Good work: Teenagers’ jewelry line pays it forward

As babies, Molly Bocock and Everett Chapman played together on the floor, babbling and cooing as their mothers lovingly watched. Today the girls, now high school sophomores, design jewelry together for their own line, Osita—and their mothers are still looking on. Bocock’s mother, Nora Brookfield, and Chapman’s mom, Shannon Worrell, are longtime friends and founders […]

Kid’s best friend: Squawk this way

Technically, 2-year-old Peanut belongs to Adam Hensley’s mom, Keri, but it’s Adam who has a special bond with the bird. Since the family found the sun conure on Craigslist last summer, the 15-year-old has taken it upon himself to help care for him. They get along so well that, “Whenever Adam comes home from school, […]

Play place: A yurt for all ages

A few years ago, Dave Berzonsky and Estela Knott, who run Blue Ridge Music Together, added a yurt to their backyard with dreams of opening a preschool. And they did—for a couple years while their girls, Luna and Mareana, were little, they used it as a homeschool cooperative. These days, the yurt has morphed into […]

Shy children: What’s normal and what you can do

Children’s birthday parties typically offer a bird’s-eye view of the broad spectrum of human temperaments. You’ll likely see socially bold kids, vying to be first in line for the piñata; socially comfortable yet milder-mannered kids, who prefer to exuberantly observe the piñata mayhem; and socially reticent children, who hang way back and mutely shake their […]