BlogHer's Shannon wrote an insightful post looking into preschool television shows back in January. But what about television that tweens and teens watch? Television that you and I watch (or will watch someday) with our kids? I'm not talking about individual shows, I'm talking about television in general. With a gazillion channels to choose from and DVRs abounding, one can certain insulate against undesirable shows easily. But what about our kids?

E-books, man. They're infiltrating schools. Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Conn., got rid of the 20,000 books in its school library, trading up to flatscreens, Kindles and computers only. And now that Google has paired with On Demand Books (the company that invented a book vending machine), schools could potentially serve up printed e-books in the public domain like cotton candy.

My daughter started kindergarten this year, and because we wanted to ease her transition, we left her in her normal daycare for before-and-after-school care instead of putting her in the program run by the public school system. Even though it cost $200 a month more.

October has always been one of my favorite months of they year. Nice weather, Canadian Thanksgiving, my birthday, Halloween and let's face it, anything is better than September. But really, the best thing about October is the DonorsChoose Social Media Challenge (formerly known as the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge.)

You quit your job to stay home and now your kids are launched (at least they are in school most of the day). You’ve volunteered for everything from class representative to PTA president. You’ve carpooled, you’ve brought snacks after soccer, you’ve attend yet another school play. You’ve been there for the braces, the training bra, the horrors of teenage acne. And finally, in the silence of night, you awake and realize that faint sound is the earth spinning seconds minutes hours days weeks months years. And suddenly, you are forty-five.

When my in-laws were packing up their house to move, my husband discovered a huge pile of story albums. I practically drooled over them -- but there was no record player in the house.

The newness of back-to-school has worn off, and we're settling into our parenting routines. Right? Except for those members of the sandwich generation who never quite know what to expect from their aging parents. What do you do when you have soccer practice at the same time as your father's doctor appointment? Your father who can't drive anymore? Replicate yourself?

I remember my children's vitamins clearly. They were pastel purple, pink and yellow, and they tasted like Pez. I longed to take the whole bottle, for I loved them so.And I don't give my daughter vitamins with any sort of regularity.

Unlike my sisters and my brother, I looked forward to bringing home my report card every marking period. A great report card to me, meant more money in my pockets. Every "A" I received was worth $5, every "B" was worth $3, and anything below that was worth a big goose egg! So to say that I strived every marking period to gain "A"s in every subject was an understatement. It wasn't even something that I had to work that hard towards either.  Academics were something I never struggled with as a kid, but my siblings on the other hand, were complete opposites.

Last year this time we were sneaking in mid-day matinees between the back to school doctor, dentist, and ortho appointments. When I asked her if she wanted a new sweat suit (the daily de rigueur fashion statement of 7th grade) she said no, the one she had was just fine--ripped knees and all. She insisted on pulling her long hair back into a sloppy ponytail to keep it out of the way when she played soccer, softball, or basketball.

One of my co-workers was looking into convertible car seats the other day. She asked me my opinion about car seats, and boy, was she in for it. My daughter, who's now a svelte five-year-old, was such a large baby that she grew out of her carrying-case car seat (you know, the infant kind you lug around, giving yourself permanent back pain?) when she was four months old. You heard me right.

I've been participating in service days where I can share my technology skills with local organization.   My favorite is the annual NTEN Day of Service for the NTC which I've been doing for the past ten years!    Mozilla Service Week starts on Monday, September 14!  The idea behind service is simple: Everyone should know how to use the Internet, have easy access to it, and have a great experience when they’re online.   Mozilla is reaching out to geeks far and wide to give a helping hand to nonprofit organizations and people all over the world to experience the joy of using the Web!