About The Parenting Blog
Probably more than any generation before us, we're the most obsessed with parenting. We read guidebooks and magazines, tune in to morning show experts, pause to consider what other moms and dads at the playground are doing, and forever second-guess our own maternal and paternal instincts. People warn you that parenting is the hardest job you can possibly have. "Say goodbye to a full night's sleep for the next 18 years," they say. Then you think about people like your great grandparents who raised eight kids in a three-room apartment without the benefits of things parents of today take for granted, like dishwashers, disposable diapers, and portable DVD players. How did they do it?

Back then they didn't have electronic learning toys, or put their infants on waitlists for competitive pre-school programs, that's for sure. Bedtime counselors and those dubbing themselves "Super Nanny" would have been unemployed during their era. And forget about shopping cart protective coverings and keeping antibacterial hand cleanser in every room of the house–germs make kids stronger, they'd declare!

What was true then as it is today, though, is that once you think you get the hang of being a parent, some new curve ball comes your way (a winter full of stomach flu and the croupe, potty training, sibling rivalry, puberty!). The only thing you can do is learn how to deal as you go, have a few laughs along the way, and realize that kids are more resilient than you give them credit for. Once you take the pressure off of yourself, parenting can be the greatest job you'll ever have. That's what this Parenting Blog is all about! Just forget about sleeping in.

DVD Reviews
Reading and Singing
Get Dad’s Attention
This holiday season, I have been asked to help sell more products/music/services than any other. Perhaps it’s the state of the economy. Pe...

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Reading and Singing
Get Dad’s Attention


The River Nile
Seth’s first grade class recently finished a project on ancient Egypt, in which they studied how the Nile River served as the lynchpin to feeding those living in the harsh desert environment. Part of the project was to grow “crops” around and ...

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What World? I’m Reading
Seth, like his mom and dad, is a voracious reader. Seth’s teacher recently told me that our 6-year-old is reading at a post 2nd Grade Reading level. Blows me away....

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Tom Chapin Video Slams
No Child Left Behind
My wife is currently exploring the idea of becoming an urban public school teacher, which I firmly support. But I can’t help wonder why anyone ...

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No Child Left Behind


Are You an Economic
Optimist or Realist?
Why are some humans optimists and others pessimists? I was discussing this question with an acquaintance on my bus to work last week. My theory: o...

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Optimist or Realist?


Choose Your Headline
Writing Skills Improve Slightly;
(or) Most Kids Still Can’t Write
A national measure of writing skills reveals that only about one-third of America’s eighth-grade students are proficient writers, reports Th...

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Writing Skills Improve Slightly;
(or) Most Kids Still Can’t Write


A Tale of Two Americas:
Dropouts vs. College Bound
The article you are about to read is nothing new. And that’s the problem. A new report shows that less than 50 percent of students ...

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Dropouts vs. College Bound


It Takes a Village to Raise Bullies
I’m beginning to believe that bullying is not a problem of two parents and a child; it seems to be a problem of entire communities. When a bully n...

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Open house night
We attended our school’s open house again last night. I always get a kick out of the projects posted on the walls. One of the projects wa...

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Home Schooling Debate
Heats Up in California
“Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children.” – Justice H. Walter Croskey in a Feb. 28 opi...

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Heats Up in California