Capital City Parent

Families looking for a fun, lively, learning excursion this summer don’t have to look far. Central Illinois is home to several family friendly museums that offer engaging permanent installations and special events for all ages. Here is a look at four great destinations within 90 miles of home, including one right here in Springfield.  Illinois […]

Many of the issues parents face today would have seemed like science fiction in Abraham Lincoln’s time. How do we monitor our kids’ online activities? At what age should they get cell phones? How do we balance “screen time” with sports, homework and playing outside?  Yet as far as parenting philosophies go, the Lincolns and […]

My grandfather, Charles Faingold, was a vital, robust guy for most of his life. At different points during his young manhood in Minneapolis and Chicago he plied his trade as both a wrestler and an accountant. He lucked into a job with the U.S. Postal Service just before the Great Depression hit, managing to remain […]

  The Place Where We Live Ken Bradbury and Steve Varble, illustrator Bookkrafters, Jacksonville Lifelong teacher Ken Bradbury of Arenzville is well known in these parts as playwright and theater director. He has had more than 300 plays and musicals published. Designing and building theater sets for numerous Bradbury productions was freelance designer Steven Varble […]

 It’s the stuff of nightmares for every child of an elderly parent – the phone call in the middle of the night or the middle of your work day: “Your father fell. Your mother’s just not quite right. We think there’s something wrong.” And suddenly, there you are, with a parent who needs a new […]

 There are many factors that must be taken into consideration when helping one’s aging parents find an appropriate place to live. A growing number of retirement communities and assisted living apartment complexes have sprouted up in the Springfield area, offering a variety of non-nursing home options with a variety of services, atmospheres and price ranges.  […]

  Parenting is a lifelong venture with many rewards. But we may find ourselves parenting our parents if health issues require continued care. “There were 33.9 million family caregivers of elders in 2004, and it is projected that there will be 81 million by 2050,” states The Caregiver’s Handbook, a supplement to the PBS documentary […]

Teen bodies are always changing, especially as they are going through puberty. All of these changes along with wanting to be accepted can cause young girls to have a poor body image. Body image has to do with how one feels about their body and physical appearance. Girls become very body-conscious at a young age. […]

  Growing up in northern Indiana in the 1960s, from my perspective as a young child, life was pretty simple. Our family had one car, a rotary dial telephone, and a color television that could pick up several stations (a luxury!) because of our proximity to Chicago. If you missed a phone call you had […]

  Attachment Parenting is the hotly debated parenting philosophy that emphasizes close physical proximity between caregivers and children (co-sleeping, babywearing, and breastfeeding) as well as parental responsiveness to a child’s signals of distress. Critics say that it is too demanding of parents and leads to clingy, spoiled children. Proponents argue that children are better able […]

My 19-year-old niece informed me of my responsibility for her belief for several years since she was six years old that people got pregnant by eating pickles. Why, I asked? Because when she was six years old and I was seven months pregnant, I ate a pickle in front of her. Kids remember the darnedest […]