Beneath the desk, agile fingers flit across the keypad. Above, eye contact with the teacher never breaks. The cell-phone text message is sent, unnoticed. Or noticed.

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The review was scathing. "She cannot sing very well," it said. "She is flat a good deal of the time." So the singer's father did what any loyal dad might. He put pen to paper and dashed off a blistering nastygram.

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She's smiling a big, bright happy smile. The kind of toothy smile only a child can flash - full of innocence and wonder.

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I am peering at the back of my nephew's 5-year-old head.

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If you or someone you love, including that uncommunicative teenager who occupies the upstairs bedroom at the end of the hall, is preparing for the SAT, ACT or PSAT, I have good news. The six-CD Kaplan Platinum set for 2007 is a grand way to start preparing for one of the most important tests of their lives.

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At Mountain Meadow summer camp, kids' parents come in pairs.

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Q: My ex asked my son to be available today to help him finish painting a house that he's trying to "flip." We have had plans for months for that day - we were trying to surprise my son and so he didn't know. My 14-year-old son had to call his father to tell him. (I was fully prepared to call his dad myself.) My ex obligates my son to do things when my son is with me without discussing it directly with me first, putting my son in the middle. What's good ex-etiquette in this case?

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Q: We're having a discussion - somewhat of a debate, actually - in our church over when it's appropriate to allow children to sit with their parents during worship. What is your recommendation?

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When my children earn good grades in school, I try to reward them - a pat on the back, some encouraging words, and maybe dinner or a sleepover with friends.

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Kids may be worried about homework, teachers and that pesky bully this school year. But parents? They're leery about lunches.

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We asked readers to share their tried-and-true methods to start up a conversation with a child, spouse, mother-in-law or other person whose lips are often locked.

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Looking for a way to encourage conversation at a tween sleepover, birthday party or family fun night?

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Because I am a sucker, I said yes. My 11-year-old daughter asked if she could have an "end of school year" sleepover. She's never had a sleepover, mostly due to the fact that her older siblings have had sleepovers and they didn't go well. The set of 13-year-old boys who trashed my house at 4:15 a.m. pretty much sealed the deal.

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One of my friends just started a new job teaching eighth grade. Her new school's policies are strict: No personal information online. One teacher got fired for being pictured online drinking an alcoholic beverage. This is a new concern for my friend, whose career has previously been with the elementary-aged crowd. She's been blogging for years, and even if she adds a password protection to her sites now, all her previous content will still keep coming up in Google searches for her name.

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I'm not dying; I'm pregnant.

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The following is an excerpt from "Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too" by Susan Callahan, Anne, Nolen and Katrin Schumann (copyright 2008). Reprinted with permission from The McGraw-Hill Companies, www.mhprofessional.com.

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A weekly glimpse of what moms are saying on the Web.

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Middle age can be incredibly liberating. We might stop basing our choices on the needs or desires of other people. We stop saying "yes" to every request. We're much more discriminating when we decide how to spend our time. And with whom.

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Moms Forum spotlights useful discussion taking place on the parenting forums of newspapers around the country.

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There are many times that parents step into the role of Dr. Mom, but treating a burn is one that guarantees anxiety. It's helpful for parents to educate themselves on some basic first aid and CPR so they're prepared for the unexpected.

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Wondering about your baby's horoscope? Or how your little Capricorn is going to get along with his Virgo sis? Yeah, we thought so. BabyCenter.com just launched a page of horoscopes for pint-sized members of the Zodiac. Kinda irresistible.

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FLAT ROCK, Mich. - By the calendar, Lindsay Ratcliffe is only 4 years old. But her body goes by a different clock. She has progeria, the disease of accelerated aging, caused by a genetic defect that is known to affect 46 children worldwide.

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Ay, the risks you take when you put your appearance in the hands of your children. I did that and wound up with hands that have sprouted mold.

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There are thousands of books on pregnancy, babies and tot care. But where's the how-to manual when moms go back to work?

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The first "letting go" is usually that tearful preschool or kindergarten goodbye. Fast-forward 12 or so years and now you're saying goodbye to a college freshman.

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Not long ago, I felt complete frustration about our beginning attempts at potty training. I wasn't mentally or emotionally ready for Nourit to begin potty training, and would have happily waited until she was 3, but I began it to combat her self-imposed constipation, or as we dubbed it, her "praying to the poop god." (This is a pose she would strike to hold it in; knees out, head back, hands pressed together in Namaste. It would last for days until she finally pooped.) Although we'd had the potty for almost a year, and she had had some good times on it, she was, at this point, completely against sitting on the potty. She would scream, kick, sob and wet every pair of underpants I put on her in protest. It was not a good start, and I had begun to look in the Yellow Pages for Potty Boot Camp.

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Is your postbaby sex life lacking (or nonexistent)? You're not alone. With a new baby in the picture, sex can drop a few notches on the priority list. And it's not just the new responsibilities and exhaustion --- delivering a baby can leave you sore, dry and feeling not-so-sexy. If you're ready to turn the heat back on in the bedroom (or dining room, or kitchen), try these real-life tips from sex therapist Dr. Lisa Terrell and a few other moms who've been through it all before.

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When Diamond Emory and her daughter Makaiah arrived at Wal-Mart to buy her fifth-grade school supplies, they encountered much to entice a young shopper.

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