Tag Archives: parenting

A Parenting Milestone: Kids Prepare Their Own Breakfast

For more than a year, I have been letting my kids pour their own cereal and milk with the idea that some day they would be able to get up on their own in the mornings.  Letting your two-year-old wield … Continue reading

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Caught cheating while reading my daughter’s bedtime story

“Daddy, you don’t have a very good brain!” my daughter reprimanded me this evening during bedtime. I had skipped a sentence while reading her bedtime story, and she had caught me red handed. She went on to explain to me … Continue reading

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Trying out GoldieBlox on my five year old daughter

When I wrote about introducing my daughter Ayelet to legos a couple of weeks ago, a friend suggested I take a look at GoldieBlox.  The idea was to design a construction toy set that was geared towards girls and finding … Continue reading

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A parent’s emergency mnemonic for bolting out the door with kids

Friday, April 19th was a hell of a day here in Cambridge.  In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, several communities went into lockdown as the police combed a 20 block area of nearby Watertown searching for the remaining … Continue reading

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The secret of how Magna-Tiles work

Like many kids, my children love Magna-Tiles.  For those not familiar with them, they are transparent plastic squares and triangles with magnets embedded around the edges.  When two Magna-Tiles are placed edge-to-edge, the magnets stick together, allowing you to build … Continue reading

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To my disappointment, Lego marketers knew what they were doing

As a kid, I was a huge Legos fan.  I would spend hours building spaceships, cars, buildings, airplanes, and anything else I could imagine.  Back in those days, each set of Legos came with instructions for three or four different … Continue reading

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Shortcut: Toddler won’t wear mittens? Put socks on his hands

Everyone knows the phrase “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” That pretty much sums up my son’s relationship to gloves.  He absolutely refuses to wear them.  We’ve tried mittens, and we’ve tried gloves, … Continue reading

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A child’s menorah should not be flammable

Well, really no menorah should be flammable, but that’s besides the point. A week ago, my four-year-old daughter proudly brought home a menorah (or more correctly, hanukkiah) she had made at the Jewish after-school program she attends a few days … Continue reading

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Word to the wise: pick a child’s lovey based on your ability to see it in the dark

Like all good parents, we started manipulating our children when they were just newborns. For each of our kids, we introduced them to a lovey when they were just a few months old.  They became so used to having these … Continue reading

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Home science experiment: crystal clear ice

Last weekend, thanks to some inspired planning on the part of my wife, we got a baby sitter and met up with some friends of ours at a bar in Somerville. To most people who know me, the very idea … Continue reading

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