Parenting
- Potty, Swear, Curse: Why do we have bad words?
Our younger son is going through the “potty talk” phase. He adds “butt” and/or “poop” to any sentence. It’s almost a reflex at this point. We let him do it, although we draw the line at name calling, but that applies beyond “potty talk.” He is told at school that he can’t say those things. … Continue reading “Potty, Swear, Curse: Why do we have bad words?” - Trying to be Superman
My son refers to all superheroes as Superman. I’m not sure how he knows which characters are superheroes. The Spider-man action figure is Superman. The Batman book features Superman. But Woody from Toy Story is Woody. None of his Duplo figures are Superman. Only the two superheroes get named for the ultimate superhero. How does … Continue reading “Trying to be Superman” - Parents: Use your phone as much as you want
As much as it pains me to use the current hip vernacular, I’m going to: parent shaming. At one point, I think the focus for parent shaming was screen time, as in how much time your child can spend staring at a screen of some kind. But there’s a lot of grey area in the … Continue reading “Parents: Use your phone as much as you want” - Discovering Hip Hop at 40
I wrote this eight years ago and I’m still discovering hip hop Having kids leads to some strange changes in your life. Like listening to hip hop. I was born in the mid-70s, so suggesting that I’m a child of the 80s wouldn’t be far off. But puberty wrecked havoc on me, to the point … Continue reading “Discovering Hip Hop at 40” - What I said when my son asked me what make-up was
When our older son was 3, he asked me what make-up was. I stopped myself. I almost answered with the first thing that came into my head, but made a change before anything came out of my mouth. That change was not using the word “women.” I’m assuming he heard the term “make-up” from my … Continue reading “What I said when my son asked me what make-up was” - Micro-inclusiveness: Raising a white boy
I wrote this five years ago. Since then, we’ve had another son, and his experiences have been very similar. My son is four. He is as white as they come. His current cartoon fixation is Handy Manny. He’s watched roughly 8 episodes and so far we’ve mostly talked about the fact that Manny and his … Continue reading “Micro-inclusiveness: Raising a white boy” - Daycare is killing me.
I wrote this 9 years ago when our first son had begun going to daycare. When I first started writing about him online, I called him Appleseed. We’d spent months reading those “at this month of your pregnancy your baby is the size of a” articles and for some reason him being the size of … Continue reading “Daycare is killing me.” - What is ADHD Part 1: Not what you think
“You don’t act like you have ADHD.” Our older son has ADHD. He had numerous assessments done and they all got the same results. The fact that I have ADHD really only helped us know what the signs are. He recently started a camp with a teacher he hadn’t seen in a few years. He … Continue reading “What is ADHD Part 1: Not what you think” - Boys Are Rough, Right, Dada?
The other day my wife wasn’t feeling well so she stayed home from work. Our son noticed this, of course, and asked me about it. I told him that mama would be home when he got home from school, but that she wasn’t feeling well. “I have to be gentle with her,” he said. “I’ll … Continue reading “Boys Are Rough, Right, Dada?” - Positive Parenting From Negative Parents
The other day I was talking to a friend of mine about our respective childhoods, comparing notes, in a way. While our upbringings were very different, they were thematically the same. Our motivation to do good — or to not do bad — was the same: fear. Fear is fear is fear. Whether it stems from years … Continue reading “Positive Parenting From Negative Parents”
The Process
Pop Culture Noise
- Here’s the actual problem with the Marvel movies – and it came from the comicsJust like with the comics, the Marvel movies thrive on being connected, and they wither without it At a certain point, comic book readers became obsessed with stories that “count.” Basically, these are stories that impact continuity in some way, stories that are important to the larger connected universe. Comics that weren’t an active part … Continue reading “Here’s the actual problem with the Marvel movies – and it came from the comics”
- Squadron Supreme is better than WatchmenSquadron Supreme is a often ignored classic. It was a groundbreaking superhero story. It took archetypal characters to their organic extremes. Every action had consequences. Change was real and long lasting. These were sophisticated stories featuring complex moral and philosophical issues, told through the genre of brightly colored super beings. It wasn’t Watchmen. The comic … Continue reading “Squadron Supreme is better than Watchmen”
- Ted Lasso was always a ticking time bombTed Lasso was great despite a foundational story problem that was ultimately its undoing.
- The New Legion Isn’t WorkingI love the Legion of Superheroes. I could — and probably will — write endless posts about how much the Legion has meant to me over the years. I could write about how fascinated I was when I first read about them, how hunting down back issues was so much fun, how fan fic filled … Continue reading “The New Legion Isn’t Working”
- Superman: The Triangle Years, Part 1 – Embrace ContinuityBold statement: Superman’s glory days happened during the Triangle Years in the ’90s. I can understand if that sounds insane, particularly since I’m making the above statement as someone who loves the hell out of Silver Age Superman. If you’ve never read Superman stories from the Silver Age, you really should. They are bat shit … Continue reading “Superman: The Triangle Years, Part 1 – Embrace Continuity”
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