At fifteen months, my daughter started spitting out words like crazy, exactly at the same time she started daycare. And with this came our worries that being exposed to English just when she was starting to learn Spanish, would confuse her to the point that my husband's nightmares would become a reality. You see, ever since she was born, he has had nightmares about his daughter asking him to take her for a ride in his troka to the marketa. So you can imagine how important an issue her acquisition and fluency of both Spanish and English is in our home. We don't want her to just understand Spanish and speak back to us in English; we want her to be able to communicate with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in Mexico and El Salvador in their language. We don't want her to feel embarrassed because she speaks Spanish but speaks it differently.

By the time she had turned three, Camila had a long distance relationship with everyone in her family, except for her mamá and papá. I alw

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Even those of us who don't head back to school soon can feel the draw of blank notebooks, freshly-sharpened pencils, and the possibilities of a fresh start in September. We will finally read the works of Dickens! We will wear on-trend black cherry lipstick! And whether in a brown paper sack or chic insulated tote, we will bring lunch to work, save thousands of dollars and feel like bastions of health in the process! I get as excited about this time of year as I do about the real new year, can you tell?

This time at Food Network's Communal Table, we're bringing back-to-school lunches. I like a big lunchtime salad made with bright, filling ingredients to keep me charged through the afternoon, but I don't like soggy, sad desk salads. This quinoa salad is perfect for taking to work: because only the quinoa is dressed in olive oil and lemon juice, the lettuce won't get wilty as it hangs out in the office fridge. The protein-packed grain has earthy staying power, red onion adds a

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Have you gotten the "OMG, my kid got Such-and-Such Teacher, and I hear she's just awful" call from a friend yet? Just wait. Bad teacher stories are as much a tradition as big fish tales, and there's a chorus of them every year during back-to-school season.

More from The Stir: Sex Questions From Kids Are Hilarious, But Scary

Moms! Dads! Allow me to be the little voice of reason whispering in your ear. It won't be that bad. Really.

My daughter is headed into second grade this year, and we've already had two incredible women who came into our lives and helped us mold her little mind. I can't help but have high hopes for the year to come. Thinking anything less is just shooting myself in the foot.

Yes, there's always one or two bad apples that spoils the bunch, but teachers these days are mostly hardworking professionals who got into the gig because they actually like kids ... and education. The scary stuff that used to fly back in the day won't.

So just for a little per

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How do you make breakfast pancakes extra light and airy? Clayton Miller, Executive Chef at Wit and Wisdom, the new tavern at Baltimore's Four Seasons Hotel, developed this unique method early on in his career when he worked as a pastry chef. "One of the items on the menu was a classic French soufflé," Miller tells Shine. "That's where I got the inspiration for this dish." The secret is folding in extra egg whites, but he promises, "The pancakes aren't temperamental like a soufflé."

Read: Chef Sara Moulton Answers Cooking Questions

Miller says the dish is delicious with butter and maple syrup, but a simple caramel banana sauce makes them swoon-worthy.

Related: McDonald's New Breakfast Time: Midnight

Soufflé Pancakes (adapted from Clayton Miller)

Makes 6-8 substantial pancakes

5 ½ cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 whole eggs
2 eggs yolks
3 egg whites


Pre-heat oven to

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Today was supposed to be the first day of fifth grade for my son. Yet, just a few days ago, I found out his school wanted to move my sweet monkey boy Jackson to sixth grade. They were aware of his grades and his test scores, and felt he would be fully capable of moving to the sixth grade group and working with them. They felt he needed more of a challenge.

It was an interesting time for this to happen, having just read an op-ed by Madeline Levine in the New York Times entitled "Raising Successful Children." Levine argues that many parents are pushing their children too hard, and helping them too much, in hopes they'll be at the top of their class, perhaps attend an Ivy League university and be super-successful. The result? Depressed and miserable kids. Levine explains that, " … it is the inability to maintain parental boundaries that most damages child development. When we do things for our children out of our own needs rather than theirs, it forces them to circumvent the mo

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