“Good Sleep Is a Reachable Dream” – the slogan for World Sleep Day 2016 Apparently it’s World Sleep Day, which I knew nothing about until I was checking out the news this morning. World Sleep Day is funny. It sounds like we should all sleep the day away. But then the whole thing wouldn’t get much…
Author: JMartin-Weber
Beyond the Voices in My Head
This morning, an older man, a stranger, gave a tiny bag of M&Ms to my two children that I was accompanying to school. It was so unexpected and so quick that I was completely taken off guard. No time to politely but firmly decline. I had noticed him when he stepped on to the MAX…
What Is More Important Than Cupcakes?
Two or three years ago, our daughter, Squigglebug (now 8) blew us away with her understanding of relationships and what’s important in life. She entered a phase marked by these kinds of questions: “You know what’s more important than cupcakes?” “What is?” I would reply. “Love.” She would ask this question about all sorts of…
Dads’ Guide for Cooking for Kids
The idea that men can’t cook for the family seems archaic and ridiculous, particularly since there’s a long-standing flip side of that sexism where the top chefs in the world have been men – since the beginning of Top Chef-dom. They can’t cook at home but they can dominate the commercial kitchen? That’s just…
To Be “Wif”
This post was originally published on Zutano. It had been a long afternoon, my 4 month old was fussy and nothing seemed to work to console her. After running through my checklist of possible causes and their solutions rejected, I was in the pacing, bouncing, pleading that she’d go to sleep stage. Not even wearing her…
When You Don’t Like Your Own Kids
“You don’t have to like Lizzie – but you still have to treat her with respect.” “You don’t have to play with Roger – but that doesn’t mean that you get to be mean to him.” “Could there be something that they are having a hard time with that has hurt them and that’s why…
Why We Should Teach Boys to Sit to Pee
At the risk of causing a massive outrage from men everywhere who will claim that I am trampling all over their inherent manly rights, I believe that we should be teaching our little boys to sit to pee. And I’m a guy. I have thought long and hard about this and have many reasons to…
Night Owl Parent In An Early Bird World
I’m not a morning person. Apparently I was as a child, torturing my parents with cheerfully persistent greetings before the break of dawn. By the time I was 4 my parents started putting snacks out I could easily access on my own in the morning with the hope that they would get another 30 minutes…
7 Truths I Have Learned as a Man Living with 4 Women Who Have Periods
In case you haven’t heard, I’m one of those lucky guys who has a wife and 6 daughters. I am, as many, many, many people have reminded me for the last 17 years (ever since our eldest was born), in the minority in my family. I am the only male. That is, unless you count…
Time for Men to Outgrow Menophobia
It’s time for guys to stop being afraid of periods. That’s right, I mean menstrual cycles, and yes, I believe that men are afraid of them. #notallmen (beat you to it). But still, #somanymen Men need to grow a pair (that’s sexist) a bit in maturity and learn to see members of the opposite sex…