Yesterday on the way to lacrosse practice my 13yo son G- ran out of steam. We were driving towards the practice field and I could just see him collapse, and when he tilted the car seat back and put his arm across his eyes and complained about fuzzy vision, I called it and turned around. Heading home, I texted my older girl (16) that we’d changed plans and were en route back, to which she…Read More
At my kids school, they celebrate half-birthdays when the children would otherwise have a birthday during summer, and that makes sense to me: the in-class parties (at least for the earlier grades) are quite fun and often meaningful, with parents and siblings invited in for the short celebration. Being born in August, I should know this one pretty well, along with the problem of kids being on summer holiday during when I’d ostensibly have a…Read More
It’s funny but I don’t remember ever having a sleepover when I was young, even with my buddy Mitch when I was in middle school and my buddy Ivan when we were in high school together. I’m sure I had them, especially since I have vague memories of Mitchell’s dad yelling at us late at night, but still, it certainly wasn’t a common occurrence. And yet, my children are constantly having sleepovers, either inviting their…Read More
My older kids have been doing sleepovers with their best friends for years. It’s evolved to where we have some rules around the sleepover and I am certainly picky about which of their friends I believe offer a safe and supervised environment for one of my children spending the night, but generally I like the idea and have certainly hosted a lot of other teens or tweens at my place. We do have some rules,…Read More
This has to be one of the very worst email messages to receive from your child’s school, hands down: Dear Gr. 3 Parents — I am writing to inform everyone that one case of head lice was reported in the class today. I have attached our Lice Procedure doc. Everyone should check their child’s head for lice tonite if you can. Please let me know immediately if anyone else has this issue. The #6 procedure…Read More
I’ve been having a very amusing email conversation with Neil Sinclair, the author of the new book “Commando Dad”, and thought you too would enjoy this book, especially if you’re just getting into the parenting world with a new baby. I’ll let him speak for himself, though, by simply sharing the intro to his book: Introduction TO ALL DADS AND CARERS (henceforth known as ‘Commando Dads’) This book has been written for YOU. I have…Read More
My good friend Kira commented to me a while back about how she wasn’t a fan of public breastfeeding and I was so struck by her perspective that I asked her to write a brief essay for my blog explaining her thinking. Here it is: Some years ago, I attended a college reunion and hooked up with some friends for an afternoon of board games. A couple of my friends brought their infant daughter. In…Read More
I get a rather astonishing number of pitches from tech companies seeking visibility in the dad and parenting space online, and it’s very cool. Lots of interesting products and innovations. After all, us parents need all the help we can get, and if it’s in the shape of a gadget, well, we like our smartphones and Internet, right, so how can anything that taps into that zeitgeist not be good? When Lorex Technology sent me their…Read More
I just realized this morning as I looked around my garage and counted one fancy car seat and two car booster seats that I don’t need them any more. My little one, K-, turned 8 last week (I even hosted a party for her pals at the local bowling alley. Solo. Yikes!) and the Colorado law for children needing to be in a booster seat states that “under 8″ is the criterion. So we’re done….Read More
I get letters. This time, the letter was from a young Mom: Is 4 years old too young to use oil free acne stress control night cleansing pads made by neutrogena? As the mother I use them every night. Some nights my 4 year old son will come in and want to clean his face as well. I didn’t think it would harm him till a friend of mine said it would mess up his…Read More
