If you haven’t yet heard about Reducetarianism, there’s a good chance you will in the new year. Whole Foods predicts it will be a top 10 food trend in 2022. In a culture of extreme diets, Reducetarianism focuses on what…
When I was a kid, my mom made one dinner that catered primarily to my father's palate. Unless it was a special occasion, my mom didn’t ask my brothers and me what we were in the mood to eat, and…
Q: How do you get a stubborn child to wear a jacket in Winter?—Name Withheld A: I have no idea. My 7-year-old surfer son, Hutch, pretends it’s summer NoMatterWhat. Even in the dead of December, or rainy days standing in…
Why is finding joy so hard during the holidays? Well, let’s see…there’s the increased pressure and expectations from family. Grief from loss. Pain from past trauma. Anxiety from worrying. Stress from the never-ending to-do list. Exhaustion from all of it.…
Professional dancer Sarah Hayes Harkins is currently performing her 14th season in Charlotte Ballet’s Nutcracker. But this year’s preparation has been a bit tougher than others. She and her husband Payton welcomed daughter Frankie in July. We caught up…
Q: My 9-year-old son smells after soccer practice. Not sweaty kid smell—like, full-blown body odor. We make him shower every night, but is it too soon for deodorant? I don’t want to embarrass him.—Liz A: No. Not too soon.…
We’ve heard that boundaries allow us to love ourselves and others at the same time. Yet setting boundaries is arguably one of the hardest things to do, especially during the holidays. Pressures and expectations are at an all-time high, particularly…
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…
Please be gentle with me. It’s a phrase that encompasses what many of us grieving moms want from others and need from ourselves. Yet too much gets in the way, leaving us feeling overwhelmed, paralyzed, and alone. Perhaps this is…
What are the three best words on the planet when you have no idea what to cook, are tired of kitchen duty, or have been on the go all day? Kids Eat Free! Luckily there are lots of great places…
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…
When deciding the right time to have a baby, considerations like maternal age, finances, and ages of other children come into play. For more than a year, the pandemic has given couples even more reason to wonder, “Is now the…
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,…
Earlier this summer, my husband and I hiked through the woods near Linville Falls, leaving our three boys at home. I felt the stress of the last 18 months melt away. School, jobs, extended family, health, and safety had been…
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…
Here we are. Back to school. As we transition from the ease of the summer to the stress of the school year, many moms feel motivated. Their Consistency Capes are tied tight. Others feel overwhelmed, exhausted, or panicked their Consistency…
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…
Q: I pay a summer sitter to come four days a week, and my neighbor’s kids are in and out of my house constantly. My sitter says she doesn’t mind, but I don’t think my neighbors should get free childcare…
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…
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…
We sat down with Aarthi of the mother-daughter duo behind Magpies to learn more about their pop-up bakery. You may know Aarthi and Addy from: Magpies, their bakery that pops up around town at farmer’s markets. The name is…
