A 10-Year-Old Gives 10 Reasons Why Every Tween Needs a Cell Phone

Hi, this is Boy Wonder and I’m 10 years old. My mom is Mommyfriend and I’m writing on her blog to tell parents something very important: kids my age need a cell phone. My parents think kids in elementary school shouldn’t have cell phones unless they really need one. My mom says the only kids […]

7 Family Vacations Your Tween Will Actually Enjoy. No, Really.

Tweens and teens are hard to please on family vacations. Why? Because they’d probably rather be anywhere else than stuck in a minivan with their family. Relax friend, I’m just telling it like it is. As a parent who’s dealt with her share of sigh-heavy tween protest on vacations in the name of Griswold-esque family […]

12 Simple Ways to Gain and Foster Your Tween’s Trust

Being a tween isn’t easy – just ask them. From 9 to 12 years old our kids begin the physically taxing and emotionally draining metamorphosis of child to adolescent. Not only are our kids facing the wonder, stress, and excitement that come from bodily changes; they’re overcome by something far less tangible and easily understood […]

13 Summer Jobs for Tweens

The older my kids get, the more expensive their tastes become. I don’t have to tell you that teaching our kids the value of money from a young age is vitally important. Quite simply, the very best way to teach our kids financial responsibility is to provide them with the opportunity to earn money for […]

10 Ways Tweens are Just Like Toddlers

In my scientific opinion, tweens and toddlers aren’t so different. Toddlers are impulsive, emotional, naive, curious, and yes, more than a little bit naughty. And tweens, well, they’re all those things and more. As walking contradictions of childhood, tweens are both young and old. Smart and naive. Responsible and thoughtless. Because tweens embody everything that […]

13 Teacher-Recommended Ways to Keep Kids Learning This Summer

Ready or not, school’s just about out for summer! As much as a lazy summer vacation appeals to me, relaxed schedules and casual attitudes toward learning can take their toll on the skills our kids worked so hard to acquire throughout the previous school year. The summer between my son’s 4th and 5th grade school […]

I’m A Better Mom for Making Mistakes

Raise your hand if you’re one of those parents who messes up on the regular. Me too. Now raise your hand if you’re one of those parents who messes up on the regular and then beats themselves up over it. Me too! As a mother who’s spent a cool decade replaying her greatest parenting misses on […]

10 Things I Learned About Kindergarten This Year

As Kindergarten draws to a close in 10 short school days, I reflect on this momentous school year and how far BooBoo has come. This Kindergarten school year may not have been my first rodeo, but I realize now more than ever just how different every child, teacher, and school year can be. It’s with […]

Stop! In the Name of Play

I’ve been told I have a one-track mind. No, not like that (do you not know me at all?). As a  Type-A bionic doer, when there’s a job to be done I’m doing it from start to finish. No breaks, no finishing it later, no interruptions. But being a parent who’s lucky enough to work […]

My 5-Year-Old’s Life List

I’ve been toying around with the idea of creating a life list on Go Mighty for a few reasons. One, my dear friend is the managing editor there and she told me I should. Two, I have another pesky birthday coming up which always does weird “what have I done with my life” stuff to […]