• 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

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

You get attached. Adding emotion to the already heightened stress of magazine crunch time for me this issue is our son’s impending departure for school. Reeve, who is 19, leaves Friday for the Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama (catchily acronymed RSAMD) in Glasgow. He’s very excited to be going off into the world—and to Scotland, in particular. He’ll be studying voice—wants to pursue a career in opera—and of course Tim and are thrilled for him. But it will quite an adjustment for us. . . I keep reminding myself that many, many moms (and dads,... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

1. Engage Her: Last night I went to the premiere of this new documentary about the need for women of color to vote and get involved in the political process. But the film isn't really for me: It's aimed at women of color themselves, and I thought it provided a very effective argument for their political participation. If you, dear reader, have some way of getting this film in front of an audience that needs to see it, please do contact Engage Her and tell them you want to help. 2. Mad Men: This cable series, set in the advertising industry in the early 1960s, just... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

The No-Fear Option: Just wait 'til your father gets home! "What I wanted to be different about my children’s upbringing was their attitude toward their father: I did not want them to be afraid of me. Looking back, I see that there was something I had overlooked. If I raised children who were not afraid of me, I would have children who were…well, not afraid of me." Obama's Mixed Heritage: A Mother's Perspective. "It's an interesting historical moment to be a white mother of a Black child, as another white mother's Black child is running for president of the United... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

This is interesting: Organizational psychologists Timothy Judge and Beth Livingston found that men who reported holding traditional views (that is, that women belong in the home, while men earn the money) earned on average $11,930 more annually for doing the same kind of work as men who held more egalitarian views. The reverse was true for women, to a much smaller degree. Female workers with more egalitarian views (that men and women should evenly divide the tasks at home and contribute equally to their shared finances) earned $1,052 more than women who did similar... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

Shortly after I started working full time again, Liko and I developed a tradition: On certain Sundays we take the F train downtown and we spend the afternoon watching hockey or figure skating, playing on the playground, going to museums, eating. This past Sunday I took him ice skating. We had tried it about a year ago and I had concluded that it was too early. But on Sunday he took right to the ice, and we skated around and around the rink, holding hands, and neither of us could stop smiling. Later we went to the playground and Liko hooked up with two little... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

1. The Anti-Proposition 8 Ad Campaign: I know. You're sick of political commercials. We all are. But the ads against California's anti-gay-marriage Proposition 8 are somehow managing to transcend the genre: They're actually poetic and moving on a deep human level. Unfortunately, Wordpress isn't allowing me to post movies to this blog, but you can view two of the ads here and here. You won't regret watching them; you might even feel happier after you do. Seriously. 2. Beacon Press: OK, this is the publisher for my forthcoming book The Daddy Shift, and so I guess it's... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

Here, predictably, was my favorite part of the vice-presidential debate. From Biden:   Look, I understand what it's like to be a single parent. When my wife and daughter died and my two sons were gravely injured, I understand what it's like as a parent to wonder what it's like if your kid's going to make it. I understand what it's like to sit around the kitchen table with a father who says, "I've got to leave, champ, because there's no jobs here. I got to head down to Wilmington. And when we get enough money, honey, we'll bring you down." I understand what... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

A creative new study reveals a new dimension of the wage gap between men and women: In previous studies, academics have looked at variables like years of education and the effects of outside forces such as nondiscrimination policies. But gender was always the constant. What if it didn't have to be? What if you could construct an experiment in which a random sample of adults unexpectedly changes sexes before work one day? Kristen Schilt, a sociologist at the University of Chicago and Matthew Wiswall, an economist at New York University, couldn't quite pull off... read more

• Last updated 4/8/13 by AdinaL

On the day after the 2006 elections, I wrote about my cousin Stephen, a captain who had left the Air Force because of the toll frequent wartime deployments took on him and his family. When I spoke to Stephen and his wife, both conservative Christians, they were clearly weary and demoralized, but happy to be out of the service and starting the next chapter of their life.But things have gone poorly since then. Stephen was unable to find work that allowed him to support his family and still be the involved dad that he wants to be; as I understand it, the best job he could... read more