I burst a first-grader’s bubble the other day. We were all set to go on one of the last water park outings of the summer, and as he was about to climb into our car, I stopped him. “What about your car seat?” I asked.

He gave me a highly insulted look, the kind only a perturbed 6-year-old can muster, but before he could say anything his mom jumped in. “Oh, he’s tall enough,” his mom replied. “He doesn’t need one.”

We stood there discussing it for a bit. She was pretty sure she was right, I was pretty sure she was wrong. I think she gave in only because I’d have been the one paying the $50 citation plus court costs for violating the booster seat law in Missouri – and because our destination was Illinois, I could potentially have been set back another $50 on that side of the river.

So what are the rules?

I’m not the kind of mom to follow trends, so I was a little slow on the uptake on the whole crazy bands (aka Silly Bandz) fad.

You can play a role in saving the lives of children right here in St. Louis just by chowing down on a cheeseburger. Or pizza, tacos or spaghetti.

My son has shark teeth: His permanent teeth are growing behind his baby teeth. Apparently this is pretty common (another SmartParenting blogger recently dealt with this too), but I admit I’m baffled. Don’t baby teeth just fall out?

Not always. It turns out there are a lot of reasons why some kids’ baby teeth are tenacious. One is genetics. Another is impatience. Some kids are more aggressive at wiggling loose teeth. In my 7-year-old’s case, he needed encouragement from the dentist to start wiggling and twisting his three loose teeth.

In fact, she pretty much gave him an ultimatum this morning.

Last Thursday night, Mr. P and I went to a concert to celebrate our anniversary. We saw one of my absolute favorites, Jamie Lidell, put on an incredible show at the Old Rock House. If you haven’t been to either before, I highly recommend them both.

When we were dating, Mr. P and I loved going to concerts. Since having kids, we still enjoy going, but our shows are few and far in between. Mostly because someone needs to be home with the little ones and because concerts are expensive, but really because, let’s face it, we’re not 28 anymore.

Here’s what’s changed in our concert-going ways once the Little Ps made their appearances: