ArcaMax

The Drug Enforcement Agency is warning that drug cartels are making colorful "rainbow fentanyl" to appeal to kids. "Brightly-colored fentanyl is being seized in multiple forms, including pills, powder, and blocks that resemble sidewalk chalk," a DEA press release warns.

And yet there is no evidence that these pills are being peddled to the ...Read more

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) gets about $40 million a year in federal funding. It spends at least a few of those bucks crafting "helpful" emails like the one I got a few weeks back with the subject line: "Are your kids safely back-to-schooling?"

Not only is "back-to-schooling" not a verb, but the question also ...Read more

America: Keep on waving.

Hello! Goodbye! Welcome! Miss you already! And even: This Zoom meeting has come to an end.

All of these deserve a wave, and we must resist the impulse to let the hand lie inert. For in truth, the wave keeps our humanity afloat.

"Waving is good on so many levels," says Patti Wood, a researcher, author, consultant and ...Read more

"I do not believe that I neglected him. No, I believe that playing in the park is something that... was appropriate to his development level, to who he is right now."

Tucson, Arizona, mom Sarra X was testifying at a hearing to determine if she was guilty of neglect for letting her son, 7, and his friend, 5, play in the park while she shopped ...Read more

The website Scary Mommy is always on top of parenting trends, and its latest discovery is "sittervising." The not-exactly-groundbreaking idea is for a parent to SIT while their kid plays, rather than feeling obligated to jump in and toss the ball, be the snowman or praise every single shovelful of sand the child gets to the pail.

Yes, it's too ...Read more

Forgive the long quote coming up, but it is instructive. (And wild!)

The president of Hamilton College, David Wippman, and his colleague, Cornell University American Studies professor Glenn C. Altschuler, have somehow been peeking in on the discussions parents are having online about their kids off at college.

These Facebook groups can be ...Read more

Every so often a band comes along you just know is gonna make it!

And then there are the ones we just can't bet on. Like...

We Drink Glue

Microscopic Youth

Surprised by My Baggie Collection?

Air-Fried Pie

Loose Fillings

(Never Mind the Pus) Scratch Me There

The Unpleasant Odors

The Warbling Wieners

Angry Moms

Neil Old

FOK (...Read more

If you watch "Stranger Things" with your kids, there's a good chance they spend some of the time crying. Not because the monsters are so scary, but because the kids are so free. It's like monkeys at the zoo watching a Jane Goodall documentary.

In pretty much every episode, Will, Max, Dustin, Lucas, El and Mike hop on their bikes, and it's never...Read more

It is, according to the calendar and the faint cheering you can hear whenever you pass an anthill, picnic season. Planning one yourself? Well, I really hope you come out alive, but if you don't -- can I have your margarita?

No, seriously, it's just that the odds don't look too good. If you read the papers or listen to pretty much anyone on TV...Read more

It is time to go outside.

Tell that to your kids. Tell that to yourself. Tell that to the culture that has de-normalized even plain old summer fun, rewriting it as a dangerous thing to do without taking along hydration, healthy snacks, sunscreen, a sun hat, a phone for emergencies, a phone for tracking and a phone to snap pictures of how much ...Read more

With the lazy, hazy days of you-know-what upon us, should you worry about your kids goofing off? Being idle? Spending tons of time making sculptures out of wet, squished Kleenex (toilet paper works, too!) or any other odd hobbies they may develop?

Sure! Worry all you want -- if you think that who you are in life is a direct result of your not ...Read more