You know how people always half-joke that kids have more fun with boxes than the toys in them? Well, one Ohio preschool teacher recently proved that to be true when he got rid of every toy in his classroom and replaced them with cardboard boxes.

Pete Kaser said he was inspired by his students, and felt like there was too much "preassigned value" placed on his teaching materials. He told the Huffington Post, "I wasn’t getting the imagination out of the children that I wanted."

So one day he removed all of the toys and learning materials and put cardboard boxes, egg cartons, and other raw material in their place. The kids' reaction was incredible.

It almost sounds like a cruel joke: The toddler who won't stop laughing and smiling. Except that 2-year-old Elliot Eland can't stop laughing and smiling. And he will never learn to speak. Elliot has a rare condition called Angelman syndrome. He not only cannot learn to speak, he has numerous other severe learning difficulties and he only sleeps four hours a night. 

And there are other ways this condition affects the whole family. On one hand, Elliot's mother, Gale, says his happiness is contagious and brightens everyone's moods. “But it can be upsetting if his brother Alex cries after he’s hurt while playing. Elliot just laughs and Alex, who is three years older, doesn't understand why.” For Gale, her son's condition has made her think about what's most important for her child.

Ben Affleck was recently photographed with his cutie patootie daughter, Seraphina, and it's not her outfit nor her dimples that are drawing attention. It's her reading material! Ben was carrying Seraphina out of a breakfast joint in L.A. and in his hands he held a book. But not a SpongeBob or Dora or even Dr. Seuss book. Nope, it was a Dickens book! Yeeesssss, you know, Dickens, right? I hope. Charles Dickens, my friends. Okay, it was a children's illustrated version of a bunch of Dickens classics. But, get this, the book is recommended reading material for children ages 9 to 12. And Seraphina is 3! Woah. Could Seraphina be a genius?

Crafting with elements of the outdoors is kind of a no-brainer this time of year when everything is just bursting with color, and with winter fast approaching it's a good way to squeeze every bit of outdoor time out of the fall that you can with the kids!. Trying to build our fall nature table keeps my daughter scurrying in and out of the house as she collects all the leaves, pinecones, and other goodies Mother Nature gives us this time of the year.

The sky is the limit on what kids can come up with, but if you're stumped, here are some easy kid crafts that bring will bring nature inside to your table just in time for Thanksgiving.

All right, raise of hands: who’s tired of the election? If your hand is up in the air, you’re in very good company. A 4-year-old named Abby in Colorado has had enough of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, thankyouverymuch. Or as the little girl whose video tirade against politics has gone viral says, “Bronco Bama” and Mitt Romney.

The adorable little sweetie (seriously, kids who are crying are a lot cuter when it isn’t your kid who is having a meltdown, right?) was caught on camera by her confused mom who just could not figure out how turning on NPR in the car had turned on the tears. And I can’t decide if I’d rather reach through the computer screen and give her a hug or lie down and throw a fit with her. Take a look:

It goes without saying that we're all proud of our kids, not just because they're clearly math whizzes/Pulitzer Prize winners/CEOs/cancer-curing doctors in the making, but because, well, they're ours. But when your little baby suddenly becomes a capable little toddler, you start to see glimpses of who he will be, peeks at his character, this budding person-of-the-world. You get to witness these really telling moments, little acts of kindness or bravery that make your heart swell with pride, bring weepy, happy tears to your eyes. They're the moments you want to video and share with your friends and family. Oh never mind, you just put them up on Facebook because, hell yeah, you think everyone needs to know.

A couple of weeks ago, my 14-month-old twin boys started walking, and while I was obviously proud of those first steps, I was even more proud of the steps they took to get there.

When you're in preschool, there's pretty much nothing better than a class field trip. The thought of leaving your classroom and venturing out into the world with your teachers and friends to do something fun is pretty much the most exciting thing a kid can imagine. Unless, of course, your mom has been stationed overseas in Afghanistan and just happens to show up and surprise you. That is even more exciting.

That's just what happened when 5-year-old Brooklyn Corson went to visit a pumpkin patch with her preschool class. It was her first field trip ever and will likely be her most memorable one ever. There she was perusing the pumpkins, probably wishing her mom, Catherine Corson, was there to help her decide which one to choose, when all of a sudden, she showed up. She wasn't supposed to be home until Christmas, but there she was before Halloween even hit.

News cameras captured the reunion on tape, and it will make you melt.

Big Bird isn't the only one who's miffed at Mitt Romney right now. The politician's promise to cut funding for PBS if he's elected President has also infuriated former host of Reading Rainbow LeVar Burton (and, not for nothing, what kind of a human being do you have to be to get the Reading Rainbow guy mad at you?!).

In all seriousness, though, Burton is beloved as a part of PBS history, and when he spoke out against Romney on behalf of America's children, he also spoke on behalf of millions of parents like me who value and appreciate the part PBS played or plays in their children's lives.