Archives by Category: Help Pater

Help Pater 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

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

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

As Child’s Seventh Approaches, Father Reflects, Prepares Self Spiritually

Among our zillion digi-pictures is a shot that says a lot about making kids cry at their own birthday parties. The image dates to a small backyard gathering when Girl… read on »

January 20, 2010

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

Bad Dad classic with funk, rhythm, and unique in this vein, fun. The brothers don't cry, they party, diggin' no-good Papa's misdeeds, told solo and in tight Temptation harmony. There's an off-song mama they keep asking if Papa was as bad as all that. He was.

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