A teen from Suisun City admitted to authorities that she lied about being abducted to get attention from her family. Christina Almanza, who was reported missing Thursday afternoon, claimed "she was being held hostage, possibly with other females, in a basement and that one female might have been killed." But is it really that bad? Weren't we all raised with sitcoms that employed the use of fake kidnappings in order to get mom and dad back together? Or something like that? She's just a teenager. A stupid teenager. Like all teenagers. (We're on your side, Christina. We are. However, the part about telling your parents that you're being held by sex traffickers was downright horrific? You don't do that to you parents, no matter what your batshit hormones and mushy teenage brain tell you.) more ›

Earlier this month, Natural Resources, which has been providing quality gear, clothing, classes, and support to San Francisco parents for the past 25 years, reached out to its customers for some help, announcing they were in danger of going out of business. Their campaign to raise $45,000, which ends this Monday, has been quite successful, and they're only $5,418 from reaching their goal. more ›

Add another demonstration to the list of unhappy mobs around town: down in the quiet hillside hamlet of Bernal Heights, some twenty parents of children at the Paul Revere School gathered at the school this morning to protest strict new changes laid out by the school's recently installed principal. According to Bay City News, principal Sheila Sammon who is beginning her second year with the K-8 college prep school, has taken to punishing children for taking bathroom breaks and effectively banned parents from volunteering where their kids go to school. more ›

Census numbers show that San Francisco families are fleeing the city for other bays. Why? Well, for starters, larger houses, roomier backyards, and more affordability. As soon as wee ones leave the stroller stage, it seems, parents decide to ditch the city. And while the younger, more jaded San Franciscan might think that's just swell -- really, who wants to see a stroller at their favorite bar? -- this flight is not good for a thriving metropolis. more ›

First, elderly rock 'n' roller Bon Jovi gives Steve Jobs grief over allegedly killing the craft of album listening - which, pipe down, Jon Bon - now customers are complaining that their rotten kids were amassing hundreds of dollars worth of charges due to the iPhone and iPad's 15-minute password-free timer for the App Store. more ›

San Francisco-based Gymboree, who specialize in apparel and gym centers for wee ones, was sold for an astounding $1.8 billion. AP reports: "Gymboree said Monday that the deal is for $65.40 per share, a 24 percent premium to Gymboree’s Friday closing stock price of $52.95. The retailer...currently has about 27.3 million shares outstanding." more ›

Aspiring teen authors should check out Litquake's first ever Teen Crawl next Friday afternoon at the main library. The event features readings and a discussion with a panel of published teen authors, a variety of writing workshops to choose from, and a session of Not Your Mother’s Book Club, a monthly literary salon for teenagers in the Bay Area. Be sure to check out the library's monthly calendar for other fun activities for teens. more ›

Guns. They're bad. Or good. Depending. They kill people, sure; but Shockwave, our first Transformers action figure, turned into a gun. Obviously, like a profound game of chess played at an East Coast liberal arts institution, it's a complicated issue. Or not. They're guns. Pew, pew. more ›

There are lots of kid-friendly events this weekend and beyond. more ›

The San Francisco Public Library has come up with a great idea: The Family Pass, which is available through December 31. The pass can be checked out for a week at a time and is valid at a huge amount of local museums (but only valid at one museum visit per week). more ›

Be sure to check out the rad Star Wars pregnancy announcement above (via Offbeat Mama). In other film news, Babies, a brilliant-looking French documentary filmed from the perspective of four babies in four different cities across the world -- San Francisco, Tokyo, Namibia, and Mongolia, from birth to their first steps, opens tomorrow at select theaters (just in time for Mother's Day). more ›

Here's another heart-breaking story of an infant found dead in a car, with especially unsettling circumstances. An Antioch couple, both of whom work two jobs, left their 7-month-old baby in the car overnight after returning home on Saturday at about 11:30 p.m., thinking the other had put her to bed. She was not discovered until the next day, when the mother saw that the baby wasn't in her crib. The father had driven to work [update -- he actually went to work out], unaware that the baby was still in the car. more ›

Thanks again to all the readers who have been sending us family-friendly info! Keep it coming! This weekend is packed with the usual spring-time fun and free/cheap events for all ages. Dogs, goats, playing in the street, planet Earth, and the fire department. Fun times! more ›

We haven't posted a column in a few weeks, but we're still here! Parents, we want to hear from you. Keep sending us your links, stories, and tips. Tell us: What do you like to do with your kids in the spring/summer? Have any funny kids-on-Muni stories? Etc. more ›

We received a heads-up about another great blog, Cry It Out, by SF stay-at-home dad Mike Adamick, who was also featured on Eye on Blogs the other day. Mike's a high-profile writer -- take a look at his impressive credentials. Which leads us to the question regarding busy parents, which we've been asking ourselves a lot these days, how does the housework get done? Keep the links/tips coming in! more ›

Last week we waxed poetic about how great growing up in the Bay Area must be, much in part due to the strong sense of community here, as well as the huge amount of cultural activities and city parks. more ›

Seeing so many kids and parents at yesterday's public education rally reminded us of how great it must be growing up in a place like the Bay Area, aside from the whole aforementioned public education budget cuts. more ›

Thanks to all the commenters who offered positive feedback on the launch of our kid/parent-centric column last week. Keep the tips coming! more ›

This contributor recently had a baby, who is now two and a half months old. It's been quite a fun journey exploring the city with such a wee one. (We highly recommend the Ergo Carrier for such journeys. Strollers are a pain.) more ›

Everyone's had to do the dreaded parent intro dinner at one point or another and The Gate's Michael Bauer put up his list of suggestions of where to go. On Mike's list, we've got Cafe Majestic, Rubicon and Perbacco among others. Personally, we liked the suggestions of commenters more: Cassis, Zuni Cafe (pictured at left) and Rivoli for East Bay'ers. more ›