Round 2. Another fifty-two conversations at “Age 7 (Grade Two)”…

She has learned to tie her shoes and started reading. Her routine as a two household child is now down to a science. She is making friends and generally happy. What could possibly go wrong?

Dad’s toolkit

1. Of MILFs, DILFs and FILFs. Oh my!
2. The 3 things I say to my daughter I often don’t hear from other parents
3. The parent trap
4. Key to keeping a great babysitter: don’t haggle over money
5. The art of bentō boxing your life
6. Don’t be late picking up your daughter. Don’t be early, either
7. The days may drag, but the years will fly

Behavior & boundaries

8. Do bad boys raise good daughters?
9. The night she stayed in her room and I ate dinner on my own
10. The widespread problem of popularity
11. The double-edge sword of voice activated internet searches
12. Why I don’t let my daughter walk home by herself
13. What is right and what is rule

Learning

14. Homework: the amount is irrelevant
15. The good old (dirty and smelly) days
16. Dog or no dog?
17. In a single parent household, there’s no such thing as gender roles
18. Act like your child and ask them the ‘5-Whys’
19. The day she said she wanted to quit
20. Let her make mistakes; it really is a good teacher
21. The death of the American dinner: the kid’s meal
22. The day I made my daughter spend her allowance
23. Don’t talk down to service providers; you need them more than they need you
24. Yelling doesn’t work and here’s why
25. Tell her she’s beautiful; the media will forever convince her she’s not
26. She may forget that you showed up, but she’ll always remember you weren’t there
27. Let your daughter express boredom; it’s an indication and an opportunity
28. Lessons with authorities
29. When did ‘hate’ become a common verb?
30. It’s healthy to roughhouse with your daughter
31. Kids are resilient, but they are not insensitive
32. Love her like a child, but still treat her like a toddler?

Social

33. When others take advantage of your child’s generosity
34. Expose your daughter to social problems
35. Who are the people in your neighborhood?
36. From rhymes to rows
37. Pay it forward
38. Girls can do anything boys can do (yawn!) But girls really should do everything boys do do (and vice versa!)

Emotional

39. Stay at daddy’s or mommy’s tonight? Don’t make her choose
40. Empathy: a refresher course for me
41. Tell her stories about your marriage before you divorced
42. Your daughter has boundaries also. Respect them
43. My daughter begged me not to remarry
44. Whining: a sense of powerlessness

Physical

45. The longest night (Part 3)
46. OMG! She’s masturbating!
47. Prelude to the birds and the bees (Part 1): Relationship
48. The birds and the bees (Part 2): Anatomical parts
49. Daddy, there’s a spot of blood on my underpants
50. Privacy: nakedness and bathroom time

The ex-wife

51. Don’t let your feelings about your ex and the in-laws transcend the generations
52. She will fight with her mother, choose sides wisely

 

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