Kids VT, February 2018
Friends Forever: Best Buds Share What Makes Their Relationships Special; Champlain College’s Single Parents Program; Snowboard Extraordinaire; Crepe Cake Recipe; Summer Camp Guide
What Do You Hope Your Campers Will Learn This Summer?
This year’s summer camps are all about joy, curiosity and belonging: the joy of participating in the performing arts with friends new and old, the curiosity sparked when we try new things and visit new places, and the sense of belonging we build together while we dance, sing, act, make music videos and more —…
Solo Act: At Champlain College, a Long-Running Program Helps Single Parents Defy the Odds
In 2016, Emma Longe was working long hours cutting hair to support her daughter, Kayleigh, then 4. With another baby on the way, she hoped to find a more lucrative career with a better schedule, so she could spend more time with her children, but that would mean going back to college. After graduating from…
How a Small Vermont Town Built an Ice Rink on a Budget
Two years ago, the Friends of Woodbury Elementary School — the school’s parent-teacher organization — discovered a stash of child-sized ice skates in the school’s basement. The find spurred the Friends’ desire to build an outdoor ice rink in their tiny town (population 906). Friends president Elizabeth Stratton enthusiastically headed up the project. After asking…
MiniBury, a Website for Addison County Parents, Gets New Owners
Six years ago, Eliza Eaton of Weybridge was a stay-at-home mom of two kids under 2. “Most of my waking hours were spent trying to figure out what to do with those children,” she recounted. After driving past a sign for a spring carnival at a Middlebury church, she realized there was no central place…
Vermont Cartoonist Harry Bliss Has a New Book for Kids
A clever new picture book by Burlington author and illustrator Harry Bliss gives kids and parents both reason to smile. With colorful, graphic illustrations and just a few words, Grace for Gus chronicles the adventures of New York City second grader Grace. The tale begins in a classroom of Midtown Elementary, when Grace’s teacher asks…
New Initiative Aims to Address Vermont’s Childcare Shortage
A new program aims to address Vermont’s childcare shortage by helping to create 500 new high-quality childcare spaces in the state each year. Make Way for Kids is a project of Vermont Birth to Five, an organization focused on addressing gaps in childcare and supporting childcare providers. The quality of care in the state has…
Recipe: Chocolate-Raspberry Crêpe Cake
Because we live so close to the French-speaking province of Québec, most Vermonters are probably familiar with the magic that is a crêpe. Stuffed with sweet or savory fillings, crêpes are super versatile and a nice departure from traditional American pancakes. When I was a teenager, my family took a trip to Montréal to celebrate…
Mom Takes Notes
Before I became a parent, I worried about love. I had read that sometimes the bond between mother and child takes a long time to form. The moment my daughter, Saga, was born, I forgot to worry. I was too captivated by her — her long fingers, big eyes, dark hair and the sound of…
Born to Ride: A Young Teen Spins and Soars to Snowboard Success
Name: Hans Huber Age: 14 Town: Stowe Two-time overall national snowboarding champion Hans Huber talked his way onto his first snowboard at age 4. He was skiing with his parents at Stowe Mountain Resort. While they ate lunch, he walked to the demo shop, a few yards away, and came back with boots, a board…
Self Love, Actually: How I Learned to Take Care of Myself
These days, every other magazine touts methods for “self-care,” encompassing everything from hot yoga with goats to eating hemp seeds to creating a vision board. It’s a term most of us didn’t grow up with. I know I didn’t. My mother raised three kids on her own, and I’m pretty sure that if you’d said…
Parent Participation: Friendship Stories
This month, we feature best-buddy photos and interviews in “Friends Forever.” Below, find a few more sweet friendship stories submitted by parents. I could not help but think of my daughter, Isabelle, and her best friend, Catherine. When we bought our first home in South Hero, we knew no one. Isabelle was 18 months old…
Trending — February 2018
Vermont found no evidence of dangerous chemical contamination in testing of childcare programs located near dry cleaners. No news is good news! A new print ad for Ikea includes a pregnancy test that, if positive, gives a discount on a crib. Yep, they want you to pee on it. Five young Vermont rock climbers qualified…
Friends ‘Til the End
There are all kinds of love stories. Lexy and I met as toddlers while finger painting with chocolate pudding at a progressive child-parent center in Philadelphia. We quickly became enamored with each other. Luckily, our moms became good friends, too. We attended the same preschool, went on family vacations to the Jersey Shore together and…
Should I give relationship advice to my teenager?
My mother was dedicated to making sure we had accurate information about our bodies, including how babies are made. As a nurse, she understood that knowing the facts would help us make better decisions. Granted, she didn’t anticipate that I’d decide to sell the information to my Catholic elementary school classmates, but honestly, the market…
How Should Parents Address Kids’ Requests for Piercings or Tattoos?
Once considered a red flag for high-risk behaviors among teens, body art no longer carries the stigma it once did. By the time they are 21, nearly four in 10 people will have a piercing somewhere besides their ears. And nearly one in five college students has a tattoo, according to data shared in a…
A Model of Care: A Pair of Doctors on Maintaining Schedules, Fostering a Child and “Third Parent” Support
It’s almost 6:30 on a weekday evening as Janet Kirwan pulls into the driveway and makes her way along the snowy footpath to her stately red brick house in the Hill Section of Burlington. She enters the foyer and joins her husband, Paul Crainich, who has already lit a fire in the hearth of their…
Destination Recreation: Gardener’s Supply Company
Soaking up some warmth and humidity in the Gardener’s Supply greenhouse in Williston, an arrangement of cacti transported me to one of my first childhood memories: falling butt-first into a similarly spiky greenhouse display as a toddler. Fortunately, my own 2-year-old, Russ, was less interested in prickly succulents than just about everything else. The indoor…
Read Early, Read Often
Ever wonder if it’s worthwhile to read Goodnight Moon to your toddler for the umpteenth time? The short answer, according to national early literacy program 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, is yes. The longer answer is that numerous studies show the more young children are exposed to language before starting school, the more likely they’ll flourish…
Friends Forever: Best Buds Share What Makes Their Relationships Special
They share your interests, secrets, jokes and adventures. They’ve got your back. They get on your nerves. They just get you. This Valentine’s Day, we celebrate the love between friends. Lili, 11, South Burlington, and Quinn, 11, Burlington Sixth graders Lili and Quinn don’t remember the first time they met; they weren’t quite 2. Lili’s…
