Tag: BabyCenter

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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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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Parenting: Should Dads be in the Delivery Room?

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com March 27, 2013

If you look at popular media from a generation or two ago, you see men who are largely removed from the birthing process. There are images of expectant fathers pacing in the waiting room or, in times long past, chain smoking at the hospital. Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising to us, then, that there are a number of fathers-to-be that don’t plan to be in the delivery room during their child’s birth.

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Facts About Lead Poisoning and What You Can Do About It

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com March 22, 2013

The worst day of my parenting life came about a year ago when my wife and I found out that our son had lead poisoning. All I could think of at the time was, “We just screwed up our son’s life.” Fortunately, that wasn’t true.

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Introducing Your Child to Comic Books

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics, ParentingLeave a comment

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

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

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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