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…
Category: relationships
Circumnavigating the Media Black Hole as Parents (part 2)
This is the second 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?…
Circumnavigating the Media Black Hole as Parents (part 1)
I’m going to be completely honest here: I used the word “circumnavigating” purely because I think it’s a cool word. But I do think it fits pretty well with what I’d like to discuss today, so that worked out well. Another open confession: Jessica and I were not prepared to deal with the omnipresence of…
Teaching What it Means to Be a Man. Or Woman.
We were recently invited to have a conversation with a bunch of 6th and 7th graders about what it means to be a man or a woman, including answering any questions they had about sex. After balking at the idea, and bringing up all the reasons we weren’t qualified to guide such a talk, only…
The Importance of How We Communicate
“Haven’t your parents taught you any manners?” Taken aback by the aggressive and rather rude question, I tried to find a quick and appropriate response to the question – not an easy task for my slow-processing brain. “Um, what is this in reference to?” “Haven’t your parents taught you any manners?” Taking my cue from…
Our Key to Staying in Love: Intimacy
Jessica and I ended up having an unplanned couch date last night. Little kids were in bed, big kids were headed in that direction, and Jessica and I snuggled up and watched an episode of Call the Midwife (great show – we give it the highest recommendation). Part of what we love about that show…
The Importance of Shared Experiences
My kids are in our “library” – a fancy name for a room that has a collection of books, a piano, and our beloved television set, which, as we strive to understate its importance we won’t reward by naming a room after, choosing to emphasize our beloved books instead even though library sounds so much…
Sound Relationship Advice – Father To Young Son
Yesterday, I took SquiggleBug (7) and Smunchie (5) to a friend’s birthday party. While another dad and I were struggling through our first tentative and awkward interactions, he abruptly called out to his son, as parents rudely but appropriately do when they spot their child doing something they probably shouldn’t. His son bounded over, brandishing…
8 Ways We Celebrate Valentine’s Day As Feminists
As many of you know, Jessica and I consider ourselves feminists. You may wonder: how do feminists celebrate Valentine’s Day? As two people who have the utmost respect for each other, and are also still deeply in love with each other after 18 years together, we have developed a few thoughts on the matter. Here…
Yoga Pants: Every Man’s Kryptonite
The old debate of what is appropriate for women to wear around men has once again been making waves on social media; questions of modesty and protecting men from their own uncontrollable thoughts, that whole ball of yarn, all because of the popularity of what may be the most comfortable article of clothing known to…