Happiness Overrated
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 4 Comments »Some of you might appreciate my "Case Against Happiness" over at Megan McArdle's site, which got some angry comments, as well as some nice words from Rod Dreher and Joe Carter.
A father’s waning day
Monday, June 21st, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 2 Comments »As I write, there are nine minutes left in Father's Day, which is just right, given that every father I know feels like he has so much left to do, and just a scrap of time in which to do ...
Wise parenting is bravest
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 4 Comments »Bruce Barcott argues in The L.A. Times that parents of 16 year-old Abby Sunderland, recently rescued from the Indian Ocean after trying to sail around the globe by herself, are not irresponsible for letting their daughter attempt such a feat, ...
Dressing up
Monday, June 14th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 3 Comments »In London, parents decry high heels for little girls as another instance of oversexualizing children. Their opponents say that little girls simply want to be like grown-ups. Which seems to be precisely the point of the protest. But in an age ...
Millstones
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 3 Comments »Yet another way we increasingly fail children in our supersized, high-fructose corn syrup besotted, electronics-enslaved, why-walk-when-I-can-ride culture: fat kids. "At the core of the problem is the fact that less than one third of all children ages 6 to 17 get ...
News flash: parents affect the behavior of their children
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | No Comments »Scientists finally confirm the age-old wisdom that parenting matters -- in this case with a study showing that parents with permissive attitudes about underage drinking have children who -- be sure you're sitting down for this one -- are more ...
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 3 Comments »Yet another reason to rid yourself of the notion that you should be perfect: new mothers who labor under this weight are more likely to suffer post-partum depression.
Spin
Friday, May 28th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | No Comments »I love the part at the end where this seemingly unhinged mother -- who after arguing with her son hijacked his Facebook account and posted vulgarities on it -- makes her discipline by the court an example of government stopping ...
“Looking at children was the real shocker for us”
Friday, May 21st, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | No Comments »U.S. children are posting sharp increases in drug use for chronic illnesses -- one-quarter of all insured children and 30 percent of adolescents, according to a health company study. A large portion of these are antipsychotic and diabetes drugs. What are we ...
Do you smell smoke?
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | No Comments »At last, my insecurities have a silver lining.
On the excommunication of a child
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting, Theology | 23 Comments »I remember, the day they told us our three year-old daughter would die, sitting on her hospital bed, Celeste and I together, holding her and weeping. We never really knew despair, I don’t think, until that day. We held Caroline ...
Do as we say, not as we do
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 1 Comment »A new Barna survey reveals that young Christians emphasize career and travel over faith, marriage, and parenting. Golly, I wondered where they learned to think that way.
First, do no harm
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 Posted in Policy and Politics, The Art of Parenting | No Comments »"Immigrant kids begin school with surprisingly good social skills, eager to engage teachers and classroom tasks, even though many are raised in poor households . . . This stems from tight families and tough-headed parenting. Our findings shatter the myth ...
Take two newt’s eyes and call me in the morning
Monday, May 3rd, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | No Comments »Perhaps a good question to ask your child's prospective doctor, in light of this article on the persistence of dangerous myths among pediatricians, is whether he has children: "In analysing the data, the researchers found that pediatricians who had not raised ...
Strengthsfinder: the parent’s edition
Saturday, May 1st, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 3 Comments »Wife has some errands in town, and Isaiah John is not pleased. "I want Mommy!" "What does she have that I don't?" I ask. "Is she funny? I'm funny. Is she entertaining? I'm entertaining. Does she feed you? I feed you. ...
There’s no program for fixing rotten
Friday, April 30th, 2010 Posted in Policy and Politics, The Art of Parenting | 6 Comments »The thing you run into, when you are in the business of saving the world from itself, is that there is no lever marked: "PULL HERE TO SAVE WORLD." It fascinates me to see intelligent thinkers reason out top-down solutions to ...
Too much
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 1 Comment »Letting your baby cry too long, researchers say, can lead to brain damage (presumably in the baby). In other news, if your children drink too much water, they'll drown.
Bearable in-laws
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 7 Comments »Lisa Belkin at Motherlode asks what many parents secretly ask themselves, namely, Do my children like me best? The real challenge, if you take the long view, is to be more likable than their future in-laws. Wife and I talk ...
Huggy Bears
Monday, April 19th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 1 Comment »I'm not in favor of making my kids hug their relatives, some of whom I wouldn't hug either. But I am in favor, when they have been fighting, of making them hug each other. Wife or I or both of ...
Finally, some good news on the parenting front
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | No Comments »Mothers and fathers of America, give yourselves a pat on the back. And go out on a date. You must be exhausted.
Next up, Johnson Elementary will stage The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | No Comments »I'm not sure if re-staging Scarface with your kids is the best way to protest film violence, even if popcorn replaces cocaine and the word "fudge" replaces, well, Tony Montana's favorite other f-word.
GIGO
Friday, March 26th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 2 Comments »Husbands, for the sake of your wives' self-esteem, stop taking your kids to the park. That's one conclusion we can draw from this study. A possible flaw in its design: could it be that many fathers who pick up more slack ...
Where’d I put that striped shirt?
Friday, March 26th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 2 Comments »My first thought, on reading this, was: They have parenting coaches? Do I need one? My second thought, on reading the price tag of her home, was: How do I get a parent coaching gig?
Barring the doors
Thursday, March 11th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting, Theology | 11 Comments »In Colorado, a Catholic school has refused readmission to the children of two lesbian parents. "Parents living in open discord with Catholic teaching in areas of faith and morals unfortunately choose by their actions to disqualify their children from enrollment," ...
You are what you might have eaten
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 4 Comments »The best part of this story about the drastic increase in the average American child's diet as a consequence of snacking (168 more calories per child a day than kids thirty years ago) is the disclaimer at the end: "The surveys ...
Own it
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 3 Comments »Jim Taylor on instilling self-esteem in children: "Parents were told to love and praise and reinforce and reward and encourage their children no matter what they did. Unfortunately, this approach created children who were selfish, spoiled, and entitled. . . without ...
The going rate
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 2 Comments »"Four M&M's if I poop," Isaiah explained. This is how we finally got him potty-trained, you see. With bribery. He was getting M&M's for peeing as well, but then he started doling it out in little dribs and drabs in ...
My sweet isn’t as tooth as you think I am
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 1 Comment »I always suspected as much, given that my children behave like angry drunks when they can't have a Hershey bar.
On the virtues of sharing a glass of wine with the kids
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 Posted in The Art of Parenting | 2 Comments »Jennie Bristow on "the myth of me-time:" "But the big problem with the way that child-centredness is pitched against me-time is its divisiveness. Presenting the interests of children and adults as being in conflict undermines the reality of the family as ...
You had them, now raise them
Monday, February 15th, 2010 Posted in Policy and Politics, The Art of Parenting | 1 Comment »Frank Furedi on the muddled roles of schoolteachers and parents: "There is a difference between raising children and educating them, and this distinction must be re-established to allow for a clearer and more constructive relationship between parents and teachers." In other words, ...
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