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Over the past couple of years, the phrase “tea party” has taken on a political connotation. But back in the day, a tea party was synonymous with white gloves and petit fours, or in my case, Cabbage Patch Kids, teacups full of tap water and Little Debbie’s Devil Squares® cut into fourths.

In an overstimulating world packed with iPhones, Wiis and DVRs, occasionally it’s nice to escape to a simpler time, especially if pastries are involved. That's where Carol Richardson of A Touch of Tea comes in.

I’m a newspaper and magazine junkie. I’ve cut back, but I still subscribe to more than I can realistically read, especially in the summer when the boys are underfoot. So when an article about food ads targeting kids  caught my eye recently, it wasn’t a huge surprise that the paper in question arrived last week … sigh. The story ran in the Post, but was written by Jessie Schiewe of the Los Angeles Times, and cited a study by the University of Illinois at Chicago that analyzed trends in advertising aimed at kids.

Researchers used Nielsen ratings from 2003, 2005 and 2007 to compare what products showed up most often in ads on kids’ shows. Turns out that the foods featured in ads are less sugary but more fatty – cereals, candy bars, soda and cookies have been replaced by fast food, diet soda and bottled water.

St. Louis is a perfect place for a couple of stressed-out parents to find romance.

Your first thought when meeting Chuck-A-Burger employee Brenda Helton, is, “What an incredible server.” The second, after hearing about her tenure at this St.

“Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.”

Most of us have wished upon the first star in the nighttime sky with this little rhyme. But it’s not going to work if you’re wishing on a DirecTV satellite. Maybe it’s time to figure out what you’re looking at.

Among the many books I can’t put down this summer is Michael Chabon’s Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son. Though our 1-year-old son “gave” this book to my husband for his birthday, I find myself reading it right along with him. It is not a kids' book of course, but it calls up childhood in so many wonderful and honest ways.

At one point, Chabon is reflecting on the “wilderness of childhood,” describing this time in one’s life as “the great original adventure.” He writes: “For the most part the young adventurer sets forth equipped only with the fragmentary map – marked HERE THERE BE TYGERS and MEAN KID WITH AIR RIFLE – that he or she has been able to construct out of a patchwork of personal misfortune, bedtime reading, and the accumulated local lore of the neighborhood children.”

Reading this, I was reminded of one of my favorite picture books and another splendid summer read, Earth to Audrey by Susan Hughes.

At birth, vision is one of babies’ least-developed senses. It catches up quickly by the time they’re about 4 months old, and their eyes are one of their most important tools for learning about their world. But that’s not to say that all kids have 20/20 vision – any genetic conditions like farsightedness, nearsightedness or lazy eye are already present, and screening can catch them. That’s important, because as much as 80 percent of what children learn as preschoolers and elementary students comes to them visually.

Only 15 percent of preschoolers get vision screening, according to the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation. That’s why it offers free eye checkups to youngsters at preschools, child care centers and public venues like the Saint Louis Science Center, where it will host a free screening event Aug. 6 to 8.

My 1-year-old plays for Team Edward. I know this because every time I wear a sleeveless top, she rears back and sinks her six super-sharp baby teeth into my pasty upper arm. And she does this at the most inopportune times. Like in the middle of church so that my yelp of pain interrupts the sanctity of the sermon.

So why is my docile little girl out for blood?

I love it when “expert” parents give the rest of us a little peek into their day-to-day lives. That’s why I was psyched to be invited to hear Dr. Jim Sears speak on kids and nutrition Thursday evening. The Web site he and his equally well-known parents oversee, AskDrSears.com, is one of my go-to sources of information on the Internet, and I’ve read a couple of their 40+ books.

His down-to-earth presentation didn’t disappoint – and neither did the snapshots into the lives of his 12-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter.  He mixed just the right amount of common-sense advice with guilt-inducing medical viewpoints and self-deprecating humor, starting with the topic of junk food.

Divorce is hard on everyone involved, but for children, it can be particularly heartbreaking.

In 2009, 1,837 parents of minor children filed for dissolution of marriage in St. Louis County, not to mention the 800 in St. Charles County and up to 500 in St. Louis City, according to Kids in the Middle, a nonprofit organization that helps children, parents and families thrive during and after divorce through counseling, education and support. In the middle of these life-changing decisions are thousands of children who may be feeling lonely, lost and anxious.

“When people ask me, ‘Is my child affected by divorce?’ my answer is every child is affected like every parent is affected,” said Judy Berkowitz, executive director of Kids in the Middle. “Sometimes you can see the effects in behavior and sometimes you can’t.”

Last week, while my SUV was in the shop, I headed down to the car rental agency to pick up my mid-sized coupe.

There seems to be a relatively new problem, with a unique theme, in my household: a Yo Gabba! Gabba! craze. It started about a year ago when our 1-year-old discovered television. This was primarily a result of my wife and I looking for ways to sooth her when she was upset or not feeling well.

Perhaps this was an error in judgment. We are well aware that television is not recommended for the under-2 crowd. But when a child is sick and despondent and the whole family is exhausted and miserable, then you just try to make things as comfortable as possible.

I’m not crafty. I wish I was, but I’m not.