This week Andy began a new earning enterprise. And his work world looks a whole lot different than mine at his age. Forget mowing lawns (our neighbors don’t have them). Delivering newspapers is out of the question (long ago this job was moved from bike-riding kids to underemployed drivers). Babysitting is out (just not interested). In the 21st century, the best job for underage kids is selling family castoffs on eBay.

He did well with his first item, all the while considering it an experiment. In other words, the bar was…

You’ve read all the tips for toddler travel: bring new toys, wrap them as gifts, encourage naps (Benadryl always an option), ply with candy (most effective: long-lasting lollipops). But the simplest and longest-duration amusement for toddlers and preschoolers on a long flight is TV or a DVD. But there’s a pitfall to this easy, drug-free travel solution, and it’s name is battery-life. I’d like to suggest a few ways you can mitigate this when flying with small children.

1. Before buying your ticket, check seatguru.com.There you can see if your aircraft…

We had a lovely, lovely 12 days in Ireland, and one of the lovely-factors was that TV was virtually absent. Having no background noise calmed me, and having very little idea what was going on in the world was restful. Most importantly, I was thrilled to see my children having so much fun with little screen dependence.

But, alas, we returned to our real world. And TV came back with a vengeance. After two full days of letting TV have its way with our boys, we laid down the parental boom.…

We’re revamping our family computer/TV limits this week, and I thought I’d give you an update on what we’re thinking. (But shh…kids have yet to be informed.)

 There are two parts to this. The first is easy — the rules. There are four:

1. Every Wednesday will be a screen-free day. (Thanks, Sally.) This was a no-brainer. It feels manageable. And I like that the rule applies to parents too. I used to be religious about Turn-Off-the-TV-Week each…

We recently ran into one of Alex’s preschool buddies and his mom at Target. Alex couldn’t resist announcing to his friend that he was buying a Ben 10 toy. “Ooh,” the mom said to him, “you’re lucky. My kids don’t get to watch that show.” (Translation: “We’re more responsible about limits than in your house.”) And I doubt my protest, “Oh, he hardly ever watches it. I don’t even know what channel it’s on,” rang true. For the uninitiated, Ben 10 is on Cartoon Network and

I came across a capital idea today that I wanted to share.

I’ve been observing that my kids have developed a habit of home shopping, even at 4 and 10 (sorry, 11, as of today). Alex announces after every TV commercial, “Mom, I want that.” He even explained to me in great detail last week that I needed the Butler purse organizer, after seeing an ad for it countless times on Nickolodeon, articulating every benefit in a way that was impressive for a four-year-old. Andy recently developed a habit of…

I was recently talking with a friend — a parent of teens — who said she suspected game developers purposely insert violence and questionable content deep enough into a game so that when parents “test” a game through play, they never reach it. While that’s possible, it seems unlikely, given the process used to rate video games. Which totally underscores why I think it’s important to read these ratings carefully — and to trust them.

The Entertainment Software Review Board (ESRB–esrb.org) determines games’ ratings and enforces advertising guidelines.…