kids

School starts next week in Lufkin and all across East Texas, and kids will be cramming iPods, notebooks, Kindles, phones, a change of shoes, snacks, and maybe even a book into those backpacks. How heavy is too heavy?  If the backpack weighs more than a certain amount, it can knock kids off balance and lead to back problems later on.  Here's the magic number.

Summers were so much fun as a kid, with camps, swimming, and sprinklers, and lots and lots of ice cream. As an adult, there's no break from work and there can be more to do juggling the kids' schedule, and we lose the magic!  But here's a way to get it back.

It's more than just, "Are we there yet?"  That usually starts in the driveway, and there a dozen other comments and questions that can take the steam out of our Memorial Day Weekend road trips just as quickly.  Here are some of the best zingers from the back seat that stress out parents.

It's always a dilemma for parents. Kids create art from the heart all year long in school, and although you've trashed some of it here and there, the end-of-the-year stack takes some consideration because there is guilt involved.  Keep it or junk it?

Science may be starting to agree that a full moon does make us all a little more unruly than usual. Here's when you can expect the next full moon in East Texas so you can prepare yourself.

You can score a free Chipotle burrito for the kids on Saturday, IF if they're wearing this certain thing.  Here's what you need to do.

It's the time of year in Texas when a bluebonnet patch can draw dozens of freshly bathed kids in their cutest clothes, along with those amazing parents-of-the-year armed with high tech zoom lenses ready to upload the photos to online scrapbooks right away to share with Grandma and Grandpa in Poughkeepsie.  And then there are the rest of us.  This was kind of a disaster.

For some really creative April Fool's Day joke ideas, all we have to do is watch an episode of The Office.  Remember the episode where Jim feeds Dwight an Altoid every time he hears the Windows login chime, to get him to try to salivate like Pavlov's dog?  Some pranks take more time than others to set up. Here's the history behind April Fool's Day, and more prank ideas so you can get your kids and

Parenthood is challenging in so many ways.  Add this tricky way to cheat to the list. Are your kids wearing a new watch that could actually be a glorified cheat sheet?  It's happening.

It's one thing to watch your favorite football players on TV.  It's another thing to go shopping and buy jerseys and scooters with them.  A few lucky kids got that chance Tuesday in Houston.

My girls have been begging for a companion dog for our beloved Harry for months, and I finally caved after reading an article about why dogs make great Christmas gifts for kids.  But is this really a good idea? She's chewing up stuff.

The Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton will play later today against the Dallas Cowboys.  But it's what Cam did behind the scenes this week that is the most memorable.  Love a positive role model, don't you?  Unless he beats the Cowboys.