Kathy Landin

The Elf on the Shelf—whether you find him cute, annoying or somewhere in between, he's everywhere these days, making the holiday season even more complicated for parents. We did a little investigating on this elusive creature that has become a phenomenon, and discovered a few things we didn't expect.

Christmas is a time for joyous giving and families coming together and singing and eggnog. But we all know that on some level it’s all about the presents.

The school buses are running again, and the kids are out of the house. Finally. With the end of the far-too-long summer break, this return to school days can leave you with a little extra time on your hands during the day, right? Well, maybe not too much, but your daily schedule should ease up a bit, so now what do you do? You get back on the Internet, that’s what.

School is back in session in a lot of places, but that doesn’t mean that travel is completely off-limits for your family.

When your kids go back to school, it’s almost like you go back to school, too. Teachers and childhood development professionals agree that when a child’s parents are involved in his education, he learns more and gets better grades. That means, you have just as big a responsibility in his schoolwork as he does.

Somehow another summer has flown by and the kiddos are headed back to school again. Sure, that means vacations are over, the house will be empty and days at the pool are numbered. But what it also means is that it’s time to shop for supplies.

At last, summer vacation time is here. If you haven’t started planning, it’s not too late. There’s a lot of summer ahead of us, and you can still find time to get out of town with your family before school starts back up again. Just make sure you you don’t fall into a few common traps and you’ll have the best vacation ever.

Wake up. Sound the alarms. Father’s Day is on Sunday. It seems like we talk about Mother’s Day for a month before it actually happens, but Father’s Day just sneaks up on us every year. If this has happened to you and you aren’t prepared with a gift, it’s not too late.