Amid my ramblings about comics, role-playing games, and other nerdy subjects, a section on parenting might seem out of place. However, I spent several years as the resident “nerd dad” at BabyCenter.com, here I contributed a weekly blog about my experiences as a father. A reorganization of BabyCenter’s site caused many of my blog entries to disappear, but the magic of the Internet Archive means I can retrieve what might otherwise be lost.

This section includes my meandering thoughts about parenthood, mostly pulled from my BabyCenter work and brought here for posterity. Additional pieces may join those old blog entries in the future, because parenthood is a journey that never ends.

• Baby Number 2 is Here, and My Wife is a Warrior: Beware someone who can give birth multiple times without painkillers.
• Bonding with Your Babies Over Books: Trust me–you should read to your kids as often as possible.
• Correlation, Causation, and Hope for Less Parental Sanctimony: Don’t get preachy just because you think one thing implies another.
• 4 Curious Questions about “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”: Asking the important questions about this classic kids’ cartoon.
• Dads, it’s Okay if the Baby Cries: Time spent with your crying baby is still time spent with your baby.
• Editing Fairy Tales for Your Kids: Or how to badly overthing “Jack and the Beanstalk.”
• Facts About Lead Poisoning and What You Can Do About It: Lead poisoning is a real risk to kids, but there are steps you can take to reduce the damage.
• Got a Comics-Loving Girl? 5 Female Characters She’ll Love: A look at female protagonists in comics.
• Helping an Older Child Make the Transition as a New Baby Arrives: Life is full of changes, which can be hard to explain to a two-year-old.
• How Excited is too Excited when it Comes to Birthday Presents?: Balancing birthday excitement with the human element.
• How my Family Helped me Write my Novel: It takes a whole family to create a fun story.
• How my Toddler Turned me into a Clown: The power of silliness.
• Important Storytelling Tips from My Children: Editorial advice I received when crafting my emergency backup bedtime story.
• Introducing Your Child to Comic Books: Some suggestions on sharing a love of comics with kids.
• The Merits of Being a Moderately Competent Dad: Like it or not, fathers often have a low bar to clear.
• Moms and Depression: Help is More Effective than you Think: If you suffer from prepartum or postpartum depression, you don’t have to just grin and bear it.
• My Warped Dreams, My Son’s Thoughts, and My Wife’s Solution: Could some dreams be hereditary?
• My Wife Smacked Me Upside the Head During Labor, Here’s Why: It turns out that some well-timed violence can sometimes lead to a fun story later on.
• Over-Analyzing the Father-Daughter Relationship: At the end of the day, just try to relax and enjoy the experience.
• Overcoming My Son’s Fear of Dandelions: Kids get scared of the strangest things.
• Preparing for Act Two: Thoughts as baby number two approaches.
• Prevent Sexual Violence by Talking to Your Kids: If you don’t do it, they won’t learn the right lessons.
• Pros and Cons of Getting an NT Scan: What to know about this procedure.
• Raising a Boy Who Likes Pink: The idea of gendered colors is stupid.
• Reading to Kids is One of the Best Parts of Being a Parent: That is my firmly held belief.
• Should Dads be in the Delivery Room?: Or do the old sitcoms with fathers pacing outside have it right?
• Some Thoughts about Parenting with Depression: It’s okay to be depressed, and it’s important to figure out how to adjust when depression hits.
• 7 Steps to Surviving a Road Trip with a Toddler: Road trips can get a lot easier if you are properly prepared.
• Taking an Interest in my Son’s Activities: Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: I am now an expert on Thomas the Tank Engine, and I can’t get rid of this cursed knowledge.
• Talking with Your Kids about Depression: Whether it’s a comfortable conversation or not, it’s an important one to have.
• Talking to Your Kids about Guns: An unfortunately necessary part of modern society.
• Teachings from my Father: Usual Lessons Taught in an Unusual Way: My dad took a very unorthodox way of making sure I stood by my principles, but it worked.
• When Time Passes a Gamer Dad By: Oh no…am I…a noob?