The countdown has begun: In just 33 days, my baby turns 1 year old. Whaaat?! I'm pretty sure I just found out last week that I was pregnant, so there's no way I'm about to have a one year-old. Alas, it's true, and the party-planning has begun. Once upon a [...]
Alison Yoder prepares a chicken tortilla bake with her children Zach, 8, and Audrey Nelson, 11, in their Santa Rosa home on Oct. 23, 2007.(The Press Democrat / Christopher Chung) If you could pick anybody to have a meal with - anybody dead or alive - who would [...]
After every relationship milestone, there always seems to be a well-meaning albeit nosy question. If you've been dating more than a year: "When's the Wedding?" After the wedding (in my case, during my reception), the fervor increases: "So when are you having a baby?!" Almost immediately after baby #1 pops out, [...]
A chart of sleep times is causing a lot of discussion among parents of youngsters. Check to see if your child is making the grade when it comes to sleep.
Rey, the most compelling of the new characters in the Star Wars series, is missing from store shelves among action figures and other toys. . If you bought the latest “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Monopoly game, you would discover that two critical male characters are featured as [...]
Here's a link to a NBC San Diego report about a father who’s livid about how his 10-year-old daughter was subjected to an extensive pat-down search while going through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham International Airport on New Year’s Day. Apparently she was singled out after [...]
Just hand me a bucket. Yesterday, while puttering around the house putting away the last of the Christmas decorations, my husband stuck our son in his Excersaucer and starting flipping around for something to watch, eventually settling on Pooh's Heffalump Movie as background entertainment. I know I've seen it in [...]
Merry Consumerism Holiday! With Christmas mere days away, the conversation around how much is too much for our kids on Christmas has come up with multiple close friends and new-mom acquaintances alike. In our house, we haven’t had to focus on this too much as of yet. Our [...]
So someone from Frankfurt, Germany – or someone just using a Frankfurt server - sends a 360-word amateurish email to schools in Los Angeles and New York threatening a possible terrorist attack and it not only results in the closure of 1,100 schools in L.A. but it makes front-page news [...]
I once had a Waltons-type perspective on what getting a Christmas tree should be like. You know, the family dressed in flannel venturing off into the evergreen forest to surround a single majestic arbor which is felled with a few swift ax blows and carted away by siblings singing carols [...]
There’s an old African proverb that states “It takes a village to raise a child”, and these days that proverb has never been more true. Whether we’re related by blood or by intention, families come in all forms, and are only defined by the bonds of love.
Crissi Langwell is the voice of the Village, which she started in 2012. Crissi is a the mother of three kids, ages 18-24, and tells stories of her blended family and other stories related to families and parenting. She is also a Petaluma author of 11 books. You can find out more about her novels at crissilangwell.com.
The Village is also home to other voices, as well, including Stephanie Ansley (a new mom facing the joys of first-time parenthood), as well as Paul Gullixson (a parent and coach of a team of 12-year-olds) and Meg McConahey (a mom with enough experience to have some good laughs about the whole thing).
We welcome all kinds of voices, and you may see some additional viewpoints from other Press Democrat writers and local contributors. Because it truly does take a village.
