A restaurant in Pennsylvania has banned children under the age of six. You may have already heard this story and wondered why is it getting so much attention?

The topic of banning kids from restaurants gets recycled every year. In fact, I even wrote on this topic once before. That post brought me to the attention of the producers of CBC Radio’s Q show (unless they are regular readers and have been planning to have me as a guest, but I doubt it) and I will debated the topic against a pro-ban writer. (Click here to listen to the discussion).

My kids have been known to swear. They come by it honestly as their dad and I sometimes let the cuss words slip out in frustration.

Usually they are doing it to get a reaction, so we ignore it.

What is your child up to this summer? Camp? Daycare? Hanging around and making you crazy?

If your child is three and lives in New York, they may be in tutoring ensuring that you they, get into a desirable preschool. In fact, three-year-olds living in many parts of North America may be in tutoring this summer, or at least some kind of formalized reading and school readiness programs.

I had a highly medicalized first pregnancy that ended up in a C-section. Without the C-section both the baby and I could have died from a placental abruption in a matter of minutes. My subsequent deliveries were both V-Bacs (vaginal birth after Ceasarean) which was something I fought for. But the idea of a home birth - no way. I always felt that the health of the baby was more important than the comfort of the mother. My friend and fellow blogger Karen Green disagrees, she had a home birth and feels that was the key to her healthy, peaceful start as a mother. So I asked her to write about it:

My eight-year-old son runs off the field and asks me the score. "Um, I have no idea," is my answer.

"It's five - two for us," yells a teammate.

No, it's eight - 1," yells another.

The final score isn't such a big deal at our soccer house league, there is no scoreboard, so I'm never sure what the final numbers are. I guess someone knows. It doesn't really matter because the finals are a round robin anyways. I like that the score is de-emphasized, it's nice to win but it's pretty horrible when either team gets totally demolished.

"Need more money to feed my kids at school. Any ideas?" read the Facebook update from my friend Nancy Steinhaur, Principal of George Webster school in East York, Toronto at the end of May.

It seems like the last thing a Principal should be asking for: money to feed her students so they can learn. So I did a simple thing; I turned around and posted a simple statement on Twitter:

And the response was overwhelming.

Heather Greenwood Davis is a travel writer who made a radical decision to take her kids out of school and travel the world for a year. They left last week and are making their way across Canada and onwards to the rest of the world. She is making sure that her kids learn a lot while they are away, but none of it will be from textbooks. Here is what she had to say about her decision to pull her eight and six year old out of school and take them on the voyage of a lifetime.

Guest Post: Around the World in 365 Days

It was the easiest decision I ever had to make.

I’m taking my kids out of school for a full year. Next September, while their friends are learning long division, fractions, cursive writing and Canadian history, my kids (Ethan, 8 and Cameron, 6) will be wandering the planet with my husband Ish and I.

Just us: Two parents, two kids, 6 continents and more than 20 countries over the course of one full year.

Would you let your kids play with fire or dam up a creek? Have they ever thrown things out of a car window? Carved a piece of wood? How about climbed a tree?

Why not?

My hands were sliding on the steering wheel, greased by sweat, my two feet felt like three as I tried to negotiate the gas, clutch and brake pedals. As the car hopped for what seemed like an endless moment; I couldn't help but let a lone 'F*ck!' fly out of my mouth.

My Young Drivers of Canada driving instructor laughed and told me that it's been a while since he heard someone swearing at the wheel. It seems the teens who take driving lessons keep their emotions in check better than the 40-year-old mother trying to learn to drive stick.

Have you ever walked through your entire house with a kid attached to your ankle? Yeah, me too.

Gotten pins and needles in your feet because your kid must sit on your lap?

Walked away from a school door teary-eyed because your child is sobbing as they walk up to class?

Left a playdate or birthday party holding your child's hand because they refused to stay? (and then swore silently to yourself because you are now missing out on your one hour alone.)

Yes, yes and yes.