ArcaMax

Q: Our breakup was nasty, and I rarely talk to my child’s other parent. When we do, it’s on a court-ordered app. Lately I have been getting notifications that my ex is trying to talk to me. I don’t want to talk. He drives me crazy. How can I convince the court that my child is better off with me? What’s good ex-etiquette?

A: I ...Read more

“Sit down and take a deep breath,” the husband says, as he brings in the mail. “You’re going to love this.”

“We won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes!” I yell.

“No,” he says.

“It’s a check from the government saying they’re sorry they overcharged us on taxes for the past 45 years.”

“Wrong again,” he says...Read more

Folklore has been relegated to entertainment in many ways, but I want us to remember the power of a folk story.

A mother in a dark room, tucking her child into bed at night, giving them a cautious warning to not get out of bed for the creature in the closet, El Duende, may get them. A similar warning has also been uttered by mothers to small ...Read more

In "Scripts," Brandon Knightley explores the complicated relationship between the stories we inherit, the stories we tell and the lives we ultimately choose for ourselves.

At the center of the novel is Arlene, a woman trapped in an emotionally empty and increasingly frightening marriage who discovers an unexpected path toward self-expression ...Read more

Karlo Campana is usually outnumbered these days. He has three young kids under age 4. On a recent Saturday, he played a mini game of basketball with his two older kids in their Southern California home, shooting a ball into a hoop on the door, while his baby boy watched from his bouncy chair.

Campana took paid time off in May after the birth of...Read more

'THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK'

Rated R for language.

What it’s about: An aging New York City pickpocket finds himself in a pickle while facing his own obsolescence in a changing world.

The kid attractor factor: This is an adult drama, not really for kids.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Sometimes human cunning can outwit the tech ...Read more

Q. My child tells me that she can do various things at her mother’s home that she can’t do at mine. It seems to me that there are no rules over there, and it makes me look unreasonable. I think my ex is doing this on purpose, so the kids will prefer her home. What’s good ex-etiquette?

A. My first question is, how do you know?

You said ...Read more

We often race one another clearing the table after dinner. It’s not an overt race with running shoes, numbers strapped to our chests and the crack of a starting pistol, but a low-key, passive-aggressive, run-walk type race.

I move toward the sink with a dish holding the scattered remains of a lone chicken enchilada. He pulls back his chair; I...Read more

Bedtime picture books have a tricky job. They need to be engaging enough to hold a wiggly child’s attention, yet calming enough to carry that child toward sleep. Suzanne Hobbs’s "The Sleepy Snake" manages both beautifully, and it does so with a charm that makes it a book parents will be happy to read night after night.

Snake has had a full ...Read more

When I say I’m a lover of book clubs, I’m not kidding. I belong to six of them. That’s right, six.

Each is different in terms of frequency and focus, but they all have one thing in common: our most riveting conversations come from books that aren’t necessarily everybody’s favorites.

When books push us or make us feel uncomfortable—...Read more

How do you get kids to stop spending so much time in the virtual world? It’s pretty obvious: Give them back the real one.

Kids desperately need free time, with each other, in person, in a place their parents let them go. That’s a pretty simple ask — it’s what you did after school, right? Hung out with friends? But right now it’s not ...Read more

'CLAYFACE'

Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, language, some nudity and brief drug use.

What it’s about: In this tale featuring a deep-cut DC Comics character, a promising young actor, mutilated by a gangster, seeks out an experimental treatment with extreme side effects.

The kid attractor factor: Pretty violent for kids, this is ...Read more

Could someone please explain how a person sitting in the front seat of a vehicle can be labeled a backseat driver? A backseat driver would be someone in the back seat.

Fortunately, a specific label is of little concern to me as I am ambidextrous and can direct from either the front or the back.

My husband is a lucky guy. I remind him all the ...Read more

LONDON — AI is rewriting classroom and workplace rules, leaving parents, teachers and children unsure about how best to prepare for what lies ahead.

In these early days of AI evolution, experts suggest parents help guide their kids through the new technology as much as possible. But the reality is that the world of AI is a scary one for many ...Read more

"The Weight of One Pomegranate" is the second YA novel, also highly recommended for adult readers, of notable author Brynne Rebele-Henry, Fulbright scholar and graduate student at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

While savoring the precise fine prose, you might linger to re-read certain passages in this ...Read more