Parenting

By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com Summer — it’s a time for so many wonderful things. Family vacation, time with friends, playing outside, exercise, farmer’s markets,

By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com Recently, my family decided we needed more kittens in our lives. As card-carrying cat people, we already have two lovely

By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com As human beings, we can’t help but judge one another. When we see others, especially strangers, we are forming opinions

By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com It’s a Tuesday night that could be any Tuesday night, in any place and with any family, but it’s my

By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com Although winter has been slow to release its grasp on our Central New York landscape, spring can’t remain in the

By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com It happens at grocery stores, schools, department stores, restaurants, the workplace and just about any place parents frequent. It starts

Finding some alternatives to yelling By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com My children are two of the most precious and beautiful things in my life. They

An open letter to my son By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com We are going on vacation to Florida this week, so I painted my toenails.

By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com It’s become a tradition to kick off the new year with a column dedicated to parenting-themed resolutions. I used to

By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com If anyone caught my column last month, she or he might think I need a good therapist or a week’s