The Perseids are upon us! Known as the most-anticipated meteor shower of the summer—boasting upwards of 100 meteors per hour—tonight is the night to catch the Perseid Meteor Shower’s peak action.

From the first time we prop them in front of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to scarf down our dinner in peace to when they lock themselves in their room to play Fortnite for hours on end, parents are frequently asking themselves, “How much is too much screen time?”

If you died tomorrow, how many people would feel compelled to travel for your funeral, and how far would they have to come? It’s now fairly commonplace to leave your hometown and move across the country or abroad, at least for a while, and to find your loved ones scattered across thousands of miles.

We’re sort of conditioned as parents to put a lot of weight into the traditional milestones: The first tooth and the first bite of solid food. First words, first steps, first day of school. And, yes, these are all great (although the week leading up to the first tooth isn’t particularly pleasant). But in the nearly…

For many years, my mom has been telling herself—and anyone else who will listen—that she’s 45 years old. She’s not actively trying to deceive us (I’m 37, so I’m not falling for it); she’s trying to deceive herself. She’d read somewhere that if you tell yourself you’re a younger age, you’ll start to feel younger.

Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, Mercury isn’t making itself easy to be seen this month, but tomorrow morning might very well be your best chance—clear skies permitting, of course.

I’m all about letting kids be bored (it’s good for them) and responsible for their own entertainment (they have a ton of toys), but once in a while, it’s nice to provide them with a little inspiration. Especially when they’ve been stuck inside for the past few days because of bad weather and they’re practically…

There has been a steady parade of meteor showers and shining planets looking to wow us in the nighttime sky this summer, but there’s one thing standing between us and a perfect show: light pollution. It can be hard (even practically impossible) to get out from under the bright lights of the city, but there are still…

Two rockets carrying large communications satellites are scheduled to launch today within a couple of hours of each other, first from South America and then from North America. You can watch each one go up via livestream coverage.

Since the mid-1990s, parents have been clipping small rectangular “Box Top” symbols from the tops of our Cheerios, Lucky Charms and Ziplock boxes. We stash them away in our junk drawers, largely unforgotten, until 1. we feel like we finally have enough to bundle up and send in to our kid’s school or 2. we clean out…

Amazon, Alexa and Shaquille O’Neal are teaming up this month to donate backpacks filled with school supplies to kids in need. If you have an Alexa in your home, you can say, “Alexa, Donate to Happy School Year” to participate.

No one can recognize our relentless misuse of the English language quite like an editor. Misplace a modifier, and your editor will (hopefully) let you know. Over-use intensifiers such as “very,” “just,” and “really,” and your editor will tell you that you’re really just not doing your writing any favors. My editor…

Mars and Venus won’t be out to play at night this month, but Jupiter and Saturn will be shining bright—and if you look closely, you’ll be able to spot a little Mercury right before dawn, too.

Over the past few years, I admit to having moments in which I’ve thrown my hands up and said, “It’s going to be up to our kids to fix the mess we’ve made for them. They already seem more capable than we’ve ever been.” Of course, I’d much prefer that we get a better handle on things like gun control, climate change and…

The first time I ever dropped my son off at daycare, it hit me: I’m someone’s mom. Sure, this probably should have been obvious already, considering I’d carried a baby to full term (and beyond), gave birth to that baby and had spent the past few months caring for an infant. But there was something about walking up the…

At some point, you could find yourself in the midst of an emergency and although you have your cell phone with you, you might not be able to place a call or talk to a 911 operator. You may want to stay quiet because you’re hiding; you may be injured in a way that prevents you from speaking; or you may have poor…

It is now August, which means we are directly in the middle of Tomato Season, and if you’re not yet planning all the ways in which you will consume their juicy, flavorful goodness, you better pick up the pace. Those pale, watery, tasteless garbage tomatoes are right around the corner.

I used to make a lot of smoothies for my son when he was younger. My go-to recipe was bananas, frozen blueberries, greek yogurt, milk or orange juice, spinach and flaxseed. He loved it fresh out of the blender. But I’d always have a bit leftover, and once it had been stored in the fridge for a while, he turned his…

You never know what scary, life-threatening event might be right around the corner. Sure, it’s anxiety-inducing to even think about—and you can’t possibly know what to do in every situation—but one post on Reddit might get you a little more prepared to avert tragedy. The “What knowledge might save your life one day?”…

When my son started kindergarten a few years ago, I vowed to myself to draw a cute little picture on his foil-wrapped sandwich every day. Just a little something to remind him of home, to let him know I was thinking of him, to make him smile or feel loved.