Scientists have known since the 1930s that plants sense the length of the days and, somehow, use that information to decide when to flower. Russian scientists back then speculated that a mysterious substance must be transported from leaves to shoot tips, stimulating the formation of flower buds. They called the mystery chemical “florigen.” In 2005, a trio of new studies revealed how it works, including why flowers spring forth in certain spots on a plant. The findings were... [read more]

Fathers play a special, irreplaceable role in our lives, and Father’s Day is a great time to let them know that. On June 17, skip the tie and tell all the  special, irreplaceable dads in your life what they mean to you from the bottom of your heart. Some suggestions: Write a letter thanking your father/uncle/grandfather/ brother/son for all he’s done and all he means to you.  Read it in front of him and the whole family. You can frame it and even add photos or other... [read more]

Sunday, March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. Why do we bother to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day around the world? Obviously, you might say, the day is to honour Ireland's patron saint, who introduced Catholicism to the Irish and rid their land of snakes. But that's not really what we're celebrating, is it? We're really using it as an excuse to wear green and throw a big party. Everyone knows the Irish love a good party. Our methods of celebrating might differ around the... [read more]

Physical fitness should start early, so here are a few exercises disguised as play that you can do with children as young as two years. · Ball walk. Find a small bouncy ball, and have your child hold it between his or her knees. Then challenge the child to walk farther and farther without dropping it. · Giant walking. Have your child take the longest step he or she can, then stop for a moment all stretched out. Then have the child stand up straight and take a giant... [read more]

As social networking stretches into every corner of our lives, parents are right to be concerned about the information their children may be sharing online – and about what kind of information they should share about their own families.  Here are some guidelines: Pick a strong password.  Don’t use common words or significant dates in your life.  Create a password that’s a mix of capital and lowercase letters, plus numbers, so it can’t be guessed... [read more]