Having gone through the teenage years 2.5 times now, I have a different perspective on the elementary years. Given what's ahead, I know that pacing myself is a good idea.

Along with making a donation to agencies supporting those affected by the tornado, a really good thing for all families to do is to make some disaster plans of their own.

The pace of genetic research is stunning and exciting. But there is more to life and health than genetics.

I don't know if I could have made a difference -- but I'll never stop being sorry I didn't bring him home.

Every child and every family is different, and those differences are crucial when it comes to deciding what approach to take to a parenting challenge.

I found out about them from my daughter, who was running away from the scene. She was right there, close enough to see the explosions, just yards away.

Medicine can do amazing things these days. Whether it's face transplants or new treatments for diabetes or curing many kinds of cancer, it can seem like medicine can do everything. But medicine can't -- and shouldn't -- do everything.

A friend of mine is pregnant, and she's having a rough go of it so far. "You people who have had babies don't say anything about this stuff," she's been saying. My friend has a point: We should alert people to the possible side effects of parenthood.

Parents' worries about the safety of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine are on the rise. And yet, doctors and scientists aren't more worried. What's going on?

A study just released in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has found that the states with the most firearm legislation have fewer deaths from guns than the states with the least firearm legislation. But is having more laws the cause?

February is heart month -- a great time to think about heart health. While we tend to think of heart disease as a problem of adults, it can start in childhood, and the health habits of childhood have everything to do with heart health in adulthood.

It can take moments like I had at that baptism to hit you up the side of the head and make you see that not only has time passed, but that you are wiser and better for it.

Let's be honest: When was the last time you talked about alcohol ads with your kids? I don't mean in a "Wow, that was a cool ad they had on during the Super Bowl," kind of way.

I think we should practice asking for help. We can start small, like by asking for directions (although the GPS devices on our phones are rapidly making that need obsolete) or asking someone to hold the door for us when our arms are full. Baby steps are fine.

Lots of people are using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) these days -- things like vitamins, homeopathic or herbal medicine, chiropractors, acupuncture or massage therapy. But they don't always tell their doctors about it.

Guns are a public health problem, plain and simple. As pediatricians, this is patently obvious to us -- which is why we could not understand why the state of Florida wanted to ban pediatricians from even talking about firearm safety in the exam room.

The world may overall be a good place (I truly believe it is), but it's always best to be careful and watchful. Especially when our children's safety is involved.

For every person who dies from smoking -- about 1,200 a day -- two youths or young adults become smokers. Ninety percent of these "replacement" smokers have their first cigarette before they are 18 years old. One of them could be your kid.

Should I buy my family organic foods? This is a question we hear all the time in our practices. And it's not as easy a question to answer as you might think.

We are entering cold and flu season, and it's natural to want to do everything possible to keep our families healthy. So it's understandable that many people want their doctors to give them antibiotics. After all, they have an infection and antibiotics treat infections, right?

If he were president, my 7-year-old son told me, there would be no more wars. There would be no more robberies -- and nobody would get sick or hurt. He wouldn't let anybody die, either. What was so wonderful about it to me was that in his 7-year-old mind, being an elected official meant taking care of others.

It's less embarrassing to talk to a guy than your mom -- and it can be really helpful and reassuring to hear about someone's personal experience; to know that they've lived through what you're living through and understand how you feel.

There's no way to take all the worry out of parenthood. Use love as a guiding principle, ask for help when you're stumped, and we promise (hope) you will worry less.