It was the third Sunday in June when I opened an envelope to discover one of the sweetest notes I had ever received. Next to a curly-haired stick figure with a fiendish grin was scrawled a note: "Happy Phothersday DADDY." Father's Day! My brilliant editor's brain instantly translated the terrible spelling with all the alacrity of British code-breakers during World War … [Read more...] about No, you shouldn’t correct your kid’s spelling mistakes
Archives for December 2014
Five tips for dads in talking with tweens about sex
Curl up with a hardcover dictionary and flip through the pages. You'll soon find that a pussy is a young cat and a cock is a grown rooster. A tit is a small songbird and an ass is a stubborn mule. Now try typing those terms into an online search engine, and you'll get a quick lesson in graphic anatomy, and probably have to run an anti-virus scrubber on your hard drive when … [Read more...] about Five tips for dads in talking with tweens about sex
Four reasons to teach your kid to use power tools
My 9-year-old son pushed the growling lawnmower across our modest lawn, grunting as he struggled to make the sharp turn at the edge of the yard. A pair of passing pedestrians raised their eyebrows as I quickly bent to grab the electric cord out of his path before he sliced the wire. Had I been wrong to agree when he asked to try running this dangerous machine? What sort of a … [Read more...] about Four reasons to teach your kid to use power tools
Pro tips on recruiting the kids for party prep
The winter holidays are a time of magic, warmth, generosity and one more thing – stress. Trying to clean and decorate your home while still keeping an eye on excited kids can bring even a pro dad to his knees. But whether you've got a studio apartment in the city or a single-family home in the suburbs, there are some tested tips for keeping kids busy that can save your … [Read more...] about Pro tips on recruiting the kids for party prep
Five ways to teach your kids about holiday charity
It's great to be a dad during the holidays. You get to play Santa, hang wreathes with blinking lights and tip-toe around the house at night placing presents under the tree. But amid the excitement of seeing kids claiming their Christmas-morning booty, there is a tougher challenge to meet – how to teach your kids about charity. Requests for donations are everywhere in … [Read more...] about Five ways to teach your kids about holiday charity