Archives by Category: Behavior

Behavior Archives

Seven-Year-Old Still Undecided On Sleep-Away Camp

How do you and yours work out big-deal decisions?

This One We Need Her To Weigh In On

Yup, there goes my daughter. Now and again Girl Child shows some little tiny bit of recognizable me. No idea how she picks it up – DNA, my mindful parenting… read on »

May 21, 2010

Fatherly Pride In Swimming Ability Of Daughter

Which of your kid's accomplishments makes you bust a button?

Seven-year-old Makes Water Her Own Natural Element

Sebastian, FL – Couple hours of quiet while Minerva and Girl Child do the beach, leaving me some keyboard time and a bit of kayaking that I didn’t mention to… read on »

April 23, 2010

Girls Way Meaner, Says Yahoo Poll

Guys, were we really so outgunned when we were kids? Are we still?

Seem to have struck a nerve here. Ouch.

Having begged the question in recent posts, finally came out and asked -- Are girls meaner than boys? -- in latest Pater Post on the Parenting Channel of Yahoo's slick online… read on »

March 18, 2010

Against Conflict Resolution

Do problems between kids really need to be worked out?

Father Teaches Wisdom About Relationships With Words From Drinking Song

Maybe this is a mama thing. First time one of them leaned on me to get our girls together so they could work things out, was way back in preschool.… read on »

March 17, 2010

First-Grade Friends And Nemeses

Do kids need to be mad at somebody in their group? Is it a girl thing?

Child Nurses Resentments, Holds Grudges, Dad Wonders What’s What

Thank God, is all I can say, that I am not a practically-seven-year-old female. Just listening to Girl Child talk about the social warfare at school and up and down… read on »

March 10, 2010

Seven-Year-Old Shows New Racial Awareness

How in the world do we deal with this stuff?

More Innocence Lost, Color Blindness Is Over

Blogged fast, out of need: Used to be hard to tell if Girl Child really meant what she said or was just goofing, pulling the Old Man's chain, trying to get… read on »

March 6, 2010

Dad, You Are Embarrassing Me!

Is crazy self-consciousness normal? Does it last?

Life Under Gaze Of A Million Invisible People

Challenge of the morning: How do we get Girl Child’s hair washed if I can’t help while she’s in the bathtub? For maybe a year now, she’s been modest around… read on »

February 19, 2010

Child Can Swear On Very Special Day

Isn’t control better parenting than outright curse-word prohibition?

Hearts, Flowers, Strong Adult Language On Gd Dmn Valentines

- Please Daddy. - No, honey, not yet. - Please, just a little bit. - I know how hard it is to wait. But it’s just like Christmas. If we… read on »

February 12, 2010

Never Again - Morning Homework

Do I really have to learn everything the hard way? Do you?

To Teacher, Pater Must Tell Shameful Truth

Damn you, Bonnie the Cat. Because of you, I have to email Mrs. Taylor, Girl Child’s first grade teacher, expanding on my earlier scrawl on a damp page fragment in… read on »

February 3, 2010

No Is New Yes

Do you and your kid(s) find happiness in refusal?

Negative Responses Liberate Positive Energy

Okay, that’s it. Five minutes after eight, right when we said we’d stop the movie and go upstairs to get ready for bed. Girl Child acts panicky – “But this… read on »

January 29, 2010

Loneliest Number Is Three

Why must triple-kid playdates end in tears?

Hold Line At One Friend Over At A Time

Can’t blame my one and only for saying “Yes” when Girl Child’s friend from up the block calls and asks if it’s okay to come over. Minerva spends less time… read on »

January 26, 2010

Daughterized Dad #1

Has fathering female(s) changed your world?

Call That A Ballerina? Are They Nuts?

Somewhere, probably right here on Wrenmead Street, a dad and male progeny watch a playoff game on TV and scream abuse at some screwup idiot knucklehead jerk with no business… read on »

January 13, 2010

Better With Beer

Your kid(s) put on shows at home? Do you watch them? Enjoy? Avoid?

Reluctant Pop Surprised And Entertained By Orphan/Wild West/Swiss Drama

“Play” in playdate has taken on a new meaning. Get Girl Child together with a friend or two, they spin some flippy make-believe into a theatrical production, costumes and… read on »

January 8, 2010

The Opposite Of Nostalgia

What don't you miss from earlier stages of parenting?

These Things Passed, And I'm Damned Glad They Did...

Around our Girl Child, the big, bright here-and-now throws everything else into shadow. Either that, or I've got some kind of weird memory disease. But I am often struck by… read on »

January 4, 2010

Damn That Potty Mouth

Have problems with profanity? You, kid(s), everybody?

Setting Bad Example Maybe Not So Bad

We have, right here in Upper Unsuburb, the world’s most depressing Chinese restaurant. Dark, fantastically dreary, serving food nowhere cheap enough to be so lousy. There ought to be an… read on »

December 11, 2009

Shoot The Care Bear

A little twisted humor is harmless, right?

No Mercy For Pink Ursine With Magic Rainbow

Eyeballs from Minerva, meaning that Girl Child’s playdate friend might be disturbed and her parents, if they hear, will think I’m psycho. Sorry, Baby, but GC has already hauled out… read on »

December 1, 2009

Minerva Discovers Rule Of Three

What if one/all of yours were triplets?

Imaginary Multiples For Enhanced Clarity

Minerva, in case you’re wondering, is blognamed after the Roman Goddess of Wisdom. True story. One of many that show why Minerva is a Big City Suit and I do,… read on »

November 20, 2009

The Capon Code

Ever (accidentally) cross the line with some kid’s mom?

Violations, However Innocent And Accidental, Carry Major Risks

“We should get together for a playdate,” says the mother of one of Girl Child’s friends from school. “Yeah,” I say, “The kids, too.” For a second-fraction the woman freezes,… read on »

November 13, 2009

Beastly Dad

Are you more of a jerk than you were before parenthood?

School Morning Reveals Loud And Really Unlikable Alter Ego

Jean-Paul Sartre was wrong. Hell is not other people. Hell is yourself – more specifically, yourself trying to get an obstreperous six-year-old geared-up and out the door on time. Painful,… read on »

November 10, 2009

Defaulting To Faith Of Our Great-Great-Great-Grandfathers

“But I am Jewish!” That was our sobbing Girl Child, age almost three, after I mentioned in passing that we were not what her beloved Jewish Community Center preschool was,… read on »

November 3, 2009

No-TV Blowback

Thinking about weaning kid(s) off the screen? Already did?

Disarmed, Almost De-Fingered, By Media Ban

Parenting rule of rules: The Law Of Unintended Consequences. Do some right-minded thing, and suffer weird side effects. I give you… A sudden longing for the days when the Old… read on »

October 27, 2009

Why We Should Give Up on World Peace

Girl Child at the mirror, grooming for school. She vamps for full effect. Little soon for that, but, hey, she does her own hair now. Brushing I do not miss,… read on »

October 23, 2009

Words Meant to Wound

What do you do when the child says I hate you?

Cranked-Off Kid Goes Over The Line

Girl Child has a powerful sense of personal sovereignty backed-up by a temper. Extra degrees of difficulty parenting-wise, but such stuff will arm her for life. So I don’t mind… read on »

October 15, 2009

Living bequest of Irish-oid wisdom from Dad to Daughter, celebrated by both in sentimental duet. More sentimental if you, like Pater, are a fan of Fred Astaire, pushing 70 when this was recorded. Message in the song for us dads: Your good words can be a lifelong treasure for your kid(s), better than gold, which the titular Finian (Astaire) loses.

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