It's stories like this that make me wish I could home-school.

By now you've heard about the first-grader who was suspended for 45 days for bringing a fork to school.

It all turned out okay. The public school educators reconsidered and will allow the kid to come back to school next week. But this whole mess could have so been avoided if school officials just used some of those critical thinking skills they feel are so important to teach our kids.

It was a Swiss Army Knife for goodness sakes. I'm all for zero tolerance policies in the proper context -- a kid who knowingly violates the policy, who intends to threaten or do harm. Yes, anything to prevent another Columbine. None of those cases apply here.

This sweet little boy was excited to join the Cub Scouts and wanted to bring in his Swiss Army gadget to eat his lunch with. That's it. His mom should have been more on top of things, but oh well.

Jennifer Connelly explains to Jimmy Kimmel that she lets her kids (Kai, 12, and Stellan, 6) curse—but not in public. CafeMoms had a similar conversation about whether they let their kids swear in the house...

Photo by amaranthleewolf

Big kids feel even more grown up when they get to sit around the table chatting with their parents, aunts, uncles, and family friends. Some CafeMoms prohibit this practice and shoo their kids away to play. They don't feel that tweens or even teens should be allowed into adult conversations, partly because of the potential topics (sex, money troubles, death). They grow up too fast already, they say. Also, it's just not their place.

A conversation going on in the private group Heated Debates (over 100 comments so far) is hashing out the pros and cons of letting adolescents into adult talk circles.

"When I was younger it was a no-no, you were not allowed to sit under adults while they were talking, and you were not allowed to be part of the conversations," says guess_who_wit_6. "I am the same way. My children are not my friends nor are they my equals and they have no place in adult convos unless they are specifically asked a question."

Perhaps the person who wrote about the Banana Split Cake isn't the ideal source for talking about how to get kids to trade in their hot dogs, French fries, and chicken fingers for more nutritious food. But I did find these great tips for getting kids to stop eating junk food (and I promise I only had a tiny piece of that cake!).

Photo by JacknJill

By this point I'm pretty accustomed to toys, clothes, kitchen utensils, sporting equipment and everything else tossed about the place. That's just life with kids. But the one place I like to keep clean and orderly is my own bedroom. The other day I walked in to find evidence of intruders.

A yellow rain boot filled with stuffed animals sat in the middle of the floor.

My nightstand drawer was hanging open ready to fall, disemboweled, with my iPod, asthma inhaler and other assorted (personal!) stuff strewn about the bed.

Someone dragged my husband's ankle weight all the way across the room by the door. It was 10 pounds, so this culprit was very strong. But it caused me to trip and stub my toe, which is why I got so mad and wrote this post.

Ordinarily, we'd expect our teenagers to (at times) be moody, mouthy, and disrespectful, or to have an attitude. But lots of moms say their tweens are exhibiting disrespectful behavior, and they're wondering what to do about it...

Anne_80 is facing a difficult dilemma I'm sure any mom with teenagers wouldn't envy. Her 18-year-old son was arrested for a DUI that resulted in an accident. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured; but now, she's trying to decide whether to leave him in jail until his trial date to teach him a lesson or bail him out.

Siblings are so much fun—especially when they get along. But even if they do "play nice," there's bound to be the occasional spat here and there. Sometimes those fights can get physical with a slap, a pinch ... some wrestling around on the ground. How do you discipline your children when they fight?

Does your kid ever get picked on at school?

Any parent who has ever dealt with bullying or social exclusion—whether your child is the victim or the offender—knows how upsetting this can be. But who's to blame for the bullying problem: Kids? Parents? Schools? Doctors?

I admit, when it comes to day-to-day parenting, I could stand to lighten up a little. Okay, a lot.