W ith the unprecedented closure of schools in the area in response to COVID-19, parents are faced with the challenge of keeping their children from boredom. The struggle is real. We feel you. We reached out through social media to Dubuque-area parents to find out what they’ve been doing to keep gray matter and creative...

There is not a better confidence booster to a young, teenage girl than to receive invitations from beauty pageants and modeling agencies. I was pushing 6 feet before high school. There were plenty of awkward moments, as I stood out in any crowd. I was flattered that some people in this world think that my...

Imaginative play has long been the trademark of childhood. Dolls, tea parties, dress-up, pretend battles and action figures are what many of us associate with good, old-fashioned child’s play. Parents today face intense criticism about the amount of time children are spending on electronic devices when they could be engaging in imaginative play. Technology has...

There is not a better confidence booster to a young, teenage girl than to receive invitations from beauty pageants and modeling agencies. I was pushing 6 feet before high school. There were plenty of awkward moments, as I stood out in any crowd. I was flattered that some people in this world think that my...

A colleague of mine recently had her first baby, who at the time of this writing will be 5 months old and chunky as all get out (the baby, not the colleague). The little one also is in the throes of her first fever/cold combo, and no one in her house is getting much sleep....