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Strollerderby
The discipline of parenting.
It was just over five years ago that I proposed to a single mom. That, of course, means that just over five years ago, I was shaking in my boots at the prospect of becoming a stepdad. And I’d be lying if I told you that the transition was smooth. It was incredibly difficult to go from carefree bachelor to (virtually) full-time dad overnight.
It was as if a thief in the night came and took all my free time away. While I had plenty of time for doing whatever I wanted, suddenly, thanks to my stepdaughter, most of my waking moments were spoken for. Not that that was a bad thing. For it wasn’t. But it did take some getting used to. Then, five months into our marriage we learned that we were expecting triplets and I fretted beyond belief. After all, if one was hard to get used to, what in the world would I have to do to get used to three more? At once?
Being good with kids makes a man attractive.
When I was kid, being a stay-at-home dad was basically unheard of in my neighborhood. Now, with added equality between the sexes, a faulty economy and many moms in high level positions, it has become more widespread, if not common. Our society has grown more accepting of pushing past stereotypical gender roles. Yet there are still certain circles where you’ll overhear moms on the playground gossiping about the stay-at-home dads as if they are a new breed of men. There may be some truth to that because these men don’t feel the need to have to slip into the skin of a typical alpha male in order to feel confident.
But I’ve also heard from many men throughout the years who feel intimidated, out of place and even emasculated when they are the only dad at Gymboree, on the playground or at a birthday party. That has to change so more men will feel comfortable with taking on a bigger role in raising children. Is there anything as attractive as a rugged, macho (if you will) man tenderly caring for his kids?
Was it a good year for you?
One thing you can say about parents today: We always try to do better. This year was no different.
For example, in 2010, many parents confessed their addiction to smart phones and promised to cut back in 2011. We also discovered that having an iPhone is like having a tiny Mary Poppins, able to sooth an upset child in mere seconds and without any sugar! And we also asked, Is that a good thing?
The dangers of technology were front and center this year, with cyberbullying and privacy concerns on everyone’s mind.
Other topics we talked about: How we parent (OK, we fought about this); the importance of marriage (or lack thereof); sharing breast milk. So what were the top 10 parenting trends in 2010?
First child of older dads have better odds of schizophrenia.
According to a Denmark study which tracked over 2 million children born between 1955 and 1992, there exists a link between a first-time father’s age and his child’s chance of being diagnosed with schizophrenia. The findings, which were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, suggests that the older a first-time father is, the more likely it is that his child will develop schizophrenia.
Researchers have long known that the disease is caused by “disrupted brain development” and believe that it likely spawns from a combination environmental factors, such as poor nutrition during pregnancy, and genetic ones. Studies such as the Denmark one attempt to shed more light on the disorder.
As an older, first-time dad (my triplets were born weeks before I turned 39), I must say — I found the numbers to be staggering.
Do dads need a commercial reminding them to do this?
The New York Times reported a new series of ads introduced by the Advertising Council yesterday. The target demographic? Dads. The hard sell? Fatherhood. The campaign created by Campbell-Ewald specifically targets American-Indian, Asian-American and Hispanic dads and is a follow up to the “successful” 2008 spots which you may recall. They featured an African-American dad teaching his daughter how to cheerlead as well as other ads which contained Hispanic and Caucasian fathers.
The reason for casting such a wide demographic net is to assure the campaign successfully delivers its message to as many diverse groups of fathers as possible. And the message — “take time to be a dad today” — is a good one. But is it a necessary one? Continue reading »
Strollerderby can’t resist making a shout out to one of our new bloggers, John Cave Osborne, whom we introduced earlier today. Though he became a father of four in just thirteen months, John managed to maintain his sense of self and his sense of humor. You’ll see what we mean when you watch the following hysterical video, which has gotten quite a bit of attention. None other than Ashton Kutcher tweeted to his upteen followers along with a note to John saying he was doing an excellent job on the dad front. More recently, the video has put him in the running for the title of “World’s Greatest Dad” via a contest held by e-zine Man of the House. If John wins, he’ll donate the entire $2,000 prize to his favorite charity, ChildHelp, a leading national nonprofit that benefits the victims of child abuse and neglect.
See what we mean?
If you’d like to help John raise a nice chunk of change for an incredible cause, share this post with everyone you know and click on this link to vote for him! You can vote one time per day through October 22.
Fatherhood changes the brain
Sympathetic pregnancy, or “couvade syndrome,” used to be a male myth. The idea that men undergo real physical changes, like gaining weight, when their wife is pregnant was relegated to the realm of the psychosomatic — an overly dramatic dad.
But it’s no longer a myth that men change during pregnancy and fatherhood. As I explore in this week’s Science of Kids column, both dads and babies undergo real chemical shifts when they’re around each other.
What are they? Continue reading »
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
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