PLANET 51

Q: A long-distance relative has a child with physical and mental disabilities. How do you prepare your children for their first visit over the holidays?

When your fourth-grader complains about homework, it's not just empty whining. Homework for fourth-graders is more difficult.

Dear Mr. Dad: My 9-year-old son has no interest in practicing sports. He says he wants to play in games but cringes whenever I mention that he need to go to practices too. I've been frustrated at his lack of interest and want to encourage him, but I don't want to turn him off of sports. How can I approach this situation?

Q: My husband and I each have children from previous marriages and now have twin toddlers of our own. My daughter, age 10, lives with us but also spends time with her dad, while my bonus son, Billy, 11, lives with his mother in another state. Our toddlers adore their older siblings. How do I explain to the little ones where their half-brother and half-sister are when they aren't with us?

I recently spent some time with a friend who has three children. My buddy, whom I've known since fifth grade, is a college-educated responsible guy who has never failed to do right by his family. When describing him, "well-rounded" comes to mind. He's masculine but not macho, sensitive but nowhere near maudlin, perceptive, intuitive, caring, compassionate. Like I said, well-rounded. His wife is as solid as a rock.

Don't let colder weather chill your family's spirit of exploration. Stoke the flame with plans for unusual and active travel. Here are five options.

Happy holidays? Not when you're sitting in the back of a minivan driving for endless hours. Many kids will be stuck on road trips this holiday season as airlines are charging extra for special holiday travel and some families are opting to drive to holiday gatherings.

Artful Jewelry: Craft and Wear Your Own Masterpieces

Candles illuminate our holidays and brighten the season's longer nights, bringing a cozy glow into our homes. We love 'em - in all shapes, sizes and scents.

A friend knew his college-age daughter's generation was screwed when he attended her fifth-grade graduation.

Recently, for unexplained reasons, Curly Girl decided to put a plastic BB in her ear.

This is a big year for our family. My daughter just turned 16 and my son 13. Momentous birthdays both, but the biggest news in my house is that I am not perpetually waiting at the kitchen table at 3:30 anymore after school. I have worked from home for all of my children's lives. This year I began to work out of the house part of two days per week, and am taking a class one night. The adjustment has been easy for me, not so for them.

At the Genius Sperm Bank, it wasn't just the men who were screened for intelligence.

While browsing through a recent issue of The New Yorker magazine, I came across an article about the current generation of picture books and their bratty protagonists. It was illustrated by an image from a book called "Finn Throws a Fit." Aha, I thought, so juvenile authors are on top of current naming trends. This impelled me to go running (figuratively) to my local Borders to seek further evidence.

In addition to my public work as an entertainer, I am a mom, an athlete, and, very proud to say, a youth soccer coach. I have navigated the subject of sportsmanship in the heat of competition both personally and professionally. That is why when I learned the story of the female college soccer player in New Mexico I was appalled.

For some reason, my husband didn't want to dress up like a garden gnome for Halloween.

Planning ahead is one of the easiest ways to avoid becoming overloaded during the hectic holiday season. To help families take some of the stress out of preparing a Thanksgiving feast, we're switching up the column a bit this week to share with you some of our favorite make-ahead holiday dishes. We're even sharing them a week ahead of time so you have plenty of time to plan on spending more time with your family, instead of preparing food, this Thanksgiving.

My son is 4 1/2. 4 1/2. I witnessed him getting punched in the face while the "perpetrator" (can a 6 year old be a "perpetrator?") sat on top of him and a group of 5 other kids stood around yelling "Fight. Fight. Fight." That there my friends, is a defining moment in a boy's, and mom's, life.

I was hiding in the closet again.

I'm not a big meeting person - I've sat through too many in my life to voluntarily assign myself more.

Many moms know breastfeeding is a good idea, but did you know it could save lives?

My ten year-old, Cuyler, peers at me from beneath his thick, brown bangs, bites off a whopping hunk of his Sausage McGriddle, and mumbles, "You think dad will ever be normal again?"

For the last week, as many as 10 students, some with fever, aches and runny noses-telltale signs of the flu-have been lining up at the nurse's office at Easton Area High School in Easton, Pa., by 7:10 a.m.