One of the more interesting facets of parenting is watching your children go through different phases of their personal hygiene. Little kids reject cleaning their teeth and won’t bath unless it’s fun and involves toys, clueless as to why everyone else shuns them (possibly a slight exaggeration). Later, the lazy teen years hit and they don’t do much in the way or morning or evening ablutions because, well, they’re tired and busy with other things….Read More

This is really no news to me at all, nor should it be to you, but now the government of Japan has come out and said that the increase in vision problems amongst its youngsters is due to smartphones and portable game machines. Well, yeah. “The proportion of primary school and high school students whose vision is [less than 20/20] has reached a record high” according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and…Read More

I got a press release from the makers of the Sleep Cycle app that boldly stated that children have too darn much homework – “Teens and Parents Agree School Is Exhausting” – and that it adversely impacts their sleep. Never one to let something go unchallenged, I pushed back on the company because, as the parent of three, I believe that the real issue isn’t that kids have too much homework, but that they lack time…Read More

Having a 13yo is always an adventure in parenting, as children this age are just hitting adolescence so they can be all over the place with their emotions. Heck, I’m pretty sure that they can have emotional responses to external stimuli that are completely random and a surprise even to them. Parents of teens know what I’m talking about, where there are tears and screaming over something as incredibly trivial as how much you filled…Read More

“Hey Dad, can I invite my entire 8th grade class over for a party?” You wouldn’t think so much fear could be instilled with such a simple question, but parents who are willing to risk hosting social events know the resultant anxiety! Dozens of short people roaming unsupervised through your house, messing with things, tracking dirt on the carpet, spilling food and who knows what else. Should I warn the neighbors or check with the…Read More