Most of us have heard educators’ maxim that kids lose one to three months of academic learning during summer vacation. But in contrast to this “summer learning loss,” moms know another dirty little secret about summer: kids pick up a whole different education during summer more

My children are 13, 11 and 8. In other words, practically grown-ups. Finding daycare, nannies, and babysitters is a distant memory. Actually, more like a nightmare. Wait lists, reference checks, interviews, worries about missing pick-up or a nanny calling in sick on the day of an important business trip, these stresses all lodge blessedly in my parenting past. more

Have you ever looked at your life through your babysitter’s eyes? Bear with me, this could get painful. more

Mid-August compromises the dog days of summer for news headlines (witness the front page froth over the JetBlue flight attendant) which may be why the editors at the New York Times chose mid-August as the ideal time to publish David Leondhardt’s "Economic Scene: A Market Punishing to Mothers." more

Mid-August is when every mom I run into shakes her head and says sadly, “Wow, I can’t believe summer is going by so fast.” I smile. But I feel like muttering under my breath “Not fast enough.” more

Good god, sometimes I don’t know whether I can take the mommy wars anymore. more

Way back in 1990 during my first week of business school, a second-year male student I’d met at the campus pub was ruminating – obnoxiously -- on his future career. For those not familiar with b-school students, we can be obsessed – with ourselves, our careers, our future prospects. Pretty calculating, self-centered and generally nauseating overall. more

As Mommy Tracked called out in the uber-time-saving Newsdesk roundup, New York Magazine recently published the smart, juicy “All Joy and No Fun: Why Parents Hate Parenting” that dissects research indicating that kids make Americans unhappy. more

One month into summer (aka, kids tearing through the house seven day a week, enjoying unstructured time, driving us caregivers crazy) seems a natural moment to tackle one of the modern dilemmas of parenthood no one likes to discuss honestly: to spank or not to spank. more

During my childhood, it was no biggie that my youngest sister – the baby – was clearly the “favorite,” the kid everyone in the family liked most. This never bothered me; I liked her best too. more