My daughter Alex, at 5 years old, has not yet received an allowance -- but I'm strongly thinking that in the coming months, when she officially starts kindergarten, I'm going to start giving her one.This decision has necessarily caused me a bit of consternation:  how much allowance, for example, is appropriate for a 5-year-old?  And how often?

I've heard a lot of arguments against paying kids an allowance in exchange for chores.  Some say the children have to do chores just because they're part of the family. (Yes.) Others say it teaches children to help out just for a reward and not for the joy of helping. (Yes.) I think those things are all true. And I'll still be paying my kid an allowance to do her chores (as long as my husband agrees -- it may be interesting to see his reaction this post).

Choreplay, sleep training, weaning hysteria and media portrayals of surreal working mothers...

I vaccinate my children.  I believe in the benefits of vaccines, so it was just a matter of course.  Our pediatrician laid out the immunization schedule and we agreed to it.  I knew other parents who didn't vaccinate their children, and felt to each his own.  Sure, you can have the right to choose, my kids would be protected.  But this story changed my opinion.

I’d like to know who invented the concept of allowance and why someone didn’t bother to tell my mother about it when I was growing up. I remember in History class, when I was a kid, we learned about indentured slaves, and immediately I felt as if I was one. We didn’t receive any money for doing what we were supposed to do; our parents said we were earning our ‘keep’.

My five-year-old just got her last round of vaccinations until she's an adolescent. It was not pretty. This was the first year she remembered before we hit the doctor's office that there were shots involved. She also remembered how much shots hurt, how much she loathes them. I found myself explaining, for the first time, why she actually has to have them.At least to her.

I don’t babysit. Period. End of story.

Finding reliable babysitters has always been a tricky issue for parents, especially during tough economic times, when budgets are tight.  I've been a stay-at-home or work-at-home mom the whole time I've been a parent, so I've never had to look for regular, daily childcare.  But for finding occasional, hourly childcare help, I've had to get creative.

My husband and I became parents through adoption:  we brought our daughter Alex home as a newborn from the hospital.  However, unlike most parents who have the luxury of some paid maternity or paternity leave when they bring home their little ones, the company we both worked for didn't give maternity leave to adoptive parents.  Therefore our need for a babysitter came fast and furious:  after two weeks of vacation time off, we both had to go right back to work.

Are you part of a mommy group?

Summer is nearly upon us and if you have school age children, you've undoubtedly already made summer camp plans for your children.  I remember summer camps of my youth and want to pass some of these great experiences on to my children.  It's a time to stop learning about academics and learn about life and appreciate the great outdoors.

Ah, the child's birthday party:  is there really any more stress-inducing event that can be planned in a child's life?  I don't remember birthdays being that big of a deal when I was a kid:  my mom (or my friends' moms, as applicable) would bake a cake that was ostensibly intended to look like the popular cartoon character of the day (but in reality was always unrecognizable), she'd add a tub of ice cream, paper plates and plastic utensils, and call that a "party."  Entertainment was some mildly humiliating game like Musical Chairs (I never won) or Pin The Tail On The Donkey, and goody bags were comprised of a balloon and one of those little plastic puzzles where you had to slide the little numbered tiles one by one to get them in order -- remember those?  (Go easy on me.  I was a kid in the days before Nintendo DS.  We had little plastic toys back then.  And rotary dial phones.  Stop judging me.)