Author Archives: Nicki Bradley

Stepparents As ‘De Facto’ Parents: The US Supreme Court Weighs In

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling this week that outlines a new classification of parent: the ‘de facto’ parent. This classification affects anyone who acts in the role of a parent without a blood connection to the child. The case the Supreme Court let stand was that of a lesbian couple who shared a child and eventually split. The child was carried via artificial insemination by one woman but shared no blood connection to the other. However, both women acted as parents for the full seven years of this child’s life. Did one parent have more rights over … Continue reading →

Oops, She Did It Again! Spears Is Mom of Two!

The cat is official out of the bag, after weeks of mere speculation, rumor and gossip. Britney Spears is pregnant with her second child. Yes, folks, you read that right. Another baby Spears is on its way. Spears announced her bun in the oven last night on The Late Show with David Letterman. Celebrity gossip rags have bounced this rumor around for weeks. What is more shocking than Spears’ impending desire to juggle two kids on her lap in the front seat of her car while speeding away from those adoring paparazzi? The fact that we care at all! Well, … Continue reading →

A Parent’s Guide to Chicken Pox

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It’s that time of year again! Although the recent increase in those receiving the chicken pox vaccine has slowed the occurrences in schools, they still persist. My own family is current knee deep on pox. I know the toll it can take on us parents! We are usually far more affected than our little sweeties! Here’s the low-down on the chicken pox and some tips for making it through with your sanity intact. Contagiousness & Incubation: Chicken pox is most contagious a few days before the spots appear and for the first two days of rash. The contagiousness wanes after … Continue reading →

Step-Grandparenting 101

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Judging by the number of times that concerned parents write into the forums here at Families.com about issues concerning the relationship between children and their step-grandparents, this is an issue that is not going to go away. It is a sign of the times. The grandparents today are from a generation where divorce was less common and blended family issues just didn’t exist. But those days are gone. It is said that blended families will soon be the most common type of family in the U.S., outnumbering even nuclear families. Good, bad or indifferent, parents and grandparents need to understand … Continue reading →

Toys for Techno Tots

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When I was little, we played “grocery store” with a cardboard pop-up storefront. When my older kids were babies, we bought them the plastic play kitchen with the working cash register and microphone. This was their store front. But this is the era of the Internet. What are kids using for their storefronts now? I was humored and surprised to overhear my 4 year old playing cyber-store the other day. He lined his favorite ponies up in a row and told me to “click on” the one I wanted to buy, add it to my virtual shopping card, scan my … Continue reading →

Soda In Schools? No More!

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We recently moved to a new school district and we couldn’t believe that our local elementary school had fully stocked vending machines, accessible to kids, full of sodas, candy and other unhealthy snacks. I can’t imagine why they would offer this or how these snacks could be beneficial to children or help promote learning. Rapidly rising childhood obesity rates have caused schools, often driven by parents, to also consider the connection between snacks and health. Most of these snacks, particularly soda and other drinks are high in sugar and devoid of any nutritional value at all. They are being consumed … Continue reading →

A Tattling Tale

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When my husband and I married and blended our families, we also had to blend our rules. We outlined them clearly to the kids. We thought we were being pretty proactive and efficient. But, at the same time, it quickly became apparent that we created little monsters with tattle “tales”!! Suddenly, everything became an excuse to tell us grown-ups what a little one was doing wrong. It became obvious that something needed to be done. Things were out of hand! We put our proverbial heads together and decided that we’d consistently reply with the phrase “Is it bleeding? If not, … Continue reading →

A Parent’s Guide to Music Sharing Laws

Kids as young as young as elementary school-aged are asking Mom and Dad to help them download music onto their MP3 players. Most people know now that there are legalities surrounding downloading music from the internet. What exactly are the rules and restrictions, though? Can parents buy one song and share it amongst all their children on several MP3 players? Can parents transfer music from their own music CDs onto their child’s MP3 player? Can children copy songs from their MP3 players onto their friends MP3 players? What is allowed and what isn’t? The answer is less complicated than you … Continue reading →

Dad Can Do It!

When my friends and I were all starting our families and experiencing motherhood for the first time, we noticed that it seemed like we Moms were doing a lot of the work. More so than our young husbands. And it didn’t seem fair at all. We were pretty cranky about it, in fact. Long gone are the days when Dads can opt out of childcare responsibilities. This is the new millennium, we expect to share all parenting responsibilities equally darn it! Well, there was a small problem. Even when these new daddies were taking the initiative and asking (ok, I … Continue reading →

A Dirty Little Stepparenting Secret

When women date men with children from a previous marriage, we often romanticize the future. We will get married, have a beautiful family of loving, adoring, adorable children who call us “Mom” and are thankful for all we do but leave often enough (or visit rarely enough) to enjoy romantic weekends away with our new husbands. This is pretty much opposite of reality for most blended families. The bonding and relationships with our new stepchildren is one of the biggest areas new stepmoms find themselves taken aback. Very seldom do stepchildren latch onto new stepparents, particularly stepmothers, with loving adoration. … Continue reading →