Multi-article conversations

Many conversations are not one-and-done discussions. Growing up is a long game and life lessons take years, perhaps decades to learn, much less master. Some of our conversations have an additive effect. And like building railroads, the efforts are planned, deliberate and expands into new territories. This page is an attempt to connect those discussions into a more thoughtful and scenic network of dialogue.

Sleep training (Stop looking, there was no Part 1)

2. This should be easy
3. The simplest things are often the most difficult
4. Bedtime isn’t just about sleep for a child of divorce
5. Good night

Foods & diets

1. Slow cookers speed up meal times
2. The night she stayed in her room and I ate dinner on my own
3. The death of the American dinner: the kid’s meal
4. Why Sunday dinners are important to me
5. Tweens and their relationship to foods

The birds and the bees (14-part series, and counting)

1. Relationships
2. Anatomical parts
3. Sperm and eggs
4. Penetration
5. Parthenogenesis
6. Sex to politics
7. The period
8. Sexuality is a spectrum
9. Sexual assault
10. Parental intercourse (I)
11. Parental intercourse (II)
12. Explaining porn
13. Can boys and girls be just friends?
14. Sex, drugs & rock n’ roll

Explaining death (10-part series, so far)

1. Age and sickness
2. Her pet
3. The media
4. Suicide
5. Mortality
6. What happens after we die?
7. Death of a father
8. Euthanasia
9. Mourning
10. Death of a matriarch

Academics

1. Make deliberate mistakes when you read to her
2. Homework: the amount is irrelevant
3. Let her make mistakes; it really is a good teacher
4. Most educational apps are dumb and they are probably making your kids dumb, too
5. My daughter hates science class!?
6. Your daughter is falling behind in reading? Relax!
7. Expect failure—think of it as a temporary off-ramp
8. Stressing about her academics? Look beyond the letter grade
9. My daughter’s not a reader
10. Yes, it is important to learn the times table and other basics
11. Parallel lines do meet at infinity
12. My daughter likes to read again
13. The academic pressure I place on my daughter

Extracurricular activities

1. She’ll never learn to ride if you don’t take the training wheels off
2. The day she said she wanted to quit
3. Confidence in girls looks very differently than in boys
4. Holding her own with boys
5. Why you should teach her to play chess
6. Why do kids hate practicing?
7. Performance anxieties
8. Being a busker refuels her cello passion
9. Sports anxieties are very real (I)
10. Sports anxieties aren’t just about sports—it’s something else (II)
11. Sports anxieties and how to overcome them (III)
12. Not all coaches are the same

Financial acumen

1. Starting an allowance
2. The day I made my daughter spend her allowance
3. When others take advantage of your child’s generosity
4. My daughter repays a financial debt and learns the concept of interest
5. The lesson of abundance (especially when it appears not to be so)
6. Taking care of business: your daughter’s finances
7. Privilege is not wealth; therefore it can be taught
8. Cost of single supplement for single-dad family vacations
9. Eat bitter
10. Money is everything; money isn’t everything
11. Why working at McDonald’s is a great idea
12. Being a busker refuels her cello passion
13. Why she should have a part-time job
14. I want to spend my own money
15. She likes to make her own money

Her first boyfriend (on-going series)

1. Asking out
2. Hanging out
3. Breaking up
4. Parting ways
5. Dad, I’m dating: Disclosure
6. Dad, I’m dating: Meet the dad

My daughter’s preoccupation with my love life (Far too many articles on this topic!)

1. My daughter begged me not to remarry
2. “Daddy, will you marry again?”
3. “Daddy, do you still love mommy?”
4. Cougars will hunt; protect your cubs
5. “Daddy, are you lonely?”
6. “Daddy, you can see other people.”
7. “Daddy, you’re on Tinder?”
8. I was the other man

Men’s mental health (Yeah, there’s a lot!)

1. Men, it’s time to come out of the woods
2. Divorced and happy or married and miserable?
3. You know you are headed for divorce when…
4. What divorce did to me
5. “Daddy, are you lonely?”
6. What we wished our ex-wives knew about us
7. Anger is a choice
8. Recognize the deteriorating mental state of the single dad
9. My dark place
10. What depression looks like from the inside
11. I told my daughter about my depression

Parenting isn’t about the parent (7 cases studies, to date)

1. Boys in the girl’s change room
2. The zen of ’za
3. An adult’s obscene gesture
4. F-bombing parent
5. Tiger moms
6. Deadbeat moms
7. Calling mom’s new boyfriend ‘dad’
8. Criticizing your child in front of her friends

The Ex-wife

Too many articles to list here. Go to each page of Articles by Age. It is the last group of articles at the bottom.

Daddy’s girl. Mommy’s girl

1. “Detoxing” your child after a week at your ex’s
2. Parenting in a two household family: blame, loyalty and closeness
3. Does your daughter behave differently with you than with her mom?
4. How parents get in the way of a child’s independence
5. Fraying tapestry (I): father/daughter
6. Fraying tapestry (II): mother/daughter
7. It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to
8. Clash of titans

 

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