Long Island Parent Talk

Two of my children took the controversial new state exams Monday. This year’s tests, thought to be more rigorous than those used in the past, for the first time, reflect new national Common Core curriculum standards. State authorities have already warned that passing rates statewide could fall 30 percentage points or more when tests are scored but I am not having any anxiety attacks yet.

My...

In my ongoing quest to find tasty, kid-friendly food appropriate for the whole family, this week I chose an easy-to-prepare dessert. I found the recipe in "Simply Sensational Cookies" by Nancy Baggett (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; $29.99).

One-Pot Honey-Oatmeal Drop Cookies (Makes 40-45 21⁄2- to 3-inch cookies)

Ingredients - 1 1⁄2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks...

People say some incredibly unhelpful things to parents. At the top of my list: When your child turns 11 or 12 or 13, he or she will become unbearable for roughly the next decade.

I’m here to tell you, my daughters are 14 and 15, and I actually like them most of the time.

A few years ago, people would often comment, “Well, you’ve got a couple more good years with your daughters before...

When I heard about the explosions at the Boston Marathon, my first thought was, yet again, another perfect day turned into a tragedy.

Like many parents, hearing about Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who lost his life while waiting to give his father a hug as he crossed the finish line, hit close to home.

How do assure your children that this type of violence won't happen at a large...

Three new video shows have debuted at the newly renovated Vanderbilt Planetarium in Centerport, and Parent Talk was of course eager to see what the kids think of the flicks projected onto the domed ceiling. We attended an afternoon of viewings to get reaction from the people who matter most to us.

Here’s what some kids said about each new, half-hour-long show:

ABOUT “ONE WORLD, ONE SKY”:...

On April 22, more than one billion people around the globe will participate in Earth Day. In celebration, CelebrityBabyScoop.com found eco-friendly celebrities such as Jessica Alba, Mario Lopez and Tori Spelling who inspire others to protect Mother Nature and minimize their carbon footprint.

Tori Spelling Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott are proud parents of four kids: sons Liam, 6, and Finn,...

Don't forget to set your DVR: Disney Jr. will premiere a new animated preschool series at 5 p.m. Monday called "Henry Hugglemonster."

The series follows the adventures of five-year-old Henry Hugglemonster, the middle child in a happy, close-knit monster family. Recommended for kids ages 2-7, Henry shares everyday life lessons about family and other relationships such as learning...

My son, Harrison, made the mistake the other day of taking a pamphlet titled “25 Reasons to Try Vegetarian” from a young man on a Manhattan street corner. Then he made a worse mistake reading the nonprofit Mercy for Animals literature. I say worse because he loves — I mean, loved meat.

It was a momentary decision. By the afternoon, he was biting into a hamburger at the Whitney Museum of American...

Timothy Smith, parenting coach and author of “The Danger of Raising Nice Kids,” will be on Long Island to talk about the five qualities of a healthy family and the benefits of wellness at work and at home.

The “Nice Kids” book, Smith says, “challenges the common phenomena of parents overemphasizing the externals as definitions of success (athletics, activities, appearances and academics) vs....

Work-family life seems busier than ever. Everyone I know has a story about taking over the jobs of three people or answering work emails around the clock. One organization that tracks Americans’ working hours, the Economic Policy Institute, says that the majority of workers increased their work hours substantially between 1979 and 2007. It’s reasonable to think that the trend toward longer work...