As I dropped my youngest off at daycare this morning, the teachers’ in the 18 month old ro… more
Archive for the ‘discipline’ Category
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Parenting News: Breastfeeding and SIDS, Smartphones, Child Safety, Pets and Allergies, Video Games, Roughhousing
By Dad News Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Breastfeeding Linked to Lower Risk of SIDS: Babies who are breastfed – especially those only fed breast milk, and not formula as well – are less likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, suggests a new analysis of past studies. (Reuters)
Smartphone Danger: Distracted Parenting: “Mama, put the phone AWAY.” That’s my kid talking to me, and she’s only 3. She’s scolding me, but she’s scolding you, too. (CNN.com)
Kids At Risk: Say Something Or Bite Your Tongue?: These situations make us cringe but it can be hard to know how we should react. Is it an innocent bystander’s ethical duty to approach the parent in the name of a child’s safety, or does society dictate minding one’s own business? (CNN.com)
Study: Living With Pets May Protect Infants from Allergies: Children who live with dogs and cats are less likely to develop allergies to those animals later in life, but only if the pet is under the same roof while the child is still an infant, a new study suggests. (Time.com)
Training Via Video Game Shown to Boost Kid’s Brain Power: Playing a memory-straining video game can help children solve problems more easily, a goal that can be difficult to achieve through so-called cognitive training, a new study suggests. (HealthDay)
Two Dads Offer the Perfect Antidote to Helicopter Parenting: A Guide to ‘Safe’ Roughhousing: It took an M.D. and a Ph.D. to come up with “The Art of Roughhousing,” a new parenting guide to good old-fashioned horseplay complete with ultra-simple diagrams for a safe “raucous pillow fight” or round of “human cannonball.” (Washington Post)
Approval Seeking Parents
By Daddy Clay Monday, December 20th, 2010
I’m proud to say that my kids are no mystery to me. One of the greatest benefits of clocking the hours with your offspring, making family a top priority, is that you know your people — the good and the bad, the strengths and the weaknesses.
So why are my emotions stirred so deeply when teachers or other parents talk about my children? Why can’t I listen dispassionately when others comment on my kids’ behavior, good or bad, with the confidence that I know my littles better than anyone?
I suppose the pulse of a confident and well adjusted parent wouldn’t change a bit waiting outside a classroom for a teacher conference or when the email from the dean of students arrives in the inbox. Why do my guts get so wooshy when a fellow parent makes an offhand observation? Read the rest of this entry »
Help, My Son Eats Phones!
By Daddy Clay Monday, December 13th, 2010
My son has lost or destroyed no less than four phones, including two hand-me down-iPhones, most recently a 3GS wrapped in a pricey Otterbox cover. He’s not yet 13. And today, I’m getting him another phone.
This is a shameful situation — that, at least, I have enough perspective to see. And I also understand that by the “Fool Me Once” doctrine, the shame is mine. The clear and rational adult response to this situation is to admit defeat and to let the child know that he is not ready to have a phone.
But I’m getting him another one. The obvious parental line of reasoning is: he has to have a phone for safety and communication reasons. But this is bunk. Of the times when the phone is not lost, I’ve noticed that my son is highly unlikely to have it with him at exactly the times when I need to reach him most. By any objective measure, the phone is almost completely useless for my supervisory needs, but does create a financial liability, a potential distraction, and a possible source of trouble. Read the rest of this entry »
The Fatherhood Forest and the Trees
By Daddy Clay Monday, November 1st, 2010
I’m sizzling with anger as I pull a squealing u-turn on the highway, nearly reducing my Mazda to scrap. The call had just come in informing me that my son had left his backpack in the car at the school drop-off.
Can he not manage to get his own backpack out of the car in the morning? Are first graders really not capable of that? And does he not realize that this is Wednesday. Wednesday. The one day of the week, when all the schedules fit together to get me a precious extra half hour in the office before the rest of the crew arrives. Doesn’t he know that that half hour is my most precious blogging time? One of the high points of my week! Ruined because of Coop’s inability to manage to get his backpack from the floorboard of the car, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM, out the door and to his classroom. Read the rest of this entry »
