Kelly Hanson

A new look at parenting

A few weeks ago I met with Kadijah Ali-Coleman at the At Play Cafe(the greatest place on earth) in Reston. Like most women who make motherhood the center of their worlds, our kids were with us and our...

When your baby becomes a big sister (or brother)

Most of us have grown up with siblings and despite that experience, want our children to do the same. To minimize the rivalry, regression and acting out that can happen when a new child is introduced to the family, I...

Mall Play Area Ettiquette

After recently rescuing my babies from beneath the feet of very large children in the Tyson’s Corner Mall Play area, I feel that there may be some parents out there who are confused on a few minor points...

"It's not really parenting until there's two"

My Uncle (fount of all wisdom that he is) told me this when I was pregnant with my first child. After I had her, I thought he was nuts. How could anything be harder than what I was already doing...

The Beauty Mandate

Raising children who are not mindless media pawns is a tough thing in the world where Dora and Sponge Bob are plastered to anything that will sit still long enough. Dove has attempted to set themselves up as the anti...

Parenthood and identity

Should parenthood define your life? You’re an educated, productive member of society. Should this thing that many people stumble into accidentally really define who you are as a person? Those of us who took a Women’s...

Travels and Travails with baby in tow

With the Holidays fast approaching, most parents I know are already starting to dread the airport/freeway/hotel or guest room accommodations that are hovering over their heads like a dark cloud. Parenting your kids can be tough enough on...

The role of bribery in parenting

There are many, many parenting experts out there who say that bribery is not an effective parenting tool. They say that it teaches kids to work for the reward rather than for the joy of what they are...

Birth: getting your head in the game

That birth is a tough physical thing to go through is well known throughout our culture. Any movie or TV show that depicts birth features women screaming in pain and saying awful things to their partners or squeezing their...

Marriage, making it work

I've heard it said that the hardest thing you will ever do is to love the person that you're married to. It's easy to love when you're dating the person, you don't know them...

Currently in Los Angeles