NYC. My beloved home for 13 years. Then on April 30th 2014, we - my husband, two kids, one dog and I - said good-bye. It wasn’t a particularly sweet parting. NYC pretty much chewed us up and spit u...
A father passes down his love for science fiction and all things 'geek,' while thinking about how the values of the genre help his son grow as a person.
7 Actual Most Important Things Our Parents Taught Us
1. How to Wash Our Hair This seems silly, but the bottom line is that we definitely don’t all do it the same way. You have your strict folk who lather, rinse, and repeat their shampoo every time, ...
What's The Parent’s Role With Homework?
If we want kids to invest in their education, we have to allow them to take on the responsibility of managing their school and homework.
There was instantly a huge response to our recent post "30 Questions to Ask Your Kid Instead of 'How Was Your Day?'" Clearly many parents share the pain of the typical one syllable reply - "Good." ...
If you go to a fair without taking a photo of the ferris wheel, did you really even go to the fair? Our Vermont roots couldn't be more proud of our state's Official Word (according to Slate, althou...
Take the 10-Question "Kids and Social Media" Survey
We'd like to know your thoughts about how your kids use (or aren't allowed to use) social media. We're curious how real parents weigh the pros and cons of this surprisingly complicated issue. The ...
I Wanted To Say Something To You, Middle School
?Dear Middle School, I know you. I’ve been you. I’ve walked your halls. I’ve taught in your classrooms. I’ve graded your dog-chewed homework. I know your smells of too-fruity perfume and not-yet-d...
Our kids went back to school this week. Thank you to the teachers who work so hard, even when no one's looking. Watch American kids try lunches from around the world. (Personally, I don't think ...
Admit It, Baby Carrots Are Gross
Bagged baby carrots are convenient and cute. And orange. But in my house, we've gone back to the original convenient-cute-and-orange snack: cheese doodles. Just kidding. Carrot sticks. That's becau...
3 Things We Learned On the First Day of Kindergarten
This morning, we saw our little guy off to kindergarten. He’s the younger of two and there will be no more. So, yeah, it was a big deal—but not in a way that a) we were crying about our grown-up ba...
Our family dog is 17 years old. Spy was born in 1998. For most of these years, she was just my dog. She came and went with me. I took care of her. We were a two-person pack. I've lived with her lon...
Young adults – defined here as people aged 18 to 29 – are the most skilled liars, while teens are the most prolific. That's according to a new study published in Acta Psychologica that claims to be...
When I moved to Denver, the third thing I noticed after the sunshine and the walkable brunch spot was the middle school obsession.
The 40 Year Old (Motorcycle) Virgin
Im a middle-aged dad just getting into motorcycling. Why did it take so long? Perhaps it was the learning curve, or just because Im a wuss.
Are tablet computers harming our children's ability to read? | Technology | The Guardian
The adoption of the tablet has come on fast and furious. In the 5 years since Apple first launched the iPad, the number of children who have access to tablets has jumped from 7% of 5-15 year olds...
Why Teen-Agers Are the Worst - The New Yorker
Why are teens, in some ways, more difficult to parent than toddlers? Science may have some answers. The frontal lobes are the seat of what’s sometimes called the brain’s executive function. T...
3 Steps to Better Family Routines for the New School Year
You want to enjoy your time with your kids, not spend it fighting about breakfast, getting ready, or homework. Thankfully, routines help solve that problem.
How to Make the First Day of School a Total Success – For You
If you really want to get the year off to a stellar start, it’s time to approach this a little differently. Here’s how to make the first day of school a total success – for you. After all, why sho...
"Be consistent" - Susan Sontag's Parenting List
Lists have a bad name on the internet, where websites use them to suck in viral views: "Top 10 Celebrity Bikini Fails," "5 Foods You Should Never Eat if You Want to Lose Flab!" But in real life I ...
Summer Lessons: What We Learned
We're just a few days away from the first day of school. It feels like school just ended; it also feels like forever ago. Summer went by so fast - too fast for many of us. While summer is still han...
Lucky Charms and Donuts for Breakfast
I've accepted that my in-laws consider "spoiling kids" with sugary treats part of their grandparent job description.
Does Your Stress Really Harm Your Kids?
Modern parents are repeatedly told that their stress has a lasting effect on their children's development. For example, this Daily Beast post, alarmingly titled "Stressed Parents Scar Their Kids:" ...
The Milestones That Don't Make Baby Books, Like Smart-Assery
First steps, successful potty training, emerging teeth- all milestones worthy of the baby book. But maybe we should make room for some new ones.