Sunset on early childhood. 52 “Age 8 (Grade Three)” conversations

The stage of fundamentals is coming to a close. Conversations will increasingly push the boundaries of childhood. Expect everything to be challenged. And that’s good! As usual, these conversations are grouped according to the following 7 themes.

Dad’s toolkit

1. Men, it’s time to come out of the woods
2. Parenting isn’t about the parent (Case study 1): Boys in the girl’s change room
3. Parenting isn’t about the parent (Case study 2): The zen of ’za
4. Why there are no good reasons for you to have your daughter’s friend’s number on your phone
5. The day I lost my kid in public
6. Divorced and happy or married and miserable?
7. Befriend your daughter’s friends’ parents
8. When you lose something of hers
9. What divorce did to me
10. What happened when I stopped dating
11. Children are your life—but not really

Behavior & boundaries

12. If you have to ground your child, the lesson’s been lost – on both of you
13. Praise will fail your daughter; failure will ensure her success
14. The anatomy of discipline
15. Confidence in girls looks very differently than in boys
16. Job shadowing: housekeeping (at home and the planet)

Learning

17. The day she stopped watching full length animated movies
18. Explaining death (Part 2): Her pet
19. Explaining death (Part 3): The media
20. Most educational apps are dumb and they are probably making your kids dumb, too
21. Take the stress out of traveling with your child. And train a young road warrior
22. My daughter repays a financial debt and learns the concept of interest
23. Want to control her screen time? Check yours!
24. The lesson of abundance (especially when it appears not to be so)
25. Long overdue: get rid of your daughter’s to-do list
26. My daughter hates science class!?
27. “First learn stand, then learn fly”
28. Your daughter is falling behind in reading? Relax!
29. Expect failure—think of it as a temporary off-ramp
30. If you win, it doesn’t mean she loss
31. Teaching injustice

Social

32. My daughter’s friend asked her, “What’s it like living in two homes?”
33. She doesn’t want to wear what you tell her
34. Holding her own with boys
35. Bullied, bothered and beguiled
36. Media’s influence on young girls
37. Decelerating the downward slide of our generations

Emotional

38. Holding grudges
39. I gave my daughter the house key
40. When to show affection and when to keep it in check
41. How hard should you push your athletic daughter?
42. “Daddy, will you marry again?”
43. Isolation: a passive form of torment
44. She will look to you, dad, to validate her feelings
45. Why you matter so much to her

Physical

46. The longest night (Part 4)
47. Your daughter’s 8 year-old body is changing! Keep calm and carry on
48. The birds and the bees (Part 3): Sperm and egg
49. The birds and the bees (Part 4): Penetration

The ex-wife

50. “Daddy, do you still love mommy?”
51. Do something together as a family and give your daughter good memories
52. When a child doesn’t want to go to the other parent’s house