For working parents, after-school care is a serious and challenging matter. Up until middle school, the arrangements are fairly straightforward. In many cases, especially in Montgomery County, there are on-site after-care programs, run by organizations such as Wonders Child Care and Kids After Hours. Parents know they can count on these programs to supervise homework, provide a snack and organize age-appropriate activities every day after school, on early release days and even on some school holidays. Such is not the case once middle school begins. “Susan,” a Kensington mother, is very …

I didn’t pick the name for this column, but it’s kind of grown on me over the last 10 months. I do, after all, drive a minivan, and I drive it a lot. In fact, I’ve driven almost 4,000 miles in the last two months, soaring gas prices or not. It would be exciting if I were driving to the beach every weekend, or combing yard sales near and far for exotic finds, or even getting paid to drive some celebrity around. But no, I am just driving kids from Kensington to Bethesda to Silver Spring to Germantown, to D.C. on occasion, and sometimes even crossing the river into Virginia. Early in the morning…

Eleven sixth grade students and two teachers from North Chevy Chase Elementary School are venturing into the rainforests and jungles of Costa Rica this summer, the first-ever trip of this kind for the school.  Organized by Discovery Student Adventures and staffed by an on-site travel manager, the NCC students will join three other groups from around the country, spending 8 days experiencing a way of life far different from in their Kensington neighborhoods. In addition to ziplining, canoeing and rappelling down waterfalls, the kids will participate in several service-oriented projects …

Back in February, I wrote about the Tyler family’s journey to “un-diagnose” their son’s autism-like symptoms that seemed to appear out of nowhere. What their research uncovered was the condition called “Clostridium Difficil, or C. diff,” in which overuse of antibiotics interferes with the body’s ability to absorb nutrition, leading their then-2-year-old son down a path of developmental regression. Over the course of eight years and many medical teams later, Tyler is a normally developing and functioning 10-year old, albeit with several nutrition issues, that will be with him for the rest of …

The irony doesn’t escape me. It was nine months ago that I wrote my first Patch column about sending my daughter off to college, and with much pride, joy and relief, I welcomed her back home, if only for the summer. It was the same nine months, 19 years ago, that I was pregnant with her. This time seemed so much faster. I have to admit that the first several weeks back in September were really hard. As much as I tried to prepare myself, keeping busy with work and staying connected to family and friends, there were days when I felt like my right arm was missing. I thought I was doing well by …

In a week in which I was entrenched in the medical system, shuttling my daughter from doctor to doctor, test to test, discussing the possible scenarios that could be causing her illness, I was thrilled to receive an e-mail in my inbox detailing some really exciting ideas for the health of our country. With permission from Laura Burstein, General Manager of Anytime Fitness in Kensington, I am sharing her report from last week’s Summit for a Healthier America, a two-day lobbying campaign to support bills that promote health care over sick care. "The main goal of these various bills is to make …

As a Walter Johnson High School student back in the 70s, many of my classmates  lived in Rock Creek Hills, which fed into WJ via Kensington Junior High School. It was an idyllic neighborhood in which kids walked or took a short bus ride to Larchmont Elementary (now Grace Episcopal), walked to the junior high school, and then back on the bus to high school, which back then, began in tenth grade. But that was the last generation to benefit from the neighborhood school experience. The children of original owners were growing up and families with young children had yet to become established. So …

Guess what, parents? The rules of parenting have changed in this post-boomer generation and someone forgot to tell us. Unless you’re exceptionally hip or have already been privy to Ron Taffel’s research and wisdom, you probably didn’t know—officially—that the way we were brought up bears little resemblance to modern parenting. The theories from just 20 years ago are now outdated, our kids are being raised in a culture that often feels more powerful than our nuclear families, and we need to get with the program…fast. Dr. Taffel, one of our country’s most highly regarded child-rearing experts, …

The Tollefson family of neighboring Garrett Park bucked the system in a major way. When their first son was six months old, they hosted a party at which one of the guests brought a bag full of video tapes to entertain the children. Immediately after the party, they unplugged the TV, put it in a closet and vowed never to use the electronic babysitter again. A tube didn’t make its’ way back into the household for 15 years, when their four teenage boys bought one for their mother’s 50th birthday.  But the Tollefson’s are unique. Nationwide, preschoolers spend an average of 32 hours a week …

It seems so simple. The bell rings for recess and kids head outside to play. But some schools are in neighborhoods where it just isn’t safe. Some kids experience the playground as a place to bully or be bullied. Many kids are consumed by organized sports or electronic entertainment and don’t know how to handle unstructured play time. And some schools have cut their budgets by eliminating recess altogether. The fact is that many children simply don’t know how to go outside and “just play.” Yet “just playing” helps a child develop a host of cognitive, personal and interpersonal skills that are …

Two weeks ago, I introduced you to Meg Baker and Susan Dailey, sisters who were both diagnosed with breast cancer within months of each other in 2008. Today, I’d like you to meet them as Winnie and Doris, along with Judith, Karen, Nancy and Peace, members of a breast cancer support group brought to life in last weekend’s presentation of “Pirates of the Chemotherapy.” We all know someone like them—the busy soccer mom who takes care of everyone else’s needs but is too busy to take care of herself; the tough gal who has seen and done it all; the feisty, brash, older Southern belle; the maternal …

Children of all ages, and even adults, may experience separation anxiety at various times in their lives, and there are many good techniques to help soothe the transitions. Author and former social worker, Jennifer Kelman, wrote a new children's book titled “Mrs. Pinkelmeyer and Moopus McGlinden Burn the Rrrrump Rrrroast” after her nephew was left in her care overnight and had a serious case of separation anxiety. Drawing from her social work training and her own good instincts, Kelman created the silly character, Mrs. Pinkelmeyer, British accent and all, to distract the distraught little boy…

On May 8, 2008, Meg Baker was at her piano rehearsing for the release of her CD, “Red Jacket Road,” at a benefit concert for A Wider Circle, scheduled for June 1st at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Kensington. The phone rang with dreaded news. Just two weeks after she had found a lump in her breast, her doctor was now calling with the results. “You do have some cancer cells,” he told her. He referred her to a cancer surgeon, who initially expected that a lumpectomy would be sufficient. Unfortunately, further testing revealed multiple tumors in both breasts and a double mastectomy was …

It seems especially awful in the world today. The horrific earthquake and tsunami in Japan; political unrest in most of the Middle East; two young women beaten, one killed and one raped right here in downtown Bethesda; economic suffering throughout our country. But there is always a spark of good amidst the bad, and it occurs to me that Facebook plays a large part in our ability to find what is good.  As those of us old enough to remember, and viewers of “The Social Network” know, when Facebook started in 2004, it was designed for the exclusive use of college students. Within a very short …

For the Bradbury family, hosting an exchange student is a natural extension of their international roots. Suzette and Simon hail from New Zealand; Suzette studied in Germany during college; and they relocated to Washington, D.C. and then Kensington with their three daughters almost 12 years ago. Last summer, Suzette saw a posting on the high school listserv looking for host families for exchange students. Her interest was piqued, and she inquired about becoming a host. The organization, Youth for Understanding, responded immediately to her call and within a few weeks, the match had been made…

Last November, I publicly renewed my New Year's resolution to lose weight and get in shape before the end of my 50th year, which was exactly one week ago. I am proud to report that while not quite at my goal, I have slowly and steadily made changes to my exercise and nutrition routines. As of today, I've lost 12 pounds. So what's different this time from the other million and a half times I vowed to work toward this same goal? For me, it's accountability to a trainer. Once I signed up and paid for personal training, I was determined to make it work even though those first few sessions were …

First there were the pet dogs: Pippin, Greta, Jack, Nolan, and the current duo of Toby and Bella, a Katrina rescue. Frequently one, two or sometimes even three neighborhood canines join them while their families are out of town. My own menagerie of pets have been treated to the Silverman’s care over the years as well.  It was no surprise to those of us who know them and know how much they love dogs, when Patriot arrived in the neighborhood in November 2008, as the family’s first Guiding Eyes for the Blind puppy-in-training.  Jean and her son, Eric, who was 13 at the time, took the initial …

I really appreciate that Patch readers and friends are sending me ideas for this column. One suggestion was to write about the parenting issues involved in teen parties. For example, do you call the other parents if the party’s at their house? Do you check the kids’ pockets and purses if it’s at yours? Or do you just hold your breath and hope nothing bad happens? Another had to do with options for middle-schoolers coming home to an empty house. Should the schools provide daily afternoon programs? How much can you impose on your neighbors? Is it okay for your child to be home alone every …

When we first moved into our Kensington neighborhood 20 years ago, we knew our neighbors as “Bailey’s dad” or “Jesse’s mom.” These weren’t the kids we were talking about — there were hardly any of them at the time. No, these were the dogs. While the neighborhood has turned over and there are now plenty of children, the dog population has exploded as well. Within a block of my front door, I can count 19 four-legged furry friends.  Every morning, a steady stream of neighbors gather at the local park for both dog and human interaction. Starting with the pre-work crowd (mostly men), to the post-…

It seems odd that parenting, perhaps the most important job in the world, comes with no prerequisites and no training. We’re left to our own devices to figure out how to raise kind, compassionate, cooperative, productive citizens of the world, but any parent in the midst of bedtime or morning power struggles will agree that this is no easy task. Fortunately, there are tools to help.  Last Thursday, Jan. 20, a group of Montgomery County parents gathered at White Oak Middle School to learn from Rob Guttenberg, Director of Parenting Education for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase YMCA Bethesda Youth …