How To Train Your Dragon 2 is much more than its title
Overall Kid Focused grade: A- Rated PG Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes By Julie Samrick Since dragons were banned, then accepted, in the first How to Train Your Dragon movie, dragon racing has...
View ArticleHome at Last: Family dog found after 20 months in the wild
By Julie Samrick On Oct. 6, 2012, the Braun family’s golden retriever Murphy, startled by a gun shot, bolted into the Tahoe National Forest near an off-trail campsite at Hell Hole reservoir. Over...
View ArticleThe best summer school
My daughter at the beach during our recent camping trip. By Julie Samrick As we sat around the campfire last weekend I pulled out an old Girl Scout goody for the 11 kids in our party. My Aunt Tilly,...
View ArticleType 1 Diabetes facts and myths
By Julie Samrick Three-year-old Joseph’s flu-like symptoms were the first indicator something was wrong. “It was odd because he was only vomiting at night and he was really lethargic during the day,”...
View ArticleEarth to Echo is mere echo of ET
Julie Samrick Rated PG Overall Kid Focused grade: B- Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes Three childhood friends Tuck, Alex, and Munch are on a mission to save their suburban neighborhood from having...
View ArticleOn Book Leave
By Julie Samrick I wanted to let you know I’ll be taking a short leave from writing articles for Kid Focused while I work on a clean, kid friendly, novel. I’ve always wanted to tackle a book and have...
View ArticleThe Hundred Foot Journey is just what we all need
By Julie Samrick As political, social and religious wars rage around the world and we hear of the bloodshed of children, the most innocent among us, most other topics seem petty to discuss. Yet the...
View ArticleThe smart phone standoff
At long last we’ve found a happy medium. My seventh grader got his much-desired smart phone this summer and everything I dreaded about it hasn’t happened (knock on wood). He’s not on it 24/7 or even...
View ArticleWhat our puppy has taught the kids about parenting
When I was 6-years-old my parents told my three sisters and me we were adopting a baby boy. When I got off the school bus the day of our much-anticipated special delivery my mom was there to greet us....
View ArticleWhat’s the point of youth sports?
Julie Samrick Finally, someone’s speaking out on the increasing madness of youth sports. A former professional athlete turned coach, now father of two, was in my town last week on one stop of a...
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