Originally posted on BabyCenter.com March 8, 2013
You know what can be fun? Taking a 10-hour road trip with a toddler.
No, seriously. It can be…as long as you’re prepared.
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Tag: BabyCenter
Introducing Your Child to Comic Books
Originally posted on BabyCenter.com March 1, 2013
I’m not going to lie: part of the reason I was excited for the chance to read to my son was because I wanted a chance to share my favorite comics.
Talking about comics with adults is usually an exercise in futility. There are those adults who are way more into comics than I am, and conversations with them usually turn into gripe-fests about how the most recent issue of the Hulk failed to note the title character’s ability to adapt to underwater conditions, which was clearly indicated in The Incredible Hulk, volume 3, issue #77. Other adults tend to give me a wide-eyed stare when I mention that I read comics and start to back away slowly lest I bombard them with the minutiae about the different types of kryptonite introduced in Superman mythos (incidentally, there are 18, and this year marks the 70th anniversary of kryptonite’s introduction in comics). If I want to geek out about comics without getting too nitpicky about the details or having somebody call security on me, then kids are the way to go. And that means that I need to get my son up to speed.
As with any media, though, you need to consider carefully what comics you introduce your child to. Just as you wouldn’t want your two-year old watching an R-rated movie, you don’t want to introduce your child to something like Watchmen. Through trial and error, I have come up with a few guidelines when it comes to picking comics for kids.
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Bonding with Your Babies Over Books
Originally posted on BabyCenter.com February 22, 2013
Books are one of the truly great things in life. Yes, there is lots of newer media crowding them out these days, but a good book is still better at unlocking the imagination and building language skills than anything else out there.
Reading to my son is probably the biggest thing I looked forward to as a dad. I started reading to him while he was still in utero and now make sure to give him a bedtime story each night. One thing I learned quickly is that bedtime stories don’t have to always be kids’ books.
When you’re reading with a child during the day, it’s good to have something with simple words and lots of pictures, but when you’re winding down at night, just about anything goes. (Well, almost anything – it is my personal opinion that reading Stephen King’s It can probably wait until puberty, at least.)
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How Excited is too Excited when it Comes to Birthday Presents?
Originally posted on BabyCenter.com June 7, 2018
Seven years into this parenting thing, I still don’t know how to strike the right balance with anything. Am I too hard on them or too lax with discipline? Do I give them a suitable number of presents or do I spoil them? If there’s one thing I’m sure about, it’s that I overthink things.
This week’s lesson in self-doubt comes from my son’s birthday. By now, he knows the drill: for several days on end, every friend of ours he meets will give him a present of some sort. And I’m sitting here trying to temper his excitement by focusing on that old nugget, “It’s the thought that counts.”
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Some Thoughts about Parenting with Depression
Originally posted on BabyCenter.com on January 25, 2018
I’m not an expert when it comes to the clinical side of depression. I’m just one of the millions who have to deal with it on a fairly regular basis. Because I focus so much on my kids’ well-being, I sometimes forget to take time out for myself. That’s when depression catches up.
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My Wife Smacked Me Upside the Head During Labor, Here’s Why
Originally posted on BabyCenter.com October 20, 2016
Men have it easy during labor, because we’re not the ones with a human being forcing its way through our innards and out our nether regions. Of course, we still have to watch our loved one go through that process, and if we’re not careful we sometimes get smacked in the head.
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Site News: Parenting Section Incoming
You might have noticed a Parenting page among the topics in this site’s header. That’s because I have several blog entries that I wrote with BabyCenter.com which I plan to archive here. Being a “Dad Blogger” for BabyCenter was a rewarding job that I happily did for several years before the site restructured its blogs. I remain proud of the experiences and insights I shared there, and I’m happy to bring them back for those who might want to read them.
The Screamsheet is largely devoted to nerdy pop culture topics, so slipping parenting advice in there might seem off-topic. However, this site is meant to show off my personality and the things I find interesting, and there is nothing more interesting than being a parent.
Other content won’t be going away, so there will be plenty of nerdy ramblings from me in the future. But I hope you enjoy seeing this other side of me as well.
Library Patron Pushes for Dr. Seuss to be Banned for Violence
I don’t generally cross-post here from my other blogs, but the response to a blog I posted in 2014 on BabyCenter.com was too good to let vanish when they reorganized their site. The comments are what really puts the whole thing over the top for me, which is why this blog entry has earned a spot over here on the Screamsheet.
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Babbling Brooks 