by Ronnie Tyler
Lamar and I pretty much have our nightly routine down to a science with the girls. After long days for both of us we all sit down to eat dinner between 7:15 and 8 PM every night. Then we march the girls upstairs for their baths. Our oldest girl takes a shower, while the two youngest take a bath together.
The other night while I was putting lotion on the two younger girls, our oldest daughter said: “Mommy will you please put lotion on me too.” And I …

by Aja Dorsey Jackson
Last week both of the kids and I became sick with the flu. They were sick first, but of course by the time they were back to running and playing, I felt like I had been hit by a truck and was fighting the worst version of the flu I’ve ever experienced. By Tuesday I had a temperature of 104, but I still felt like it was extremely important that I get the mud spots out of the carpet that someone had tracked into the basement. As …

Last week I ran across an article in the Washington Post by a teacher. In this article T.C. Williams High School teacher Patrick Welsh explains why he believes that the biggest factor in the achievement gap is not just race but is instead the lack of a father in the homes of his students.

by Tara Pringle Jefferson
1. Upgrade items from baby #1. Since I got pregnant with my son a few days shy of my daughter’s first birthday, a lot of her baby items were still in semi-decent shape and would be good to use with the new baby. Or so I thought. I should have realized that a cute little diaper bag that worked wonders with one baby might not do the job after two years of use and twice as much crap stuffed inside. If I had to do it all …

By Tara Pringle Jefferson
Ever since I became a card-carrying member of the Parenthood Society, I’ve noticed a trend.
When both sets of grandparents are still alive, the maternal grandparents more than likely are the “A’ grandparents, the ones that the kids prefer. The paternal grandparents, while still cool, tend to occupy “B” status.
My kids are still a little too young to have favorites, but already I’m noticing my side of the family comes around a lot more often than my husband’s. I also notice that when my husband’s …

The kids have been in school for a few weeks now. And by now they should have received an interim report card. If you were to receive an interim report based on how involved you have been in your child’s education, what grade would you receive?
A - Very Involved: You read and sign daily agendas and other written communications from the teacher, attend conferences, work with the children at home with reading and homework assignments, volunteer, attend field trips, stress the importance of education at home
B - …

by Tara Pringle Jefferson
If it’s 8 p.m. and you’re at my house, then my kids are IN THE BED.
Absolutely no doubt about it.
I’ve gotten a reputation as somewhat of a bedtime control freak. My friends know my kids go to bed at 8 p.m. and if it’s after 7 they don’t even call or stop by. I get so many texts like, “I was in the neighborhood but it was 7:35 and I knew it was too late to be stopping by…”
My aunt from Texas came to …

by Tara Pringle Jefferson
If I could sum up pretty much everything I want my kids to know before they leave my house and out into the “real world,” these life lessons would make the top 10:
1. Be nice to each other.
2. Learn as much as you can. Read books more often than you watch movies. Expand your vocabulary. If you realize you don’t know the answer to something, go figure it out.
3. Be nice to others.
4. Be focused. Learn your strengths.
5. Love hard.
6. Be good people.
7. Accept …

by Tara Pringle Jefferson
A little while back I was fortunate to be asked to participate in a webinar for black moms. Our topic was about the plight of our brown babies and what we can do as parents to prepare them for the best life possible.
One of the other panelists, Kimberly Seals Allers (a single mom herself) responded to a question about single moms. She recently wrote a post on it and invited me to get my readers to weigh in. She writes:

“Recently, I had an epiphany.
It was actually more like a …

By Harriet Hairston
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who made all her decisions based on how she felt.  She gave little to no regard to the long term consequences of her decisions, nor did she care how her actions hurt those around her.  In essence, she thought she was the center of the universe.
On the little girl’s eighth birthday, she received two presents that changed her life.  The first present was a Betamax videotape of Mr. T’s “Be Somebody or Be Somebody’s …