As soon as school ended last June, we put all of our possessions into storage and moved across the country for my husband's new job. Since then, my seven-year-old, my husband, myself, our two cats and the dog have been living in a small apartment with a borrowed television and rented furniture. Because we flew to our new city, we were unable to bring much more than our clothes and a few other personal belongings.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and that is a fact. With very little in the way of real toys to play with and not a friend in sight, keeping Ellie busy with something other than television and computer games has been a challenge. We do spend lots of time exploring our new town and the surrounding areas, but that still leaves many hours to fill at home. The thrill of lounging by the pool each and every day got old pretty quick and that's when we got creative.

The only things we have actually purchased to amuse ourselves with are pool and beach related items. Who knew that they could be used in so many ways away from the water? We've played baseball with a rolled up beach mat, balled up socks and flip-flop bases. We have used swim noodles as swords and had duels in the living room. We even ring-tossed the dog with an inflatable inner-tube.

We've played Nancy Drew looking for clues when walking the dog and we colored pictures on the backs of paper plates to decorate our temporary home. Ellie has perfected the art of the small-space cartwheel and learned to write her name beautifully in cursive.

If all goes as planned, we will move into our new house next week. The stuff of our lives will be returned to us and things will go back to normal. I would be lying if I said I wanted to remain in this residential limbo a while longer, but I do think I will miss it when it's over. And Ellie would never admit it, but I suspect she will, too. How do you manage to strip away the stuff of life and get that simple, quality time with your child?

My older daughter's soccer coach called last night. I groaned when he told me he'd set soccer practices for the same day of the week that my daughter has dance. Now, one evening a week, she'll go from one dance class to the other, then directly to soccer practice. It's too much, in my opinion. But she's adamant that she doesn't want to give either activity up. Luckily, soccer season is short-lived.

I know that, down the road, we'll have this conversation again. We're lucky that there are so many great programs out there for our kids to take part in, but yet there has to be room in the schedule not only for family time, but for downtime too. It's got me wondering, how does a parent know when to say when to after-school activities?

According to Scholastic, extra-curricular activities benefit kids in a myriad of ways -- academically, emotionally, and socially. But kids need to play a role in deciding what and how much they want to take on. (In other words, trying to turn an uninterested child into Tiger Woods through early and intensive golf classes isn't really going to do anyone any good). They've also got a grade-by-grade guide to after-school activities for little ones. According to them, our two extra-curricular activities are perfectly appropriate... I just wish they didn't all happen on the same night.

What about you? Where do you draw the line when it comes to extracurricular activities?

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Should he choose to, Jericho Scott could probably have a career as a professional baseball player. Only nine-years-old, the New Haven, Connecticut boy has a fastball pitch that has been clocked at 40 miles per hour. Unfortunately, it's that fastball that has gotten him banned from pitching for the co-ed Youth Baseball League of New Haven.

Scott's coach and parents say that he's being unfairly targeted and that league officials are picking on him because he turned down an invitation to join the league's champion team, which happens to be sponsored by a league administrator. League officials say Scott was banned due to safety concerns. Although everyone admits that Scott has never hit anyone with a pitch, league attorney Peter Noble says parents are afraid their kids will get hurt at bat. "He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."

League officials have suggested that Scott play another position, pitch against older players or even play in a different league. But last week, Scott took the mound despite the ban. In response, the other team forfeited the game and walked off the field. This did not go over well with Scott's mom, who Noble says became irate and threatened league officials. "I have never seen behavior of a parent like the behavior Jericho's mother exhibited Wednesday night," Noble said.

The Scotts have gotten their own lawyer and are looking into their legal options. "You don't have to be learned in the law to know in your heart that it's wrong," attorney John Williams said. "Now you have to be punished because you excel at something?"

What is happening to Jericho Scott may seem unfair, but I don't know that I would characterize it as punishment for being too good. By that logic, forcing beginner players to face a 40-mile-per-hour fastball is punishing them for not being good enough. The suggestion to play with an older team seems like a good solution to this problem and I wonder why he doesn't take it.

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In California, the minimum age to get behind the wheel of a car is fifteen and a half, when you can get a learner's permit. There are, it seems, no such restrictions on flying a plane. That's why, even though he's got at least five years before he can learn to drive a car, Charlie Goldfarb is already learning how to fly a plane -- and actually doing it.

The boy has been taking lessons while staying with his father in Southern California for the summer. His mom, who lives in London, at first agreed to the lessons, but apparently didn't really get the whole picture. "She said, 'Are you crazy? You let him fly a plane? I thought it would be a flight simulator,'" said his father, Mark Goldfarb. "I was thinking of something interesting for him to do. He's got an aptitude for high science; he loves aircraft. ... I don't believe in parents who want to protect their kids from all risks."

Still, he won't be able to fly on his own for another six years, but something tells me that won't stop him from continuing to fly. His mom once he gets back home to England? That I'm not so sure about.

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It's a terrifying scenario, but given the ability, I think it would play out about the same for each of us. Wendy Nelson's ten-year-old daughter was playing at a local playground when a man tried to take her clothes off and abduct her. Mrs. Nelson was sitting on her steps while her daughter played with friends, but when she called for her daughter to come in, the girl came running home crying.

"She said, 'That man tried to take off my pants,'" Nelson said. The man also allegedly asked the girl to stay overnight at his house. Nelson went after the man and told him she was going to call the police; while she was walking away, the suspect attacked her with a knife, stabbing her twice in the neck. Nelson grabbed a piece of pipe and fought back. Her son, seventeen-year-old Brendon, came to help and was cut on the side of his head.

Mrs. Nelson managed to knock the man to the ground and, while her son took the man's knife, hit him twice in the head with the pipe. Police say the man will probably face charges after he gets out of the hospital. Nelson, too, may be charged, although that's not a consequence she worried about. "I don't really care because I did what I had to do," she said. I can definitely understand that and would have to say that if someone tried that with my daughter, chances are, they wouldn't get off so easily.

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Lemonade stands are a rite of passage for kids, their first foray into the world of entrepreneurship. Kids may haul out a table and chair in front of their house to earn a little spare change, or they may have more elaborate setups to raise funds for their group or charity. Rarely, do officials bother them about zoning ordinances or permits.

Some Clayton, California residents are saying that 11-year-old Katie Lewis's organic produce stand is little different than any other child's lemonade stand. She makes about $20 a week for her savings account selling fresh fruits and vegetables at her roadside stand, but last week Clayton city officials forced her to shut down, saying that her business violates zoning rules and health regulations.

Katie's parents are stunned and are asking for an exception, while the community is split on whether or not the city is being too heavy-handed. Some applaud their "no exceptions" rule, but others think that Katie should be allowed to run her business. I think I'd ask the officials, this: Why is it ok for kids to sell lemonade, but not lemons (or zucchini or watermelon, for that matter?)

What do you think? Should Katie be allowed to sell her veggies, or is the city correct in shutting her down?

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Many of today's parents grew up with the daily query, "Did you remember to take your vitamin?" and would dutifully trudge back to the kitchen and pop that Flintstone chewable.

Today there is a vast ocean of choice when it comes to children's vitamins. You can choose between omega3, immunity support, zinc & echinachea, extra iron, or extra C in liquid, swallow-able, or chewable in the traditional chalky version, gummy-bear, or bubblegum variety forms.

But are vitamins still an necessary part of a children's daily diet? A British website did a study on children's multivitamins and found only five out of 14 brands of supplements contained all 12 essential vitamins and stated that some have little more nutritional value than candy.

Even experts seem to disagree whether multivitamins are necessary for all children. The American Academy of Pediatrics only giving supplements if your pediatrician advises you to, but the same organization also says a daily vitamin isn't likely do any harm, unless it exceeds the recommended daily allowance amounts of a vitamin or mineral.

With so many of today's common food and beverages being fortified (Who could have imagined that calcium could be added to orange juice?!) even finicky children are probably getting a lot more vitamins and minerals than parents realize. We're pretty lackadaisical on the multivitamin front in our house. What about you?

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Our friends over at MomLogic have broached a subject that many of us will soon be dealing with: getting the kids off the summer schedule and back on the school schedule. I don't know about you, but we have gotten so far off schedule this summer that I can't even remember what a schedule is.

But the thing I love most about summer - after the swimming and sunning - is the sleeping late. And if I want to do it, the kid's gotta do it, too. So we tend to stay up later during the summer months and getting back into the swing of things in the fall is a challenge. But with a little forethought and planning, it shouldn't be too painful.

As with just about everything else in life, talking things out can help ease a transition. Explain to your child that in order to be healthy and ready to learn, a good night's sleep is necessary. And if you have to get up earlier, then you have to go to bed earlier, too. This transition takes a little time, so don't wait until the night before the first day of school to implement the change. A week or so of 'early to bed, early to rise' before the big day should help things go smoother.

For some of us, it is still light out when it is bedtime. This is when blackout shades or curtains are worth every penny you pay for them. But don't leave them closed. After your child has fallen asleep, sneak back in and open them up. When the sun comes up, the light should help rouse them.

Once you've got everyone back on track, try not to slip off schedule on the weekends. This just makes Monday morning even harder for everyone. Lastly - and this is the hardest part for me - try getting yourself to bed earlier, too. Cranky parents make for cranky kids and nobody wants to start the day off that way.

What is it with the remakes? First every movie we've already seen, then all our favorite television programs (Mister Rogers is around the corner, I'm warning you) and now the boardgames. No, they turned Clue into a movie a long time ago--and it was a mighty good one, with three endings!--but they're actually "updating" the board game. In essence, Clue is getting a makeover.

What is the point of all this? I'm not sure, not sure at all. Clue is seriously my favorite board game of all time. I and most of the folks I know see no reason to mess with or update a classic, but here you have it anyway. I guess it's never too late to try to make a little more money, or to appeal to a new generation of kids. These kids, however, have seriously advanced technology to play with like Wii, PSPs, iPods, etc., so I can't imagine why a young person would be interested in a boring old board game.

Except that the old Clue WASN'T boring. It was fun and required a lot of skill in determining who the killer could be. Plus it was a serious opportunity to play dress up. Tell me you haven't at least had the urge--if not given into it-- to dress up like Miss Scarlett. The updates to the new version include changing the first, if not last, names of the characters as well as their backgrounds. Also, three new weapons have been introduced to the mix. Will these additions actually improve the new Clue and make kids more likely to play it? I doubt it. But, only time will tell. Professor Plum, beware!

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Bath time need not be traumatic if you have the proper tools.

In some families, the original isn't always the best when it comes to fathers. For 'fragile families', described as low-income urban families prone to non marital births, mothers say that stepfathers are often more engaged, cooperative and willing to share responsibilities than married biological fathers.

A new study finds that while married biological fathers and stepfathers may be almost equally engaged with the children themselves, it is their interaction with mom that often makes stepfathers better parents. The mothers surveyed reported that stepfathers shared their parental views and were more open to talking about their parental wants than natural fathers. Rebekah Levine Coley, a developmental psychologist at Boston College, says this is probably because stepfathers "have to work harder to fit in and to have a useful productive role."

Coley says the findings contradict the popular view among social workers and experts that dads are more invested if the child is of their own flesh and blood. "I think this research does, to some extent, call some of those assumptions into question," she said.

The conclusions were made after interviewing 2,098 urban mothers from the The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study and will be published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

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As kids head back to school with new backpacks and sneakers and grins missing teeth, you're breathing a sigh of relief. Right? Isn't that what you're doing?

Well, maybe not if your child is going to school for the first time (if that's the case, deep breath, everything will be FINE....) But for kids heading back to school for the second year, or the fifth for that matter, you know your child is re-entering the realm of structured routines, after school activities, and yes, homework.

Is it a good thing? The homework, I mean. Some parents say it's the best thing ever--and they hound me from day one for more homework, more homework. Others say the opposite, and wonder why I ever send any homework home at all.

In my opinion homework in the elementary grades serves only one purpose: to get young students into routine of doing homework in preparation for the later grades. Other than that, I think it interferes with the meaningful and enriching activities children should be doing after school and at home with their families. Call me a renegade, but there is quite a bit of research out there to support my view.

Don't get me wrong-I'm not saying children should go home and play video games all afternoon. I think every child should spend time with books every single day--reading independently and being read. I also think that parents should involve their children in other meaningful academic activities that are incorporated into daily life--like playing math games, or doing research on a topic that the child is interested in.

But homework for homework's sake when your kid is 6 years old? I'm not convinced.

I'm curious. Do you think homework in the early grades is important and necessary--or is it overrated, and perhaps taking precious time away from other activities children could be doing?

School should be a safe place, one where kids can concentrate on learning, not on staying alive. Sadly, however, that's not always the case. "If you're afraid you're going to get beat up after school, it's hard to concentrate when you're in algebra class," said David Kopperud of the California Department of Education. In 1998, the World Health Organization surveyed more than fifteen thousand sixth through tenth grade students and found that nearly a third had been involved in bullying.

There are serious consequences of bullying and not just for the students directly involved. The American Medical Association estimates that as many as 160,000 kids refuse to go to school each day because of bullying. The kids miss out on their education and the schools lose their funding. Further, kids can end up with problems that affect their relationships, self-esteem, and emotional well-being. The U.S. Secret Service found that three out of four school shooters were bullied.

These days, there's an added twist to the problem -- the internet. Bullying has become "more extreme, more humiliating and more public," according to Elayne Savage, a psychotherapist and author of "Don't Take It Personally: The Art of Dealing With Rejection." She sees the effects of bullying in her adult clients too. "You never forget the hurtful slurs and actions," she says.

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How do your kids get to school? How did you get to school when you were a kid? Taking the yellow school bus, walking or riding a bike may all seem like normal methods of getting to school. In the modern world, we drive and carpool as well. But what about in urban environments where a lot of parents don't drive or even own a car? They take the subway.

And they do it ALONE. That's right--I've seen it myself. Kids popping onto and off of the subway without a parent in sight. How do they manage it? And why, you might wonder, do their parents let them do it? Well, necessity is the mother of invention and a lot of other things, it turns out. Kids are going in one direction, their parents in another (to school versus work), and the main way to get around town in New York, for example, is underground.

Turns out, it's probably safer too. Driving in this city is a disaster on a good day. You're a LOT less likely to get into an accident on the subway than you are in your car. Plus, the kids tend to travel in packs on the subway. I never see a kid get onto an empty car at an odd (non-rush hour) time. They pick which car to meet up on and collect as the train makes its stops toward their final destination. I know because I can hear them screeching above my iPod.

Since 1992, author R. L. Stine has been scaring the pants off young readers with his Goosebumps books. The science fiction/horror series for the under-twelve set has inspired several board games, PC games and even a television series. Having already made tons of money for Stine and Scholastic, the Goosebumps series may soon be making even more.

With Stine's recent release of a new 12-book series, Goosebumps in Horrorland, and a forthcoming video game, the series is seeing a resurgence in popularity. Columbia Pictures wants to get in on that and are currently negotiating with screenwriters to bring the books to life on the big screen. Just which book will be adapted hasn't been determined yet, but considering that the Goosebumps books are second only to the Harry Potter series in making money for Scholastic, you can assume it will be popular.

Or will it? Aren't the kids who made the Goosebumps series so popular adults now? And reading a scary horror book is a lot different than actually seeing it up on the big screen. Will you let your kid see it?

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