• Last updated 4/12/13 by momofnatasha

By Suzanne Leigh   Last night we were watching a video of my two daughters rollicking in a hotel swimming pool. It was taken days after a scan had showed evidence of recurrent brain tumor following a hiatus of 31 months of “tumor free-dom" for my 10-year-old elder daughter.   I was struck by two things: the images of Natasha that were wildly out of whack with the results of the scan – she is loud, laughing and ebullient, running around the rim of the pool, long strong limbs flying, stopping only to ham it up for the camera. The only tell-tale sign that... read more

• Last updated 4/11/13 by Marcy Axness

So there you are one afternoon, at the end of your rope with an out-of-control three-year-old. You know you won’t spank him, and you have become mindful of avoiding shame-based measures, so what’s left? Is “Time Out” the answer? At risk of bringing on the wrath of parents everywhere, my answer is no.   Time-outs were conceived as a more humane alternative to spanking, but the problem is, they land a blow to the brain and psyche rather than to the bottom. Right at the moment when the child is overwhelmed by a flood of emotions he cannot manage, and he most needs the... read more

• Last updated 4/11/13 by Marcy Axness

"I had to love her enough to let her hate me." It was a stunning and very wise thing that Carol Burnett said to the ladies on The View. Burnett said she was scared of her daughter -- of saying the wrong thing, making her angry, pushing her away. (She was talking about her late daughter Carrie's three-year struggle with addiction when she was a teen.)   While Burnett's situation was extreme, her experience isn't unusual. Scared, stressed-out parenting has become epidemic: many parents today feel overwhelmed and under-adequate. Always waiting for the other shoe to... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

I'm fascinated by cross-national comparisons of happiness. On one hand, I'm incredulous that the measurements could mean anything, especially when I consider the cultural subjectivity of happiness and the methodological difficulties involved with gathering this kind of data on a worldwide scale. On the other, I find there is a surprising amount of consistency in observer perceptions as well as different surveys. And, I admit it, I have the same geeky, goofy interest in lists of this type that many people do. Each suggests questions: Why should this place be happy?... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

So first my tire goes flat on Siringo Road. I’m on my way, with the kids, to Claire’s birthday party. We’re late, because Honoree’s Waldorf teacher came by at the same time as the (pool) party started. We are really wanting to get there, since we’re already an hour and a half late. Hope it’s not one of those 2-hour parties with a “here’s your goodie bag, what’s your hurry?” vibe. Nah, Claire’s parents are supremely cool.  Tire blows. “Mom, our car sounds like a choo choo train!” I wonder where I should pull over. What’s safe? What are my choices? Turn here,... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

From today's New York Times:   According to new research by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the happiness gap between blacks and whites has fallen by two-thirds since the early 1970s. The gender gap (women used to be happier than men) has disappeared. Most significant, the disparity in happiness within demographic groups has also shrunk: the unhappiest 25 percent of the population has gotten a lot happier. The happiest quarter is less cheerful. It seems odd that happiness would become more egalitarian... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

Does Sarah Palin's husband give dads a new voice? "Overnight, social conservatives more accustomed to railing against attacks on the 'Ozzie and Harriet' family model found themselves trumpeting the virtues of stay-at-home-dads, or as they're more colloquially known SAHDs." Sacrifice and the Black Family. "When black families do what white families do instinctively and routinely—somehow, it pisses people right off." Another fine selection from our collection of Nixon-era children's books. "Congratulations, Mom, you've now got a pint-sized Doppelgänger of the jerk... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

In which my obsession with the 2008 presidential election continues, with one attempt to distract myself with personal satisfaction... 1. Maureen Dowd: "I wandered through the Wal-Mart, which seemed almost as large as Wasilla, a town that is a soulless strip mall without sidewalks set beside a soulful mountain and lake..." 2. Kathryn Joyce: "This twisting of feminist history and rhetoric to protect a champion of anti-feminist causes, traditionalism and sex-kitten objectification, is particularly unnerving for exactly the reasons that Palin's biggest supporters... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

Today's daddy blogger guest post is from "Chicago Pop," originally posted to Daddy Dialectic. An engineer once told me that the reason cars make that strange-but-cool noise in reverse gear is that they aren't designed to move that way. At least not very fast or very far. Going in reverse, for automobiles, is a limited proposition. It's designed strictly for short-term, utilitarian maneuvers. I only mention this because, through Daddy Dialectic, I've learned that the label "reverse traditional" applies to my family. Which means, if my flippant analogy holds, that... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

Did you know that the Democratic Party platform, for the first time ever, has a plank that addresses fatherhood? Here it is, in its entirety:   Too many fathers are missing–missing from too many lives and too many homes. Children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and are more likely to commit crime, drop out of school, abuse drugs and end up in prison. We need more fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to understand that what makes a man is not the ability to have a child–it's the... read more