How Not to Travel with Kids This Christmas

I’ve had my share of travel nightmares flying back and forth from Chicago to Hawaii with my daughter. While our mishaps make for funny blogs, I would prefer experiencing incident-free trips. Then again, even the shortest vacations with children can lead to high drama, which is why most parents spend countless hours researching and planning the best ways to avoid meltdowns while on the road or in the air. Believe me; you can not over-prepare when it comes traveling with kids. It’s a lesson parents from North Carolina learned the hard way this week. When Jason and Kathy Fickes of … Continue reading

Holiday Travel: Tips For a Smooth Flight

A year ago this week I was on a flight to Hawaii to spend Christmas with my family. (We actually flew out on December 23rd.) I prepped, planned and packed like a pro, but the brutal reality of flying during one the busiest travel weeks of the year is that you are at the mercy of the airline… and the nation’s air-travel system. If you are planning to take flight this week (or anytime between now and January 6th) you run a good chance of being delayed, missing a connection, or otherwise experiencing some type of travel inconvenience. While there … Continue reading

Home Safety: Entertaining Holiday Guests

Safety. It may not be the first thing we think about when entertaining holiday guests. We’re busy getting things ready for the holidays, and preparing the guest room and other spaces to ensure that our guests are happy and comfortable throughout their stay. Whether guests are visiting for the day, or coming for an extended visit, there are a few important things to keep in mind. Dangers Lurking in Luggage Our guests may not have small children or pets in their homes and may not realize that their luggage could be an invitation for kids or pets to explore something … Continue reading

Tricky Turkey Day Travel

If your Thanksgiving holiday travel plans call for you to board a plane to grandma’s house in the next few days, know that you will have lots and lots of company. The Air Transport Association (ATA) is estimating that roughly 27 million passengers will take to the skies beginning tomorrow and continuing for the next 12 days. The ATA is also anticipating an average of more than 2.5 million passengers a day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and the Sunday and Monday after the holiday. So, what does that mean for you? To begin with, you can expect longer-than-usual lines … Continue reading

Theme Park Travel Tips

My best friend’s family will be traveling from their home in Hawaii to Southern California the day after Christmas. They decided to do away with exchanging Christmas gifts, and instead are using the money they would have spent on presents to take a family trip to Disneyland, SeaWorld, and Legoland. It’s going to be quite a vacation. But, the truth is, I’m not really all that jealous. While I would love to escape the bone-chilling temps this winter I also know southern California (and Florida) can be a stressful destination during the last week of December and first week of … Continue reading

Travel Updates: More Unique Turkey Day Travel Destinations and No More Lost Luggage

For the past few weeks I’ve been providing alternative destinations for those of you who are fed up with spending Thanksgiving Day passing the potatoes to your pea-throwing younger cousins and having to share a sofa bed with your second cousin’s snoring Saint Bernard. This next Turkey Day destination will have you flying far, far away from Aunt Lucy’s creamed corn—-all the way to the other side of the Atlantic. Italy is a great place to celebrate this all-American holiday with some new friends. Specifically at the Bauer Hotel in Venice. That’s where you’ll find Francesca Bortolotto Possati, the owner … Continue reading

Safety Tips for Baby on the 4th of July

If you are American, you are undoubtedly preparing for your 4th of July celebration. Either you are going elsewhere to celebrate or you are getting ready to host your own big party. Lucky me, I’m going to go to the courthouse today to attempt to get out of jury duty next week. But with that aside, we too are planning on traveling tomorrow and partaking in my father in law’s company’s large Independence Day picnic. However, did you know that the 4th of July is one of the busiest times of year for emergency room physicians? After our incident last … Continue reading

Tips for Taking your Little Ones to Disney World

Disney World is huge. It mightn’t look it on a map of the individual parks, but each park is quite a size to wander around, especially with little ones. Make sure that you read a good, up-to-date guide book before you leave home. Make notes of where you can easily locate bathroom facilities, if possible know where these are in each sector of the park, because you can guarantee that younger children are going to be so caught up in the magic and excitement that they’re not going to give you much advance warning! Refreshment areas are another good thing … Continue reading

Hotel Stories From a Seasoned Traveler

After traveling all over the world for thirty years, I have plenty of stories about strange events occurring. Some of these things happened in or around hotels. Many years ago, I was staying in a high rise hotel in Akron, Ohio, that had a fire. It was early in the evening and I was lying on the bed watching the television after a long day. The fire alarm started ringing loudly. I walked to the door and looked out. The man in the next room was doing the same thing. He looked at me and said, “They don’t have fire … Continue reading

2006 in Review: Homeschooling Blog at a Glance

As a new homeschooling blogger at Families.com, I wanted to know everything that has been discussed to date. In response to my own curiosity, and in an effort to make perusing our articles easier for you, our readers, I have compiled all of the blogs for the year 2006. Deciding to Homeschool Why homeschool Am I qualified for this? Reasons that Homeschooling Works! My Most Important Advice for Homeschoolers. The Cost of Homeschooling Instead of standing up for their own kids, why not stand up for all kids? Disclaimer: I am hardly an expert in education. Did You Know? ‘Empirical … Continue reading