From electric scooters and fidgets to cookie kits and activity boxes, we’ve got a round-up of the season’s best toys, treats, and games—and where to find them in Charlotte. We caught up with Dan Weiss, owner of Harper & Skyler’s…
As parents of four, Dawn and Joe Hewitt understand how hard it is to coordinate a myriad of activities and schedules. It’s why the Huntersville-based couple founded Groupeasy, an app to help busy parents streamline all of their email-based communication…
At just over an hour drive from Charlotte, Winston-Salem is an easy getaway if you find yourself with an unscheduled weekend ahead of the holiday season. Find seasonal festivals, fall foliage, holiday lights, and a mural-lined greenway. Leave the car…
Charlotte Lucas isn’t afraid to use bold colors and whimsical patterns, and that’s exactly why clients across the city hire the designer to add some pizzazz to their homes. When it came to her own midcentury modern house in…
CELEBRATE DIWALI AT OPTIMIST HALL Come to Botiwalla on Thursday, November 4 and celebrate Diwali, a festival of lights that marks India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. The family-friendly evening includes traditional décor, lights, special menu…
Each month, our 8-year-old resident foodie visits a different Charlotte-area restaurant that’s kid-friendly—but not a kid-topia. He orders something he’s never tried before and reports back with his recommendations for kids and their parents. Here is his review of Emmy…
Lily Barnes is our 10-year-old resident kid baker. Each month she shares an original recipe that kids can make at home with their parents, plus a few behind-the-scenes tips and tricks to make your treat extra special. Here is Lily’s…
Michelle Castelloe spent more than 20 years working corporate jobs before she opened Moxie Mercantile, the lifestyle boutique with locations in Plaza Midwood, Davidson, and Matthews. She fills her stores with apparel, jewelry, and home décor by local artisans, and…
Elizabeth City is a popular stop on the way to the Outer Banks in the summer months, but the waterfront town is also a great place for a family-friendly weekend trip in the fall. You’ll find cozy accommodations, a…
Melissa Lee’s clients had lived in their SouthPark Tudor for close to 10 years when they hired her to transform the upstairs playroom. Their daughters, now 10 and 13, wanted a more mature lounge space where they could do schoolwork,…
HONOR BREAST CANCER WARRIORS Join WBTV’s Molly Grantham on Saturday, October 2 at 10 a.m. at Truist Field for the Taste of Charlotte Pink Cupcake Run/Walk and Breast Cancer Lap. The $25 registration fee gets you a cupcake from…
Each month, our 8-year-old resident foodie visits a different Charlotte-area restaurant that’s kid-friendly—but not a kid-topia. He orders something he’s never tried before and reports back with his recommendations for kids and their parents. Here is his review of Brewers…
Q: Hi, Molly. My 9-year-old wants a phone. Husband and I have been totally against it, but then I wished he had one the first few weeks of school when the bus schedules were crazy and I couldn’t reach…
Dan Weiss is the owner of Harper & Skyler’s Toys & Sweets, which opens on October 1 in Park Road Shopping Center. The New Jersey native has more than a decade of experience in the toy business after running a…
Lily Barnes is our 10-year-old resident kid baker. Each month she shares an original recipe that kids can make at home with their parents, plus a few behind-the-scenes tips and tricks to make your treat extra special. Here is Lily’s…
Dominique DeLaney, owner of Dominique DeLaney Interior Design, worked on every room of her clients’ new build in The Enclave community in Huntersville. The homeowners, who have two middle school-aged boys, wanted a light, coastal-inspired interior. So DeLaney installed wire-brushed white…
Nashville is a prime destination for live music and bachelorette parties, but a night out on Lower Broadway is a bit harder to swing with kids in tow. Fortunately Music City has plenty of kid-friendly spots that aren’t just bearable—they’re…
Charlotte Parent is thrilled to welcome Mollie Gee to our tribe. Some of you will recognize her from her instagram handle @thechubbydebutante, where she posts motivational quotes, book recommendations, and openly shares some of her own struggles on her motherhood…
Carrie Tucker is a family nurse practitioner and mom of two boys, ages 5 and 2. When the pandemic hit, she and her mom wanted a fun project to do at home, so they started making cosmetic bags in the…
Before I had kids, I would have told you good manners were non-negotiable. Even more than straight As or winning soccer goals, I wanted my children to demonstrate kindness, respect, and basic human civility. I’ve backpedaled on quite a few…
CLOSE OUT SUMMER AT THE BALLANTYNE The hotel will host a family-friendly line-up of activities for Labor Day weekend, September 3-5. Take a Cookie Workshop ($25 per child) with Executive Pastry Chef Henry Martignago. Head to the Lowcountry BBQ ($24…
Each month, our 8-year-old resident foodie visits a different Charlotte-area restaurant that’s kid-friendly—but not a kid-topia. He orders something he’s never tried before and reports back with his recommendations for kids and their parents. Here is his review of…
Lily Barnes is our 10-year-old resident kid baker. Each month she shares an original recipe that kids can make at home with their parents, plus a few behind-the-scenes tips and tricks to make your treat extra special. Here is…
Renee Ratcliffe and her husband John founded Cakeable Charlotte in 2019 to offer baking classes and job skills training for students who have different abilities. They fund their classes with donations and proceeds from bake sales, pop-up sales, and…
Bea Moise is a board-certified cognitive specialist, national speaker, and creator of A Child Like Mine, a company to educate parents of children with unique behavioral and learning needs. She and her husband are parents to two children: Jake, 10,…
If you dread the endless lines, overpriced food, and stimulation overload at an amusement park, Dollywood might just change your mind. It’s a 3 hour and 40 minute drive from Charlotte and drops you in the foothills of the Great…
I’ve spent most of my adult life pretending to be an extrovert in public, but at my core I’m a solitude-craving, journal-keeping, book-loving introvert. As a writer I spend so much time inside my head and behind my computer. Yet…
HAVE A ‘HAPPY DAY’ AT OPTIMIST HALL Head over to Optimist Hall to celebrate their second birthday and help kids in our community on Sunday, August 1 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Enjoy a full day of activities including a…
Each month, our 8-year-old resident foodie visits a different Charlotte-area restaurant that’s kid-friendly—but not a kid-topia. He orders something he’s never tried before and reports back with his recommendations for kids and their parents. Here is his review of YaMe…
Brooke Adler had a very specific timeline when she redesigned the breakfast nook in her client’s Myers Park home. The homeowner was expecting her third baby so she needed furniture that was in stock or had a reasonable backorder date,…
Lily Barnes is our 10-year-old resident kid baker. Each month she shares an original recipe that kids can make at home with their parents, plus a few behind-the-scenes tips and tricks to make your treat extra special. Here is Lily’s…
Meet Matt, Tammy, Olivia, and Chandler DeBoer. If they look familiar, you might have seen one of their faces on “Black-ish,” “Shameless,” “You,” or “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” In 2019, this Charlotte-based family moved to Burbank, CA to chase their children’s…
Sixteen months is a long time to be at home with kids. You love them with every fiber of your being, sure, but it can feel suffocating when there’s no time or space to be alone. The freedom to…
VISIT CAMP NORTH BEACH The Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit has gotten a ton of buzz this summer, but that’s not all that’s going on at Camp North End. Take the kids to check out Camp North Beach, a beachy oasis…
Each month, our 8-year-old resident foodie visits a different Charlotte-area restaurant that’s kid-friendly—but not a kid-topia. He orders something he’s never tried before and reports back with his recommendations for kids and their parents. Here is his review of Orto,…
Meet Lily Barnes, our 10-year-old resident kid baker. The rising 5th grader comes by her love of baking naturally—she’s grown up watching her father Jamie, chef and co-owner of What the Fries, flex his creative muscles in the kitchen. Lily…
Drs. Joya and Drew Lyons are spouses and owners of Smile Savvy and Cosmetic Dentistry, the state’s only cosmetic dentistry practice owned by a Black couple. The Lyonses are also parents to 7-year-old Brielle and 2-year-old Trace, who was born…
As executive chef at Brewers at 4001 Yancey and corporate executive chef of Artisinal Brewing Ventures, Drew Ward writes menus for nine taprooms including Southern Tier, Victory, and Bold Rock. At home, his sons Jared, 12, and Ryan, 10, request…
As founder and principal of Greentree Homes, Emily Bramwell oversees the design and construction of custom homes across Charlotte. As a mom of three young children, she does laundry around the clock. When she and her husband bought a 1929…
I gave birth to my son on Father’s Day, so I have a running joke with my husband that I never have to give him another Father’s Day gift again. He watched the US Open while I endured 44 hours…
SWIM IN A QUARRY Head to the quarry at Carrigan Farms for Open Swim. Take a dip in the quarry, jump off the rocks, swing off the rope swing, and fish in the ponds. Hours are 10 a.m. to…
Each month, our 7-year-old resident foodie visits a different Charlotte-area restaurant that’s kid-friendly—but not a kid-topia. He orders something he’s never tried before and reports back with his recommendations for kids and their parents. Here is his review of the…
As director of operations at YAFO Kitchen, Kevin Flack is surrounded with Middle Eastern street food every day. At home, the father of four is in charge of the weekend routine, which includes “pancake day.” Wife Allison works as an…
John Soprano, owner of Sopranos Building and Restoration, has done custom carpentry in and around the Fort Mill area for more than 20 years. From master closets to staircases to pool house gazebos, there’s almost nothing he can’t do. When…
Jenna Enoch’s mornings typically begin at 2 a.m., when she heads to her post at Spectrum News to report the day’s headlines from 5 to 9 a.m. After her workday wraps at noon, she goes home for her “second shift”…
Earlier this year The New York Times published an article called The Primal Scream: America’s Mothers Are In Crisis. If you didn’t read it, there’s a good chance you heard about it from a mom who did. My senior editor…
SPEND FRIDAY NIGHT AT CAMP NORTH END Head to Camp North End for a night of live music, food, and public art. Grab dinner at one of the food stalls or have a beer at Free Range Brewing. Kids can…
Each month, our 7-year-old resident foodie visits a different Charlotte-area restaurant that’s kid-friendly—but not a kid-topia. He orders something he’s never tried before and reports back with his recommendations for kids and their parents. Here is his review of Silverlake…
When the What the Fries team celebrated the grand opening of their first storefront last month, co-owner Jamie Barnes’ 9-year-old daughter Lily wanted to make a cake to surprise her dad. She enlisted the help of expert pastry chef (and…
It was a dream job for designer Melissa Lee and her team at New South Home: A single dad had two empty rooms in his Ballantyne Tudor that he wanted to transform into something special for his 7-year-old daughter. “He…
