A 19-year-old named Bryce Harper just became the youngest Major League Baseball player in well over a decade to hit a homer. Too bad his baseball accomplishment is completely eclipsed by what a 6-year-old did on the diamond this month. Ross Bernath is only a kindergartner, and he's already made an unassisted triple play.

If you're not a sports fan, let me spell out what that means: one player makes three outs, all in one continuous play. Still not convinced that this Georgia 6-year-old is the coolest kid ever? This has happened 15 times in Major League Baseball history. That's over more than a century of professionals playing the game!

Five-year-old Emma Burton of Olathe, Kansas had a rough day at kindergarten recently. When her mom Julie picked her up that day, Emma's teacher was escorting the little girl from class, because Emma was in full meltdown mode. As the teacher approached Emma's mom, she angrily explained the situation:

"Emma would not color this Jayhawk today with the rest of her class. She told me she does not like KU and her family likes K-State. She asked me for a K-State picture instead but I told her this was her only option. She took the paper, crumpled it up, and threw in the trash can."

Julie Burton's reaction to Emma's willful disobedience in the face of her teacher's wrath? She laughed. Ah, a mom after my own heart.

I was in the craft store last week, pacing back and forth in front of the Valentine's Day displays and trying to make a decision. Was I going to help my kids produce a selection of lovingly hand-crafted Valentine's cards for their classmates, something perhaps inspired by a clever Pinterest design and featuring a custom font based on their actual handwriting? Or was I going to say fuck it, and buy the crappy pre-made pack of Spider-Man cards?

The thing is, my kids don't care what kind of valentines they hand out. It's my theory that valentines, much like birthday invitations and party decorations and cake designs, are less about the kids—and more about impressing the other parents.

You know what would have made the whole valentine card decision a lot easier? A parental pact, that's what. A legally binding agreement between all interested mothers that levels the playing field. WHO'S WITH ME?

As President Obama acknowledged in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, the American people tend to regard much of what goes on in Washington, DC, with a skeptical eye. But there was a moment during Obama's looong (is it over yet?) speech that, as the parent of two kids attending public elementary school, I found myself wanting to stand up and cheer. Actually, come to think of it, there were a few of them.

Here are five things the President said about education that parents of kids of all ages -- K through college -- can celebrate. (If Washington lawmakers can manage to work out a deal to make them happen, that is -- which is, of course, a big if.)

Little kids and old people -- they're a winning combination. They can do so much for each other. Retirees may have the time and patience to read to, listen to, and play with children, to teach them about life, in ways that younger adults like, say, the kids' parents -- so busy rushing around taking care of the concerns of workaday life -- do not. And kids can boost retirees' spirit with a smile and a snuggle.

Unfortunately, so many families, like mine, live hours away from grandparents, depriving both generations -- the elders and the youngsters -- of this quality time spend in each other's company. A few communities have come up with a genius solution to this problem: kindergartens in retirement homes.

Ready to SucceedMy most vivid memory from kindergarten involves me throwing up on my Valentine's Day art project. While that may not be a universal experience, I'm guessing most of you who grew up in the '70s and '80s have halcyon and occasionally terrifying memories of that first year of school as well. You know, that year where everybody is still struggling with dressing themselves and remembering to ask when they need to go potty. But those days are long gone my friends.

Something has changed inside the kindergarten classroom, and it's not just the lack of chalk boards.

She's usually walking to the school at the same time I am, but instead of chasing after a reckless 3-year-old, she's pushing a cherub-faced toddler in a grubby umbrella stroller. She's always wearing sweatpants and she looks tired but she always has a smile for my spirited preschooler as he barrels past.

He's got the hardened carapace of someone who has little experience with things coming easy in life, and if I saw him on the street at night I might quicken my step. Battered baseball cap pulled low, hands jammed in his pockets. He wears a stony expression like a wooden fence, until his little boy emerges from the tumble of shouting children, and then he sweeps his son into his arms. His smile is a full-body transformation.

I'm kind of a newbie at being a school mom, being as how my oldest just started kindergarten this year. We've had a lot to get used to in the last couple months—new morning routines, lunches, pickups and dropoffs, new friends, homework ... and happily, everything is going great. I love my kid's teacher, I love how excited my kid is to learn. So far, I'm really happy with his school.

Well, except for one little thing: the fundraising. My god, the ENDLESS, WALLET-SUCKING, VALUE-DESTROYING fundraising.