Posts Tagged ‘children’
Children sleeping in their parent’s room: I had strong opinions before I had kids. The results are now in.
The time has come. Prior to the birth of my daughter, I would argue that it was fairly bizarre and unwarranted to have have children sleeping in their parents’ beds for any extended period of time. I expressed opposition to the idea that my children would be spending a significant portion of their sleeping hours…
Read MoreI won’t be reading my novel to my children. For a damn good reason.
My son asked me to read my novel, Unexpectedly, Milo, to him. “Too long,” I told him. “No pictures. Let’s find something else.” It also has an awkward and explicit sex scene in it (which I didn’t bother to mention), so I think he’ll be reading that one on his own some day.
Read More30 lessons learned from six years of parenting
My daughter celebrated her sixth birthday on Sunday. When she turned two years-old, I posted a list of lessons learned from two years of parenting. I updated that list when she turned four. In truth, I raised a step-daughter for ten years as well, so I’ve been a parent a lot longer than just six…
Read MoreWhen do you allow your child to quit an activity? Also, entering into contractual agreements with your child is insane.
In the Washington Post, Katherine Reynolds Lewis writes about when it’s acceptable to let your child quit an activity and how do you handle the anger that children express when forced to continue with something that they don’t like. She and her his husband have used a strategy that I will call contractual commitment: We…
Read MoreMy children visited a bookstore on the last day of summer. Their behavior was shocking.
We spent the last day of summer on the Connecticut shoreline. Among our choice of activities was a visit to our favorite bookstore, R.J. Julia in Madison, Connecticut. Elysha and I once spent hours in bookstores, but when our children entered our lives, that changed. We tried for a while to do some tag-team…
Read MoreShe’s worried about her husband’s diapers. She should be more worried about her child’s early morning routine.
Slate’s Dear Prudence answers a question from a reader whose husband is a lifelong bed wetter who wears a diaper and rubber pants to bed each night. The reader is worried about the possibility of her children discovering their father’s secret and wants to know if they should be proactive and tell the kids before…
Read MoreExtremely susceptible to advertising
My daughter is four year-old and has watched almost no commercial television in her life. Other than the occasional sporting event or a snippet of news in the morning, we never watch television in the presence of our children, and our children only watch PBS or similar, commercial free, educational programming. Occasionally, though, one of…
Read MoreShould children be permitted to attend funerals?
Earlier this week, I joined a panel on the Huffington Post’s online television network to discuss the appropriateness of children attending funerals for deceased friends and relatives. Here is the video of our discussion:
Read MoreI questioned why there were young children at the Aurora theater, and there was nothing wrong with me doing so.
In a piece entitled Stop Wondering Why There Were Young Children At The Aurora Theater, author Lisa Belkin asks “What is it that led so many people to dwell on a question of parenting when so many more sweeping questions loomed?” I would like to answer Lisa Belkin’s question. We dwell on the question of…
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