By Tracy Madlener I have written many opinion pieces on parenting and I’m always surprised that I don’t have more hate mail sitting in my inbox at the end of my day. I am downright harsh on bad parenting but I am also the first one to admit when I’ve made a mistake. I mean […]


I’m Your Mother… Not Your Friend
By Tracy Madlener I am a mom of two kids and I have been known to tell them that I am their mother, not their friend. The first time I told my youngest that, her face crumpled and it hurt my heart to not give her a warm mommy hug, but she was being naughty […]

Non-food items I have put in my mouth and what you can do to stop your kid from doing it
By Carrie Eckles I’m not a parent, yet I always find myself giving out—I won’t say “advice”, because it’s not so much that, but—helpful hints about dealing with children. The reason for this has nothing to do with the fact that I was always the third parent in my family, if not the parent of […]




My Child Did What??
By Tracy Madlener I got the email first thing on a Monday morning and I’m sure that the coffee hadn’t kicked in yet. The email came from a long time friend that I first met back when we were both new homeschool moms and our kids were the same age. The letter accused my son […]

I Would Love To Fight For Your Cause But I’m Busy Trying To Keep My Son Alive
By Anise Smith I am very in tuned to what’s going on in the world. I know that there are animals that need to be saved, causes to promote, injustices to fight against and environments to be saved. As a human being, I have a vested interest in ALL of these things. I would love […]

The Homeless Hopeful: Homeless Youth Can Overcome!
By: Tracy Madlener I lived on my own at the age of fourteen. Then again at fifteen, and one more time, this time, permanently at seventeen. I’m sure you’re wondering how that can be? Well, my mom remarried someone that I did not get along with, she had my little brother with this new man […]

There’s a Stranger in Your House…
By: Tracy Madlener There’s a Stranger in Your House… … and he’s showing your child everything and anything, age appropriate or not, with videos and pictures that can be quite graphic. There are conversations between child and stranger and enough information is provided by the child to the stranger and then given to the rest […]