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…
Category: family
So You’re A New Dad? Here’s Some Advice.
Your baby is here! Time to throw all expectations out of the window. As a father of 6 wonderful human beings, I would say that the easiest thing about adding another family member has been adjusting to the feeling of being a father – or being a father again. I can’t say much that most…
Parenting Pioneers
Every national holiday, Americans are faced with the challenge to figure out how to celebrate the holiday while at the same time remembering our country’s history – except for those who don’t get on Facebook, or the internet at all, and don’t read or watch the news. The rest of us face a message that…
When Character Building Tales Are Damaging
Good news for all parents: I have come up with a design for a school that would offer our kids the character building opportunity of having to walk uphill to AND from school. I know parents everywhere are going to jump all over this idea, because none of us want our kids to be wimps…
25 Things We’ve Learned From Using Public Transportation
This is the first year that we have decided that riding public transportation to school makes the most sense for our family. Our car needs to be replaced in a big way, and while we’re saving up to do so, riding the train seems a lot safer than driving the old clunker every day. Now…
Safety, Choices, and Unconditional Love
A man—a stranger—promises ice cream to a 7-8 yr old. She just needs to leave the school grounds and come with him. He grabs hold of her clothing. She refuses to go. He pushes her to the ground. She escapes with a minor scrape. She tells no one at school. But she relays the story…
Beyond Whining
There is nothing quite as irritating as the sound of a child whining. Except maybe the whistling whine of a dog. Or nails on a chalkboard. Or the drip drip dripping of a leaky faucet. Or someone messing with crinkly wrappers when you’re trying to enjoy a movie. Okay, so I may have a personal…
My Perfect Stepford Family, or Why I Don’t Control My Children
“You can’t touch my body without permission! It’s my body!” “You can’t tell me what to do!” “You’re not in charge of me!” Great. We have deliberately and diligently taught our children that they are in charge of their bodies, and responsible for their actions and reactions. Now they think that they are therefore in…
Circumnavigating the Media Black Hole as Parents (part 4)
This is the fourth and final installment of this series on how to deal with the demand of electronic media in our kids’ lives. Part 1 acted as an introductory post based on the question: how are we as parents supposed to guide our children in an aspect of their lives that didn’t exist when we were children…
Circumnavigating the Media Black Hole as Parents (part 3)
This is the third installment of this series on how to deal with the demand of electronic media in our kids’ lives. Part 1 acted as an introductory post based on the question: how are we as parents supposed to guide our children in an aspect of their lives that didn’t exist when we were children ourselves? Part…