It’s a slow process.
I met a woman in the prenatal ward where my cousin gave birth. She kept telling me stories about how her teen creeps her out for being so good. Evidently, her daughter was being too virtuous, would cook meals for the family while she worked, then spend Friday nights with a nice book and a …
M is obsessed with the magical room on the other side of the door (which we call the bathroom). She is standing on her tippy-toes, supporting her weight by pressing her knees against the door, her back arched and arms stretched as far as possible, trying to reach the knob. She is still an inch …
“Look a shooting star! Make a hose … no it’s a snake!” Increasingly, the Play-Doh Fun Factory has become suburban slang for more than just the Station Wagon Generation. It’s gross, it’s unseemly, it’s an image we can’t get out of our heads. UrbanDictionary.com has even defined Play-Doh poop, corroborated by a number of Youtube videos …
Children recognize the difference between good and bad before they discern between new and old. Quite often the favorite toy in the room is not new at all, but the one that provides amusement in a way those others cannot. Siblings, especially, know the good toy by the demand it creates and the status that …
Boy Band or Acid Rock? Fife and Drum or Contemporary Christian? Jam band or Rap? It’s a risky business that music executives know all too well. Leave your child to his or her own device and they’ll be molded by commercial culture and what they perceive “cool” by the crap they learn at school and …
While some parents may see a cultural difference living in the house next door, the bumpkin sees his babysitters. A recent blog post by the wife of a Baptist pastor, Tyanne Perry, criticized her Muslim neighbor “for dirty hands, herb-stained teeth, and the waft of South Asian cuisine …. They have rules they must follow, …
We recently received a picture of Brandon B Brandon via Facebook. There was no clever joke or ulterior motive – just a cute kid holding a sign asking everyone to spread his image as far and wide as possible in five days. We think it’s a cockeyed project that’s got nothing to do with science. …
Before I had children I used a lot of superlatives when talking about how I was going to raise children. I’d never use the television as a babysitter. I’d never feed my baby junk food. I’d never let my baby cry for an hour without responding. It seemed that the more I promised not to …
Children’s learning has nothing to do with taking them to see these movies, which are way outta the league of any child. Nonetheless, teach your kids to like good movies and you’ll teach them to think for themselves. Our predictions will follow this overview of the 2014 Oscar nominations. “Gravity” is gonna get most of …
Moms are better than dads. It goes the other way, too, depending on the situation. But where children and marketing are involved, a few dads are making a big stink outta the fact their name has been left off an advertisement. The big stink is about the recently launched marketing program called Amazon Mom Coupons. …
The boy keeps hitting his head. Sometimes he cries, but sometimes it wakes up the whole neighborhood with that awful crunch yet he just keeps on cruising along. “Nothing to see here,” he seems to be stating with his I’m invincible attitude. Of course, the horrors involved with watching your headbanging toddler self destruct can …
