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Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

As Wrigley's first K-pop band, Stray Kids leaves its mark on Chicago and concludes US dates for 'dominATE' tour

Parents / Parenting News /

CHICAGO — Despite the sun having set and a cool breeze drifting through the stands, the tens of thousands of Stray Kids fans in Wrigley Field were just as energetic as they’d been when the band burst onstage two hours before.

“No regrets, I love this feeling/ Down on this road call it the social path,” they belted along with the eight-...Read more

Take Me Out to the ... Never Mind

Parents / Lenore Skenazy /

The season of the minor league ballgame is in full swing, and so are the minor league promotions. Here are some of the less popular ones.

-- Strained Groin Day

-- Usher Autograph Night

-- Free Pretzel in Every Beer: Save money! Save digestion time!

-- LIVE Bat Night: Wear a scarf!

-- Extra Marjoram Madness: Marjoram sprinkled on any ...Read more

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures/TNS

Family guide to new movie releases

Parents / Parenting News /

'F1 THE MOVIE'

Rated PG-13 for strong language, and action.

What it’s about: A seasoned racing veteran joins a failing U.K. racing team with a hotshot young driver.

The kid attractor factor: This is more of an adult drama. Some teens might be drawn to the racing aspect.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Being on a team means putting your ego to ...Read more

Sophon Kethom/Dreamstime/TNS

Ex-etiquette: The trouble with FaceTime

Parents / Family Living /

Q. My ex and I share equal custody of our 2-year-old son, but we do not get along. There is a court order that states that we can each have one FaceTime call a day when our son is with the other parent. However, these calls always turn into an argument, from her not picking up to telling me our son does not want to talk to calling right before ...Read more

Masezdromaderi/Dreamstime/TNS

Lori Borgman: When nature and nurture intertwine with the peppers

Parents / Mom's Advice /

I may be only one bag of Miracle-Gro away from going officially overboard on the whole garden thing this year. I blame it all on a long, hard winter. My survival kit during snowbound months with no sun and sub-zero temps consisted of chocolate and mail-order seeds.

Starting seeds indoors was how I convinced myself winter would one day pass and ...Read more

HarperCollins/HarperCollins/TNS

Mary Alice Monroe explores love, sacrifice and grit in sweeping Southern epic

Parents / Mom's Advice /

Mary Alice Monroe’s latest novel, "Where the Rivers Merge," is a gorgeous read, one of those historical novels that sweeps you up into a time and a place so real and lush you feel you’re there, with a compelling storyline to make you stay.

This captivating multigenerational saga of a wealthy South Carolina family and its land centers on a ...Read more

H. Allen Benowitz/H. Allen Benowitz/TNS

A memoir that finds power in pain and beauty in brokenness

Parents / Mom's Advice /

In "Child of Silence: A Blessing in Disguise," H. Allen Benowitz gives readers a deeply personal and boldly honest memoir of a life endured through adversity, transformed by resilience, and uplifted by love, creativity, and purpose. With vivid prose and reflection, Benowitz chronicles a journey that begins in silence. Born as the son of deaf ...Read more

James Albert Staggers/James Albert Staggers/TNS

80-something couple proves the road to Alaska is paved with stories

Parents / Mom's Advice /

What happens when you give two adventurous octogenarians a Class C motorhome, a loaded itinerary and 15,642 miles of North American wilderness? You get "Ride With Us! 15,642 Miles, Seventy Nights Camping," a memoir by Sportyman (the husband’s pseudonym) that’s equal parts travelogue, survival journal and a love letter to both RV culture and ...Read more

The Awkward Silences in the White House Speak Volumes

Parents / Georgia Garvey /

Before we start, it's important that we all know what "Juventus" is.

They're an Italian soccer team, based in Turin, and they're one of the top squads in the country. Some of the sport's most recognizable athletes, like Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio and Zinedine Zidane, have played for Juventus. I'm not sure what significance Juventus holds ...Read more

Don't Let the Fear of Bullies Ruin Your Kid's Summer

Parents / Lenore Skenazy /

If you're over 35, you probably remember playing outside till the streetlights came on. But today, a lot of parents worry that if they let their kids play the old-fashioned way -- spontaneously, unsupervised, with whoever's available in the neighborhood -- their children will be bullied by kids older than them.

Here are some ways to put those...Read more

Pixar/DISNEY/TNS

Family guide to new movie releases

Parents / Parenting News /

'ELIO'

Rated PG for some action/peril and thematic elements.

What it’s about: A young orphaned boy dreams of being abducted by aliens after not feeling at home on Earth. He gets his wish.

The kid attractor factor: The animation style, the childhood themes, and heartwarming story about extraterrestrial friendship.

Good lessons/bad lessons: ...Read more

Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

His brother died at 16. Five years later, they walked the stage together

Parents / Parenting News /

TAMPA, Fla. -- Dozens of graduates and parents stopped Lawson Boeth on his way into the Florida State Fairgrounds, asking why the soon-to-be Newsome High School graduate already had his diploma in hand before the ceremony.

He didn’t have much time to stop and explain. It wasn’t his: It was for his brother Walter, who died in 2020 at 16.

�...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Ex-etiquette: Arguing about everything

Parents / Family Living /

Q. My ex argues about everything. It’s gotten so bad that if I even say, “Good morning!” she accuses me of having an ulterior motive. “That was fake,” she’ll say. I don’t know what to do. This goes on in front of the children — at Little League games and exchanges. I think about her and I sweat. How can we problem-solve and ...Read more

Tiffany Dahle/Dreamstime/TNS

Lori Borgman: Finding comfort in a shoe support group

Parents / Mom's Advice /

Get a group of women together and chances are they will talk about relationships. And shoes. More specifically, relationships with shoes.

The conversations are about shoes somebody loves, shoes somebody used to love (but broke up with due to plantar fasciitis), and shoes somebody dreams of meeting in the future.

These are women in crisis ...Read more

TNS

The clock’s running out in explosive techno-thriller sequel

Parents / Mom's Advice /

In "Masters of War" by John H. Thomas, ex-Army Ranger turned cybercrime investigator Maxx King hoped he could recover quietly from his last deadly mission, but fate has other plans. When gunmen ambush Maxx and his loved ones in broad daylight, he finds himself reluctantly pulled back into a covert conflict between the United States and China.

...Read more

Austin Macauley/Austin Macauley/TNS

History collides with family and the supernatural in Jamaican-inspired thriller

Parents / Mom's Advice /

Some stories hook you with a single high‑octane scene; others sneak up on you, weaving a spell page by page until you suddenly realize it’s well past midnight and you’re still reading.

Gary R. Hamilton’s "Daydreamers" belongs in the second camp, and the spell it casts is steeped in the music, food and folklore of a fictional ...Read more

TNS

Disinformation turns deadly in heart-pounding medical thriller

Parents / Mom's Advice /

A dangerous cult spreading medical disinformation targets Dr. Mark Lin’s patients and hospital in Anthony Lee’s electric medical thriller, "Toxic Minds."

In the sophomore entry of his sleuthing physician series, Lee ratchets up the stakes when Lin takes a call from his patient seeking additional services in the OB/GYN clinic next to Ivory ...Read more

Happy Father's Day, Dad

Parents / Georgia Garvey /

It's not that I don't remember my father complaining.

Because, oh, he did plenty of that. He complained about how there were too many lights on in the house, how we hadn't eaten all our food, how the door was still open or how we'd turned the heat up too high. He complained that our grades weren't good enough, that we fought with each other ...Read more