to summer days and planning what to do with the kids. Metro Atlanta offers a lot of nearby things to do any of the week, and with a little patience, there's also a hassle-free way to get there — MARTA. Taking the kids by train or bus can make your adventure start with the getting there — and you don't have to park on the other end. Places to go If traffic and parking have ever made you hesitate before setting out for some metro destination, fear not. MARTA can take you to the Georgia Aquarium; Imagine It!, Atlanta's children's …

If your kid plays sports, chances are that he or she is in baseball, softball or soccer as the weather heats up and the school year winds down. While we all want our kids to have fun, build confidence and learn new skills while they play a sport, there are some specific things that you can do to help to make it a winning season for them. Get involved It's easy to say "participate more," but two parents working full-time or single parenthood make it hard. Let's just say that where your schedule permits and resourcefulness can fill the gap, do what you can to be a part of your child's team …