Category: Parenting

Editing Fairy Tales for Your Kids

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com August 9, 2013

“More book?” is the boy’s rallying cry at bedtime. He knows it’s hard for us to say “no” to him wanting to read.

Sometimes, we read until he falls asleep. Sometimes we leave him with a book in his crib and let him look at the pictures until he finally shuts his eyes. And sometimes he wakes up screaming at 3:30 in the morning and only a story will calm him down.

It’s on those nights when the whole family is sleep deprived and I don’t want to risk turning on a light that I turn to the stories I know by heart – the simple fairy tales that almost all of us hear at one point or another in our childhoods.

And it’s usually in the middle of reciting these tried and true fairy tales that I realize how badly they need editing.

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The Merits of Being a Moderately Competent Dad

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published May 10, 2013 on BabyCenter.com

As Mother’s Day approaches, I’m reminded that it’s good to be a moderately competent dad.

My wife is a stay at home mom, so she does everything. To prevent her from completely melting down, I sometimes start the weekend with a grocery run or shopping expedition that’s just me and my son. I call it merrands. That’s short for “man errands.” I’m clever like that.

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Moms and Depression: Help is More Effective than you Think

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com July 4, 2013

It’s only been about a month since I blogged about depression, but as with most mental illnesses it’s a topic that needs to be revisited frequently. In this case, Lisa Firestone recently provided a reminder in the Huffington Post that depression is a major problem that moms face. It’s a good reminder not only because there are many moms who know that they will have to deal with depression before and after pregnancy, but also because there are many expectant moms who don’t realize that they are already dealing with it.

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How my Family Helped me Write my Novel

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com June 25, 2013

In case you haven’t read the tail end of my blog entries lately or haven’t noticed the high-pitched girlish scream of excitement that has been emanating from northern Vermont since April, my newest novel Greystone Valley is on sale. I’ve got a lot of reasons to be happy with this book, including the fact that it’s one of the most fun stories I’ve ever written, I get to work with a new publisher, it’s a thing of beauty thanks to cover artist Jessica von Braun, and actress Serena Scott Thomas is reading the audio version. But topping all of that is the fact that this book really represents a transition in my life toward being a husband and a father. It’s a novel that wouldn’t exist without everybody in my family.

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Over-Analyzing the Father-Daughter Relationship

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published June 16, 2013 on BabyCenter.com

It’s a girl!

My wife and I got our anatomy ultrasound for the upcoming newborn this week, and all signs point to her being a little girl. We announced it today to her family through the clever use of cupcakes filled with pink frosting.

Once I decided that I wanted children, I knew that I wanted both a son and a daughter at some point. The relationships that a dad has with both is too special for me to want to pass up.

My son, at least up to this point, is a little mini-me. I see a lot of my own strengths and, unfortunately, a lot of my own weaknesses, in him. I am going to do my best to push him along life’s path and hopefully give him the opportunity to be better than me in every way possible. A boy is somebody I can roughhouse with, burp in front of, and try vainly to explain that it’s not polite to stick your hands down your pants in public.

A girl is…what, exactly?

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Talking with Your Kids about Depression

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published June 7, 2013 on BabyCenter.com

Sara McGinnis posted a very good blog entry about Paris Jackson’s recent suicide attempt and about the dangers of depression in general. The blog got me thinking about something that seems obvious to me but that I had never really considered before: someday, I’m going to have to talk to my children about suicide and depression.

I myself suffer from clinical depression and have survived two suicide attempts. One of the first things I can tell anybody about this subject is that if you want to be really bad at something, suicide is the best thing to be bad at. The fact that I have depression means that my children are more likely to have that condition as well. Even if they don’t, they will likely know somebody who suffers from depression or a similarly serious issue. So when the time comes, what are the important things to tell kids about depression?

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Pros and Cons of Getting an NT Scan

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published May 1, 2013 on BabyCenter.com.

We’re now at week 13 of pregnancy number two, which means that we recently had to make the decision about whether or not we wanted an NT scan.

An NT scan, for those who are unaware, is a nuchal translucency screening, which can help predict chromosomal abnormalities in the child. The most common of these abnormalities is Down syndrome, which does not prevent a child from having a happy life. There are other rarer abnormalities that are potentially much worse, including some that can indicate your child will not survive through the first year. Thankfully, those situations are rare, and a positive result on an NT scan doesn’t mean that anything is definite.

This is not a procedure that is at all required. It’s purely up to expectant parents. We chose not to go through the testing for our first child because the NT scan wasn’t available to us. Back then (a whopping two years ago), all we had for an option was a chorionic villus sampling (CVS) test, which was a more invasive procedure that carries a slight risk to the baby. We opted not to go through with that because of the risk. In retrospect, it was also a good thing not to do the test at the time because I was a nervous wreck throughout the pregnancy and didn’t need one more thing to worry about had it come up positive.

Technology marches on, and thankfully the NT scan is now available to us. (I believe it was available only to those at high risk for chromosomal abnormalities before.) This time we chose to get the scan for a few reasons:

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Teachings from my Father: Usual Lessons Taught in an Unusual Way

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com Marsh 16, 2023

It’s a tough world, and you need somebody to prepare you for it.

As I grew up, my mom took the role of the protector, building up my confidence and sheltering me from the bad things in the world. My dad chose a different role. He decided that he was going to be the guy to toughen me up.

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