A couple weeks ago, our Parents Talk discussion was on creepy kids toys. Many agreed that a clown, anything having to do with a clown or anything resembling a clown was straight up creepy. Well, an actor in the Swiss city of Lucerne has set himself up as the "evil" birthday clown. According to the Huffington Post and the Austrian Times, for a fee, parents can hire this psychotic clown—played by actor Dominic Deville—to leave menacing, booby-trapped letters for their children. He will also tease through text messages and phone calls. Deville warns the children they are being watched and that …

The gifts range from breakfast in bed to nothing—with flowers, manicures and greeting cards in between. Moms, perhaps your families have been thinking about your big day for the past month or maybe Sunday will be the first they hear of it. Regardless of your family's style of celebration, Sunday is Mother's Day. And with more than $16.3 billion expected to be spent on the day this year, it is a highly consumer-driven holiday as well. Now's your chance to tell us what you really want. Would you like a clean house? Expensive jewelry? Maybe the day away from all of them? Or maybe, you'd like to …

The son of one of my friends killed himself last week. My friend found him. When I heard that on Monday, I had a rush of emotions: disbelief, despair and anger. Five days earlier, I read a story about a woman whose son, Dustin, committed suicide in fall 2011. The story was by Mike Schoemer, St. Michael Patch local editor. At the time I read the St. Michael story, I felt a tremendous amount of empathy for Dustin's mother, Gretchen Harrington. But it wasn't until I heard about the death of my friend's son that I felt some of the anguish of a suicide survivor. I cried for my friend, who came …

Actress and mom Alicia Silverstone has made some major waves in the past couple weeks with a home video of her pre-chewing her 10-month-old son's food and feeding him mouth-to-mouth. The video, shown above, quite obviously went viral and got doctors, moms and bloggers talking. Silverstone even went on the defensive this past weekend saying she wasn't doing anything new, but she also wasn't suggesting others do it. "People have been feeding their kids that way for thousands of years," she said at a screening for her new movie, Vamps. "I wasn't trying to be independent or cause such a ruckus. I…

Some scary new statistics on autism were released last week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now estimates that 1 in 88 children in the United States have been identified as having autism, according to a study that looked at data from 14 communities. Results have changed since 2009, when 11.3 per 1,000 8-year-old children had been identified as having autism. There has been a 23 percent increase since the last report. Some of this increase is due to the way children are identified, diagnosed and served in their communities, although exactly how much is due to these …

About a month ago, the state's top hockey teams competed in the state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center, marking the end of the first season after a new law focused on sports-related concussions went into effect. High schools had to abide by the law starting in mid-August and youth sports on Sept. 1. The law sets rules for how schools should respond to students with concussions, and it gives guidance to parents and students who might not understand the consequences of traumatic brain injuries. For information about the new law, see the attached PDF. Students who play high-impact sports …

There are many milestones of parenthood—but for me, today, three stand out:  The day our first child was born.  The day I noticed he'd grown taller than me.  The day he became an adult.  Number 1 took place 18 years ago this week. So Number 3 is very fresh.  I couldn't put a finger on my feelings the day our oldest son turned 18. Was it a sense of accomplishment, love, pride, relief, maybe the mysteriousness of life? All I knew was I felt shaky and it wasn't from too much (or too little) caffeine.  The night before, over a very late dinner (don't ask), I heard myself say, "Well, you have two …

Juggling children and work can be a struggle sometimes. When school is cancelled because of a snowstorm or your child comes down with the flu, what do you do about your own work responsibilities? On one hand, your children are the most important responsibility you have. And on the other, your job is the thing that pays the bills, providing for your children. This blog entitled “Weather, sick days leave working parents snowed under” provides tips for what you can do to ensure your kids are well taken care of and that your career is taken care of as well. And even if you have planned in advance…

We adopted our little boy in June 2009. My husband, Corey, and I took him in about 30 hours after we first saw him on the streets of Wenatchee, WA. He was scrawny and underfed, but he was healthy, according to his doctor. Yes, we're parents—to a cat. His name is Moxie and he's almost 3 years old. I realize some people might be offended by the fact that I'm calling myself a parent, considering I have a cat instead of a child. But couples with pets and without children are more common than you might think. According to a USA Today story about the 2010 U.S. Census, "the share of households with …

What's Valentine's Day without candy? Some kids are finding out, as schools extend bans on classroom sweets to holiday celebrations out of concern for students' health. A Massachusetts school's decision to keep candy out has drawn national and international attention and criticism, as well as praise. Parents in Minneapolis, where a policy to promote better student health started last year, see messages like: "Students can bring valentines, but as you are shopping for valentines, please DO NOT purchase valentines with candy or send candy to school for the party." Our 11-year-old broke the news…

Eight months ago I was blessed with a beautiful, healthy nephew. Grant is the first child for my sister and her husband and is also the first grandchild for my parents. As a result, we all dote on him constantly without batting an eye. (He’s so happy, sweet and snuggly it’s hard not to!) A few weeks ago, Grant’s daycare provider suggested my sister not give him so much attention at home as he was becoming very needy and demanding of attention at times. “As if I’m not going to give my son attention,” my sister told me as she scoffed at the idea. Now, I’m sure this isn’t a new problem. A new …

Directors who attend the Minnesota School Boards Association conference are inundated with presentations and ideas, but one idea in particular had the Hopkins School Board talking: Stillwater’s fifth grade Flipped Math pilot program. In a normal classroom, students listen to their teachers in the classroom and then practice the skills they learn at home. Classroom instruction is typically aimed at average students, and the teacher isn’t available to help students as they practice the skills they learn at home. Flipped Math, as its name suggests, turned this on its head. Students viewed the …

Divorce happens. A lot. Statistics tell us that the rate remains steady at around 50 percent of American marriages ending in divorce. We are accustomed to the “I-hate-you-I’m-moving-out-now” divorce. Then the stereotypical court battle to win the kids, the house, the money and the wedding China that has never been opened ensues. While not a new idea, more and more divorced or separated couples are choosing to remain living together, usually due to finances. Divorced couples generally share a house, home furnishings, vehicles, and most importantly, children. Maybe it's just easier to stay …

We were having The Talk. Our boys were telling us something that to them had long been obvious, but to which we’d been oblivious. Their friends weren’t coming over anymore because there was nothing to do at our house. And by that, of course, they meant we didn’t have a video game system. The discussion wasn't an epic battle on the order of Mortal Kombat: Parental Deprivation. That might have been easier to deal with, in a way. Instead, our young teen boys' message had a quiet, measured tone, as they were clearly resigned to the idea that our household was never going to be blessed with a game…

“Momma always told me not to talk to strangers,” to quote young Forrest Gump. I, like Forrest and probably every other child, was also told not to talk to strangers as a kid. After having the phrase “stranger danger” burned into my mind, it was easy to follow my parents’ wishes. And it just made sense. However, the concept of stranger danger has been criticized for ignoring the fact that most child abductions and harm are not due to strangers, but rather someone the child is familiar with or even related to. In addition, critics have said the constant warnings exaggerate the potential threat …

Jobs have been lost. Houses have been foreclosed on. This year has been a tough one for budgets, says the media. But it has not been a rough year for all. Because public classrooms are not determined by family income, kids of all economic statuses talk to one another. They watch TV, where there are commercials filled with amazing toys that will better their lives.   This is not a new issue. Even in a perfect economy, there are children who are the “haves” and others who are the “have nots.” Some kids get the most awesome gifts in the world. And others do not get very much. Then, after some …

I was devastated, betrayed, mad, sad, and—most of all—robbed of something to look forward to. Some kid on the bus had just told me Santa Claus wasn't real. Not something a 7-year-old wants to hear and I didn't want to believe it. I marched home and planned to confront my mother. As I burst through the door, the tears started streaming. Mom didn't know what the heck happened. Through my tears and sniffs, I explained to her that the cat was out of the bag: Santa wasn't real. I demanded she tell me the truth. "You really want to know?" she asked me. "Yes," I sniffed. "He's not real, honey," She …

Growing up, my siblings and I had three options for Halloween costumes: witch, ghost or hobo. I was usually a witch. The thought of a burned cork smudged all over my face horrified me, but not my hobo brothers. My kids have a plethora of costumes to choose from, and they look forward to planning their costume almost as much as they look forward to the candy they’ll collect. A couple of years ago, I took the kids to a costume store. After a bout of sticker shock at the prices of costumes, not to mention cringing when my kids saw the racy costumes on display (“naughty nun?”), I decided we were …