Correlation, Causation, and Hope for Less Parental Sanctimony

Originally published March 7, 2014 on BabyCenter.com

Thanks to the Internet, parents have access to a lot more data these days. The problem is that it’s hard for a lot of people to tell the good data from the bad data.

One of the big errors that people make when evaluating reports floated around various blogs and news sites is the mistaking of correlation for causation. I’m pretty sure that most people reading this have heard the phrase, “correlation does not imply causation” at some point. However, I think it’s worth going into again because so few people seem to realize exactly what it means.

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Got a Comics-Loving Girl? 5 Female Characters She’ll Love

Originally published February 28, 2014 on BabyCenter.com

Since my daughter was born, I’ve been paying more attention to the portrayal of female characters in media, which has been frustrating to say the least. My favorite forms of entertainment are comic books and role-playing games, and neither of those industries is exactly enlightened.

Playing a role-playing game with my kids will probably have to wait a few more years (although my son did kill two zombies while rolling for an animal companion in a game of Pathfinder), but comics are a medium that doesn’t have to wait. Moreover, they’re a good way to get kids into reading, since the best ones combine excellent writing with visual storytelling. It’s too bad that so many of them seem determined to ignore female readers at all costs.

What follows is mostly a brainstorm of comics that I am looking forward to reading my daughter. These aren’t the only comics I’m planning to read to her, and I don’t think a girl needs to read a story with a girl protagonist. However, I don’t think it hurts to occasionally give some emphasis to female characters, since they’re so very underrepresented in comics.

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Reading to Kids is One of the best Parts of Being a Parent

Originally published on BabyCenter.com February 22, 2014

Today marks one full year since I started blogging at BabyCenter. My first official entry was about reading to your kids. Since then, my son has turned two and we’ve added a baby girl to the mix. Reading still remains important, and there’s a lot more I’ve learned over the past year.

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Dads, it’s Okay if the Baby Cries

Originally published on BabyCenter.com January 24, 2014

My wife had a singing engagement, so I was left alone with two kids who took turns crying for two and a half hours straight.

Uncontrollable sobbing is a good way to make a parent feel useless, especially in men since we lack the magic boobies that calm infants down. But in the end, it’s not that big a deal.

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Important Storytelling Tips from My Children

Originally published on BabyCenter.com January 21, 2014

My son was in a particularly whiny mood one night and wanted a story about dinosaurs and trains. Our e-copy of All Aboard the Dino Train by Deb Lund and Howard Fine was unavailable and everybody in the house was exhausted. Desperate for the sweet release of bedtime, I crafted the following impromptu story, which has since become a big hit with my son. (It turns out that two-year-olds have odd tastes.)

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