Families nationwide began receiving child tax credit payments from the federal government last week, but some worry the poorest Americans may never see a dollar.

Huge numbers of people are eligible for cash under the American Rescue Plan, including the most needy Americans. But many of them make so little money, they don't file taxes, which is ...Read more

Early in the pandemic, there were predictions that stay-at-home orders would spawn a baby boom.

“Nine months after folks are forced to hunker down and ride out a natural disaster, the birth rate suddenly spikes,” explained an article on Fatherly, a parenting news website. “Whether it’s the boredom...or the sense of impending doom, there...Read more

When I ask a teacher, “What is the biggest problem you face?”

The answer — there has never been an exception — is “parents.”

That is certainly a recent phenomenon.

My parents were not a problem for my teachers, nor were the parents of my friends. We were afraid of what our parents would do if a teacher reported a problem to them...Read more

A hot dog eating contest, with soggy hot dog buns being shoved into mouths, might not be the most romantic setting. But for Sarah and Juan Rodriguez, it helped spur their first kiss.

The Naperville, Illinois, spouses will be competing in this weekend’s Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, a nationally ...Read more

BALTIMORE — It’s an early Monday afternoon and Ryan Butler and Jeremiah Nieves are driving back to Baltimore from an eventful weekend in Ocean City.

They hadn’t been basking in the sun at the beach. They were there to perform five drag shows in two days as they attempt to make up for nearly a year’s worth of lost income.

Back in ...Read more

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Aaron and Tonya Rhoden always have big ideas together. They eloped in Hawaii in 2016, when he proposed at sunset on a mountain in Maui, and she wanted to get married the very next day.

Preparing for a kidney transplant together is another life challenge the couple is tackling together. In a surgery later this month, Tonya, ...Read more

CHICAGO – “I was a hurt baby.”

Sheldon Smith founded the Dovetail Project when he was 21 because he wanted things to be different. His father was in and out of his life, and his father’s father wasn’t around either. “I was a broken child,” he said. “I wanted to be able to break the curse of kids being hurt.”

On June 10, the ...Read more

CHICAGO – Nicholas Vazquez and Jesse Campbell wanted to do something big for Pride Month.

They didn’t expect to go viral.

In the days since their giant, rainbow-streaming paintbrush began to draw crowds in front of their home, the couple is channeling the attention into raising money to help LGBTQ kids and young adults.

Vazquez and ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Walk out your doorstep into the humid Philadelphia spring, and you can touch the closest thing to normal in more than a year. From the crowds at Phillies games and the Flower Show to the diners and shoppers on Main Streets throughout the region, joy and relief are palpable.

But instead of fully celebrating, Sheikh Siddique has ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Saroun Khan can't shake the sense that his freedom might be temporary.

After 13 months in ICE custody, he's back in the Philadelphia rowhouse where he grew up. He can walk the streets of his neighborhood, savoring the thick summer air and drenching evening rain.

But with every step he knows there's nothing to prevent the ...Read more

BALTIMORE – About noon on that Saturday in May, Sarah Holzman threw open the front door to her home to greet more than a dozen relatives and friends. It was the first gathering since before the pandemic began, and she had not seen some faces in more than a year. Inside her home were the fixings for a massive, all-in-one party, from Easter eggs...Read more

LOS ANGELES – Nearly every evening after dinner, Mary and Melissa Anderson walked together along the rural road stretching out from their home.

The one-mile journey amid groves of walnut trees became a safe space for mother and daughter. The walk was always the same, to the nearest stop sign and back, but the conversations ranged wide and ...Read more

So far in their young lives, the Heinrich brothers of Manchester, Connecticut, have shared two powerful moments.

The second milestone happened Saturday at Manchester High School’s graduation ceremony, which Paxton Heinrich might have missed if not for his brother, Campfield.

As a board of education member (the youngest member elected in the ...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. – On a spring day when the mustard greens were still tender, Sherril Wells stopped harvesting, raised her arms and danced to Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" playing over her SUV's speakers.

Her friend Liza Apper had told her that joy and grief could exist together. She thought this must have been what Apper meant: a flash of being...Read more

LOS ANGELES – My younger sister and I have a lot in common.

We are both long-winded and gesture dramatically when we speak. We're patient listeners and inveterate advice-givers. We tilt toward skepticism, and cling stubbornly to our beliefs.

And that has brought us to a rare impasse, on the issue of COVID-19 vaccines.

I have been ...Read more

Q: Is it too much to expect a 2-year-old to pick up his toys? Our little fella, when we tell him to pick up his toys, just stands there and looks at us. We’ve tried making a game of it. We’ve tried punishing. We’ve tried bribing him with ice cream. Nothing has worked. At most, he will pick up one toy and put it where we tell him, but that�...Read more

To cut down on your child’s anxiety, not to mention the cries of “I’m bored,” we’ve compiled a list of things to prepare them for a hurricane and to keep them entertained.

Explain hurricanes

Tell your children that a hurricane is a giant, rainy windstorm that requires a lot of preparation and precaution.

The more children know ...Read more