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How far into the surf do you have to get to find someplace without COVID?

Diary of a Pandemic Holiday

By Jef Rouner

Sep 1, 2021

May People are getting vaccinated, restrictions are being lifted, and deaths are going down. For one brief month or so it looks like there might finally be some hope. I very hesitantly book the safest vacation I possibly can just in case things go south. What could be lower key...

Schools can get on a kid's case for this, but not for refusing to wear a mask.

I Can’t Believe I Have to Worry About School Dress Codes in a Plague

By Jef Rouner

Aug 26, 2021

I took the Kid With One F shopping for some back-to-school non-binary finery this past weekend, and as frustrating as that always is it was made even more maddening by the fact that adhering to school dress codes in the middle of a pandemic seems more ridiculous than toothpaste-flavored chips...

Remember, but don't spend your time looking back.

Don’t Mourn Your Child Growing Up

By Jef Rouner

Jul 21, 2021

There’s this parenting piece by Laurel Anne going on around on Facebook that’s been shared over seventy-thousand times about how you blink, and your children have already grown up. A sample: Whether you are enjoying where you are in motherhood today or not, don’t blink. Don’t wish for anything to...

My kid has barely left the house for 16 months.

I Think COVID Might Have Irreparably Damaged Our Kids

By Jef Rouner

Jul 6, 2021

Every Independence Day since my child was three, the Kid With One F has spent the night with my mother. Mum lives out on a big plot of land just outside Channelview where no one cares that the night will be filled with fireworks. Combined with my stepdad’s love of...

Renequa Burch and her lawyer at the Foster Care Advocacy Center believe her race was a factor in CPS taking her children.

Black Children In Harris County Are Seized By CPS 3.5 Times More Often Than White Kids

By Schaefer Edwards

Jun 28, 2021

Renequa Burch still wonders why exactly Child Protective Services moved so quickly to take four of her five kids away from her in the summer of 2018, but she’s convinced the fact that she and her children are Black had something to do with it. A social worker and mother...

Just because you're home doesn't mean your school or job owns you while you're there.

I Will NOT Make My Child Go To School Sick Even if She’s Just in Her Bedroom

By Jef Rouner

Apr 28, 2021

One of the more frustrating things about the remote learning process over the last year is that my daughter’s school district has never really addressed what the hell to do when she is ill. Luckily, she’s been pretty healthy (turns out your kids gets sick a lot less when they...

Parents have ample seating to watch their kids.

Discovery Green Opens Revitalized Playspace

By Jef Rouner

Apr 7, 2021

With Spring in full bloom and most of us still confined to outdoor activities despite the lifting of the occupancy restrictions, Discovery Green has just given us a fantastic reason to visit. The John P. McGovern Playground has finally finished its $2.3 million renovations and is open to the public...

CoolXDad Supports History, Art and Family Ties

By DeVaughn Douglas

Mar 3, 2021

Sitting in the lobby of the Dakota Lofts downtown your eye is immediately drawn to the black and white floor that resembles a giant chessboard. A small group of people mill around the life size board as they await instructions. Before anyone has a chance to start creating their own...

The Kid With One F and her screaming pink hair

What Is a “Cool” Parent?

By Jef Rouner

Jan 6, 2021

For our daughter's eleventh birthday, my wife and I took the Kid With One F to get her hair colored pink. It was something she asked about for years after watching the way her mom switches up hair colors regularly. Since the birthday we’d planned for her was consumed by...

Children's Museum Houston added masks to its colorful outdoor kid statues earlier this summer. CMH intends to operate virtually, for now.

Children's Museum of Houston Shifts to Virtual Learning For Fall After Summer Reopening

By Schaefer Edwards

Sep 10, 2020

In the middle of a contagious disease outbreak, operating a safe haven for families that caters to curious children who are encouraged to get up close and personal with hands-on learning is no small task. Children’s Museum Houston has been grappling with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic for almost...

Rhodes Park School Pupils in the School Computer Lab during a LC preparatory session

The Five Stages of First Day Remote School Emotions

By Jef Rouner

Sep 9, 2020

School is very different here in the Plague Year. Virtually every school is offering some form of remote learning in the hopes that kids will continue their educations while not becoming vectors for the continued spread of the coronavirus. Tuesday was the first day of school for my child and...

We've Eaten Baby Yoda — And You Can Too

By Cory Garcia

Aug 25, 2020

There are a lot of pop culture rites of passage, but few are as interesting as the tie-in breakfast cereal. Imagine how much of an impact you have to make to believe that people will want to eat the sweetened grain version of you. Mr. T had a cereal. Steve...

Tagliatelle bolognese made a great substitute for my gone-too-soon (i.e. out of season) oxtail pasta.

Whining and Dining: Beating the Crowd at Coltivare

By Brooke Viggiano

Feb 4, 2020

Life has changed for this food writer. As a brand-new mom, poppin’ bottles has taken on a slightly different meaning. But while I find myself seeking out diaper changing tables for the first time ever, I’m still on the hunt for all the awesome happy hours, exciting menus and H-town...

I've heard Brazilian jiu jitsu described as the art of gently folding laundry with people still inside it.

All Girls Should Learn Jiu Jitsu In a Rape Culture World

By Jef Rouner

Jan 23, 2020

One of my most popular pieces of all time was called “Teach Your Daughters to Hit People Who Touch Them,” but I have to confess that I no longer actually tell her to hit people. I tell her to put them on the ground. Hard. That’s why I enrolled her...

An almond flour taco so good I wish I had two.

Whining and Dining: A Fresh Start to the New Year at Vibrant

By Brooke Viggiano

Jan 21, 2020

Life has changed for this food writer. As a brand-new mom, poppin’ bottles has taken on a slightly different meaning. But while I find myself seeking out diaper changing tables for the first time ever, I’m still on the hunt for all the awesome happy hours, exciting menus and H-town...

Ooh la la, the French cheeseburger at Squable...

Whining and Dining: (Early) Family Date Night at Squable

By Brooke Viggiano

Dec 10, 2019

Life has changed for this food writer. As a brand-new mom, poppin’ bottles has taken on a slightly different meaning. But while I find myself seeking out diaper changing tables for the first time ever, I’m still on the hunt for all the awesome happy hours, exciting menus and H-town...

Nachos, beers, bottles and cheers for the 'Stros.

Whining and Dining: Cheering on the ‘Stros at Front Porch

By Brooke Viggiano

Oct 23, 2019

Life has changed for this food writer. As a brand-new mom, poppin’ bottles has taken on a slightly different meaning. But while I find myself seeking out diaper changing tables for the first time ever, I’m still on the hunt for all the awesome happy hours, exciting menus and H-town...

The 713 Tattoo Parlor where I took my daughter.

Taking Your Child to a Tattoo Parlor for Ear Piercing Might Be the Better Option

By Jef Rouner

Oct 22, 2019

The Kid With One F recently turned ten, and what she most wanted for her birthday was to get her ears pierced. My wife and I made a vow that when the time came she asked, we would not be taking her to the mall. As good goths, we had...

Turns out date nights can still happen with a bébé on board.

Whining and Dining: Bébé's First Steak Frites at Common Bond

By Brooke Viggiano

Oct 16, 2019

Life has changed for this food writer. As a brand-new mom, poppin’ bottles has taken on a slightly different meaning. But while I find myself seeking out diaper changing tables for the first time ever, I’m still on the hunt for all the awesome happy hours, exciting menus and H-town...

This cacio e pepe is now at Night Heron full-time.

Whining and Dining: Babies and ‘Sghetti at Night Heron

By Brooke Viggiano

Sep 25, 2019

Life has changed for this food writer. As a brand-new mom, poppin’ bottles has taken on a slightly different meaning. But while I find myself seeking out diaper changing tables for the first time ever, I’m still on the hunt for all the awesome happy hours, exciting menus and H-town...

Parenting

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