"Half-Shabbos" and Texting: What Is the Parent’s Role?

The New York Jewish Week wrote about the phenomenon known as "Half-Shabbos," in which teens who are otherwise Sabbath observant use their cell phones to text their friends. When I asked my kids if this is common in Israel, they said that they had first heard about it from me! They haven't seen it … [Read more...]

Stepping Off Your Teen’s Emotional Rollercoaster

A reader writes: I had 3 sons when my oldest daughter was born. When the boys became teens everyone told me, "Just wait till your daughter reaches that age." I was worried about mother/daughter issues,  clothing, boundary issues, surliness, rebellion. Now she is 12 and what I've gotten instead is … [Read more...]

Frugal Strategies for Young Families that Pay Off as Your Children Grow

As my family grew from a small to a large one with six children, I developed efficient ways to save money. Items that are small expenses with two small children become big ones as the family grows. Below I present ten money-stretching strategies for young couples with a growing family. It takes … [Read more...]

New Jewish Book for Pre-Teens: Review and Interview

An interview with the author appears below. Chaya Rosen is a young woman living in Israel. She recently published Backstage with CBC: The Chaverim Boys Choir Live (Targum Press), a book for religious preteens. Each chapter of Chaverim describes a member of the fictional choir, the boy's family … [Read more...]

How Do Parents of Large Families Manage? Meet Tal and Talia

On Orthonomics a guest post about Orthodox homeschooling generated the following comment by "l": One problem that parents encounter is that in families where there are both older and very young children, the toddlers and infants often require many hours a day of the parents' care and leave little … [Read more...]

Where Are the Parents?

Seven teenage girls have been arrested for settling an illegal outpost, and held in jail for over two weeks. Yitzhak Kadman, the director of the National Council for the Child, has called for their release. The girls, most of whom are only 14 years old, broke the law but did not commit a serious … [Read more...]