Over the next few days, I’m going to lead you through everything you need to know to confidently and quickly schedule successful playdates for your child.

You’ll receive a ton of useful information, including access to the latest research that proves how important play time is to your child’s developing brain, tips on choosing age-appropriate activities, and what to expect when the kids get together and do their jobs — play!

Also, in the spirit of true coaching and mentorship, I will help you know where to get even more information on each topic that this course covers. Look for the list of related topics at the end of each blog post.

It really does take a village. Five of ‘em, actually.

We parents want our children to be able to make it in this world without us, but not yet.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close tells the story of what happens when a child has to make do without a parent much too soon.

If Oscar could talk, he’d echo what our same-gender-loving brothers and sisters have been trying to tell us: the formula for family is simple.

Who you love  + Who loves you back = Family.

Dreamworks’ 2011 blockbuster, The Help, applies this simple equation to the transracial, intergenerational relationships between a cadre of 1960s black mammies and the white mothers who love (and also hate) them.

If there were such things, the job descriptions in the mammy training manual and the mommy training manual would certainly overlap — a competent caregiver of either stripe must clean the dirty, feed the hungry, and hush the distressed.

From dinner time conversation skills to the lost art of the thank-you note, today’s parents are returning to old-fashioned, time-tested values.  In developing gratitude, good manners, and every other life skill, children look to parents to lead the way. Here’s how you can do just that — no matter how young your brood is: