At the start of a new academic year, it’s inevitable that some students mourn their summer vacations and others feel happy to have something to do. Either way, going back to school can be a stressful time for both students and parents. Who’s picking Jacob up from football practice? And how much did Jessica’s scientific […]
One of the stranger artifacts of working in an animal-centric profession is the need to clarify any time that we’re talking about the human world. We find ourselves saying awkward things like “I’m going to the people doctor” and “I need to pick up some people food.” I’ve always liked the latter. It evokes the […]
In the air The ground’s the limit It doesn’t matter how hot it is on the ground, when you’re up in a plane going close to 100mph at several thousand feet, you’ll cool right down. Then, when you leap from that plane and plummet toward the earth at (more or less) 9.81 m/s, the chill […]
It’s just after 6am when 14-year-old Brianna Knight steps into a chicken coop in her backyard. Her hens are happy to see her, clucking and pecking as she works quietly, giving them food and fresh water and releasing them out into the yard for the day. This is just the beginning of Brianna’s [...]
As babies, Molly Bocock and Everett Chapman played together on the floor, babbling and cooing as their mothers lovingly watched. Today the girls, now high school sophomores, design jewelry together for their own line, Osita—and their mothers are still looking on. Bocock’s mother, Nora [...]
Technically, 2-year-old Peanut belongs to Adam Hensley’s mom, Keri, but it’s Adam who has a special bond with the bird. Since the family found the sun conure on Craigslist last summer, the 15-year-old has taken it upon himself to help care for him. They get along so well that, “Whenever Adam [...]
The best thing about summer? A quick (or not so quick) dip in the pool to cool off. Here are a few of the area’s best offerings, where the water’s cold and the splashes come free. Pools Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center 1000-A Cherry Ave., 970-3072 The biggest and baddest of public pools in [...]
You may have never seen the Morrison family before, but if you live in Belmont, you’ve likely heard them. The quartet—John, Emily and their two daughters, 12-year-old Eliza and 10-year-old Anne Marie—often sets up their family band on their front porch across from Belmont Park, which, as it [...]
It’s late at night, and 17-year-old Saunder Boyle was supposed to be home three hours ago. But her parents aren’t worried. She isn’t out partying with friends; she’s making a movie. “My parents get the whole long-hour shooting days,” says Boyle, a rising senior at Tandem Friends School. “Things [...]
Christine Eichler’s fondest childhood memories are of running around with all the sheep, horses and rabbits at her grandparents’ animal farm in New Jersey. “It was like the SPCA of the county,” she said with a laugh, recalling how her grandparents happily took in farm animals that needed homes. [...]
We love swim team and beach trips and even the occasional lazy day at home just as much as the next person, but it can be all too easy to let your kids’ brains go into hibernation mode during the summer months. Luckily for kids (and parents) in the area, schools and organizations in [...]
Children’s birthday parties typically offer a bird’s-eye view of the broad spectrum of human temperaments. You’ll likely see socially bold kids, vying to be first in line for the piñata; socially comfortable yet milder-mannered kids, who prefer to exuberantly observe the piñata mayhem; and [...]
Less than 30 percent of Virginia’s adolescent girls were vaccinated for human papillomavirus (HPV) last year, despite the fact that the Commonwealth was one of the first to pass legislation mandating the vaccine for sixth grade girls. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) wants to know why [...]
Shadow Bats, Jen Fleisher and Jesse Fiske’s musical group with their 5-year-old son, Theo, have recorded one song so far, Jen said, a track entitled, naturally, “Shadow Bats.” But there’s likely more to come. Music is important in the Fleisher-Fiske household: Jen plays bass for Jim Waive & [...]
Some teenagers spend their time planning their next Snapchat story. But 17-year-old Caroline Tillman is planning her next business move. When she was 10, she went on a three-year circumnavigation with her parents on their sailboat, and while at sea, freelanced for a few national sailing [...]
If someone had told Javin Montgomery-DeLaurier when he was a little kid that by age 16 he’d already be on the receiving end of more than a dozen scholarship offers to play college basketball, he probably would have laughed. “I was still growing really fast when I was 10, and I was really [...]
There’s one generally agreed-upon rule of thumb when it comes to designing any room: It’s always better to collect pieces over time than to purchase everything at once for the sake of furnishing your space. And that’s the approach Jill Tebbenkamp takes when helping clients outfit their [...]
When Selene and Avery Evans got married in 2007, they weren’t entirely sure how they were going to merge their two families. They had five kids from previous marriages between them, ranging in ages from kindergarten to high school, and a new house with enough space for everybody to have [...]
Earlier this year, then-15-year-old snowboarder and Charlottesville native Ward Saunders traveled to Copper Mountain, Colorado, to compete in the U.S.A. Snowboard Association’s national championships. Described by the event website as “the largest snowboard and free skiing event on earth,” the [...]
I was stewing—not something on the stovetop, but because of the article I was reading. The title, “Getting Your Kids to eat (or at Least Try) Everything,” promised so much. The content provided so little. The author’s solution to getting kids to try new things was to do what he, a cook-book [...]
I remember the moment my husband and I decided on a name for our first child. I wish I could tell you that the clouds parted and the sun shone on my belly as the universe accepted the name for its new inhabitant. Names are big deals, after all. The truth is, we were driving […]
As every parent knows, a bored child is a menace to herself and others. Lacking positive ways of focusing her attention, my toddler, for example, will use her own body in experiments designed to discover if there are any loopholes in the laws of gravity. Keeping children entertained during the [...]
The best way to take in a winter wonderland? By barreling down a snow-covered hill so fast you feel like you’re flying. Grab your sled (or, go old school—a trashcan lid’ll do!) and hit these mini-slopes around Charlottesville. O Hill See if you can get a student to swipe you a cafeteria tray [...]