When is it OK to Leave Your Child Home Alone?
As a new school year kicks off, parents may be toying with the reality of letting their child be home alone for a few hours after school.
Author: Karen M. Alley
How to Maintain a Strong Relationship When You and Your Child are Apart
Creative avenues for small talk when you’re away from your kids.
Early College Prepares Students for Future Success
Advancing the high school track for future success.
Blended Families: Fitting in New Holiday Traditions
While you might be ready for a change, your children might not be.
Blended Families: Communicating for a Better School Year
Ideas on how to communicate with your child's school.
Co-Parenting: How to Deal With Differences of Opinion
Tips on reconciling different parenting styles with your ex.
Blended Family Vacation Planning Made Easy
Tips to help this year's summer planning work out as smoothly as possible.
Tackling Chores as a Blended Family
A few tips to help navigate the minefield of assigning chores in a blended family.
I’m a Step-parent: What Does That Mean?
How do figure out where you fit in your family.
Holiday Shopping Tips for Blended Families
How to avoid the competition between you and your ex-spouse and cut down on unnecessary duplicates.
Autumn at Oz
Follow the yellow brick road to Beech Mountain and the Land of Oz.
Blended Families: Starting School Right as a Stepparent
Tips to get the new school year off to a smooth start.
Blended Families: Why Kids Need a Room of Their Own
For kids, having a secure knowledge that they have a room of their own is very important.
Lessening the Summer Stress in Blended Families
Five ways to handle the summer schedule in a way that will make things fun for everyone.
The Divorced Parents Meet-Up
It's up to us, as adults, to make these transitions smooth for everyone.
10 Tips to Get Ready for College Applications
Steps students can take to help make the college application process smoother.
Change Is Inevitable
Ways to help your children deal with change.
Making the Blended Holidays Work
Tips on how to make it through the holidays as a blended family.
How to Help Your Child Prepare for a New Sibling
For a newly married couple, bringing a newborn into your home and figuring out your roles as parents can bring you closer as a couple.
Maintaining a Network as a Stepparent
A lot of Americans are living in some sort of blended family, and there are plenty of places for them to reach out to for support.
Step Up: How to Discipline as a Step Parent
Tips to help minimize the power struggles in your blended family household.
5 Ways to Cut Your Food Budget
Find ways to shave some dollars off your family grocery bill.
A Trip to Fort Dobbs State Historical Site
Venture to Fort Dobbs for a lesson in what life was like on the frontier.
Raising positive kids
When my dad got a new job and we had to move to Statesville, N.C., from Atlanta, it was a pretty scary time for my brother and me.
Time-Management Tips
Learning to cut down communication helps with time management. Take these tips to heart!
Work + Leisure = Weisure
Technology is blurring line between work and family.
Viriginia Creeper Trail
Try this exciting, outdoor hiking and biking adventure in neighboring Virginia.
Safe Sunscreen Tips for Babies
Tips to help protect babies against the sun's harmful rays.
Job Sharing Makes Work-Life Balance Easier for Parents
An in-depth look at what it means to job share today.
Questions Every Parent Should Ask Before Choosing a Day Care
A list of questions parents should ask before enrolling a child in a daycare facility.
Understanding North Carolina’s Day Care Rating System
A comprehensive breakdown of N.C. daycare ratings and tips on how to find a reliable one for your child.
Near and Far: N.C. Transportation Museum
If you love the excitement of the Smithsonian but your kids can’t stand long drives, believe it or not we have our own miniature version right here in North Carolina. It’s not quite the grand scale of the hallowed institution in Washington, D.C., but when my daughter Caroline, my brother Locke and I visited the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, I had flashbacks of my visit to the National Air and Space Museum.
