{2009} {2008} {2007} {2006}

2008

Is my son a dick, or is he two?

Salon just posted an expanded version of my essay about the psychosis of toddlerhood. I’m trying hard not to take the 200-plus letters to heart.

Health insurance for nanny a political, moral imperative

For my latest Family Life column, I get up on high horse and rail against hypocritical liberals (who, me?) who criticize the government and corporations for withholding health insurance while allowing their own babysitters and nannies to fend for themselves… It’s time to pay up, people.

I’m a CJ Convert

While I’ve got a Jewish wife, Jewish kids and an ever-widening circle of Jewish friends and colleagues, I stubbornly remain non-chosen. But I’m sick of being merely Jew-adjacent. So a few weeks ago, I became an official Cultural Jew, in front of a live audience at the opening of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. There was a quiz, humiliation and the downing of gefilte fish juice. My friends at Reboot have just posted audio, in streaming and podcast formats, of the whole mishigas. 

Tummy time

Righteous commentary on how kids today are spoiled and coddled became more limited but far more truthful story about how I spoil and coddle my kid.

Minivan madness

Latest Reuters column poses parental quandry: is the purchase of a minivan a milestone or gravestone? 

Rats!

Reuters just published the terrifying true story of my epic battle with an acrobatic, possibly bionic roof rat. Ewww.

Parents Unite! Ban Birthday Party Blowouts

Latest Family Life column is parental call to arms to stop the madness around kiddie birthday parties. Si se puede!

Hear ye, hear ye! My parenting manifesto!

Latest Reuters family life column discusses rise of the Parenting Manifesto and includes a few self-evident foundational truths of my own…

Brandweek Op-Ed

Brandweek magazine just published this editorial from me and colleague Bill Goodwin on why rejuvenile marketing so often elicits cringes among not-quite-grownups.

New York Speechifying

I’m doing a presentation this week at the FUSE: Design & Culture Conference with my friend and colleague Bill Goodwin. We’ll be talking about “the rejuvenile aesthetic,” our fancy-pants phraseology for the cartoony, kiddie, whimsical, playful culture that now pops up everywhere from Web 2.0 font design to modern architecture to auto styling… I’ll also hang out to sign books and stalk my fellow presenter, Malcolm Gladwell… I’m on Tuesday April 15 at 2 pm. Registration and other info here.

Reuters column on nightmares in babyproofing

Latest column is all about how cost of raising kids has never been higher, thanks in large part to fact that parenting now means imagining all the horrible things that can happen to your children and then going out and buying some specially-engineered product that will supposedly prevent those imaginary disasters.

Latest Reuters Column on Dads as IT guys

This week’s dispatch from the family front asks why being a dad today so often means providing tech support.

The Hot Babysitter

Latest Reuters column is a dinner party anecdote about a crazy-beautiful babysitter wrapped up in depressing ruminations about the basic savagery and superficiality of human nature. Fun!

Parent Shmarent

So some friends and I adapted an essay about an unfortunate incident involving my six-year-old daughter and a gorilla head into a short video. Watch here. Then we did another one about our family’s crazy-fun winter celebration tradition.  Now we’re thinking of other episodes and maybe even a whole series of these odd little family snippets. Stay tuned.

Is a taste of deceit with carrots so bad for kids?

The first piece written for my new “Family Life” column for Reuters is all about kids and food and how far we as parents will go to get something un-fried, un-sweetened and halfway nutritious into the mouths of our picky little tyrants. 

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