Jarrod Partridge

Most parents have never asked to see their child’s full school file, and most would probably be surprised by what’s in it. A federal law already gives every parent the right to inspect it, along with the right to say no before a school hands their child a survey on subjects like religion, family income, […]

Pick a consequence connected to what your 12-year-old actually did, not a blanket punishment that takes away everything for a week. Keep it short. Two or three days is long enough for a 12-year-old to feel it and correct course. Deliver it once, calmly, and move on. Repeating the lecture after the consequence is already

Get down to your child’s eye level, say their name, and give one short instruction instead of a string of requests. Rule out hearing trouble, ADHD, or an auditory processing issue before assuming your seven-year-old is choosing to ignore you. Ask your child to repeat the instruction back to you. That one step catches most

Scroll through the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall list from this year and you will find children’s pajamas showing up again and again: Morgan Lane, Andy & Evan, Forever 21, The Black Sheep Fam, Sam’s Club’s Member’s Mark line, SHEIN’s Michley pajamas, Silks, Marcus Adler, Kith and more, all pulled in 2026 for violating

Every car seat sold in the United States after December 5, 2026 will have to pass a crash test that did not exist when most parents bought their current seat. The federal government is adding a side-impact requirement to the safety rules that govern child car seats for the first time, and the countdown to

A federal safety agency wants parents to check their medicine cabinets, bathroom drawers and travel bags right now. Diamond Wipes International has recalled about 55,250 packets of MD Wipe Outz Numbing Tattoo Wipes after regulators found the packaging does not meet the child-resistant standard required for products containing lidocaine. If a young child gets into

Starting this fall, Instagram and Facebook will lock most teen users out after two cumulative hours a day, and the only way around it is a parent’s permission. That single change is part of an $18 billion settlement Meta reached this week with 46 states, closing a lawsuit that argued the company knowingly built its

Ask your teen what kind of day they actually want before you plan anything. Sixteen means more independence, and that includes having a say in how the day looks. A small, personal celebration with close friends usually lands better than a big, expensive party most teens didn’t ask for. Set the budget out loud early

Tie consequences to the missing behavior, not the grade itself: lost phone time for skipped homework, a tutor for a subject that’s actually hard, a study schedule for poor time management. Sit down with your teen before you decide anything. A calm, non-judgmental conversation about what went wrong works better than a punishment handed down

One in ten teens now knows someone who has been targeted by a deepfake, an AI-generated image or video built to look real. That number didn’t exist five years ago, and it’s landing right as kids head back into hallways, group chats, and the apps where this kind of bullying spreads fastest. Cyberbullying used to

The research on chores is real, but it points to a handful of regular tasks done consistently, not a long daily list. Forced, punitive chores tend to backfire. Kids who help out of a sense of belonging stick with it longer than kids who are threatened into it. It’s fine to scale chores back in

Match the consequence to the behavior itself. Taking away a phone for talking back teaches nothing; losing phone privileges after a lie about screen time teaches everything. Address what’s underneath the disrespect first. Most back talk comes from a child who feels unheard, not one who woke up wanting to be rude. Stay calm and

Nearly six in ten parents say their child’s school only rates a B or C for cleanliness, and bathrooms are the single biggest complaint on the list. That’s the headline finding from a new national survey released as families settle back into the school routine, and it lands at a moment when parents are already

Constant arguing between a husband and son is usually about control and approval on the father’s side and about autonomy and being taken seriously on the son’s side, not about the surface topic they’re fighting over. The single most useful shift is separating the person from the problem: naming what’s actually being asked for, instead

Constant noise-making, humming, or made-up sounds are almost always a normal way kids regulate their nervous system, especially when they’re excited, bored, or trying to focus. The sounds usually shift with a child’s mood and setting rather than staying fixed, which is one clue they aren’t a tic or compulsion. Talk to your pediatrician if

A federal courtroom in Oakland is now the stage for a case that could change how your child’s favorite apps are built. Four states are arguing that Meta engineered Instagram and Facebook to hook kids the way a slot machine hooks an adult, and that company leaders knew it and stayed quiet. The trial opened

Independence in preschoolers grows through daily routines they can do themselves, like washing hands, choosing between two outfits, and putting toys away, not through big one-time lessons. Independent preschool activities work best when the task is broken into small steps and you step back long enough for your child to work through the frustrating middle

If your child talks from the moment they wake up until the moment they fall asleep, and you’ve started wondering whether autism and constant talking are connected, you’re not alone in asking. Constant talking on its own is not a sign of autism. It becomes a signal worth watching when it’s paired with trouble reading

Caitlin, a mother in Los Angeles, did not set out to get smaller. She started a GLP-1 medication for an autoimmune condition and immediately worried about a different problem: what her daughter would learn from watching her body change. “I don’t want to accidentally teach my daughter that being smaller equals being better or more

• Cloth diapering one child from birth to potty training typically saves $1,000 to $2,000 compared to disposables, even after you add in the extra water, electricity, and detergent. • The savings barely show up in year one: the upfront stash costs $400 to $800. The real payoff starts in year two and grows fast