As every parent knows, a bored child is a menace to herself and others. Lacking positive ways of focusing her attention, my toddler, for example, will use her own body in experiments designed to discover if there are any loopholes in the laws of gravity. Keeping children entertained during the winter months presents special challenges, […]
One of the things that made me wary about having children earlier was intimidation over the sheer work involved in raising kids. I thought I’d do fine with the nurturing, tender, Hallmark moments of fatherhood, but I was much less confident in my ability to manage the mundane day-to-day labor and constant vigilance that parenting […]
My 2-year-old daughter is growing faster and stronger every day. Whenever I’m obliged to chase after her, I, like all older parents in similar moments, find myself wishing I had had children a long time ago. After all, I’m competing on the playground and in the daycare parking lot with other first-time fathers who are […]
Like most parents, I spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about how the various things I do might impact my daughter’s emotional and intellectual development because, thanks to social science research, I know that everything I think is good is actually bad. I’m told, for example, I can’t tell my very smart daughter she’s […]
Early last summer, a little over a month after my daughter’s first birthday, my wife and I felt we’d reached a huge milestone: the achievement of a durable and reasonable baby care/work/life balance. After a year of having to improvise our lives on a day-to-day basis, order, routine, and stability were being restored. My daughter […]
Like many expectant parents, I was dreading the number one and two responsibilities of raising a baby. The numbers are daunting: According to one source, the average baby requires somewhere between 3,500 and 4,000 diaper changes from birth to the successful completion of potty training. Newborns require as many as 12 diaper changes a day. […]
As a new father with no significant prior experience with small children, I worry I’ve missed something big and obvious about infant care. I’ve taken classes and read a little bit here and there, but there’s no substitute for experience. I have a gnawing suspicion there are things I should know that were not covered […]
I’m an older first-time father. My daughter arrived a mere two months before my 50th birthday and my official invitation to join AARP. When my daughter turned six months, I realized I was more than 100 times older than her. Parenthood isn’t easy for anyone, but older parents face some distinct challenges. The downsides of […]