Exploring Masturbation in Children and Other Taboos

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

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When I told some people that I wanted to write about childhood sexuality, they were understandably wary. I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole, was the way one friend worded it. They were only partially reassured when I promised that I wouldn’t be advocating having sex with children, only acknowledging the inherent sexuality children have from birth.

Toddler Food Wars

Saturday, February 25th, 2012

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Is healthy eating and making your toddler eat kale akin to buying the thousand dollar stroller? How having a diverse diet has become a virtue.

The Globalization of Childcare: The Consequences of Trading Love for Work

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

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Money can’t buy love or can it? We hire strangers to love our kids because we have more important things to do. But the love and care gifted to our kin is being “extracted” from people on the other side of the world who might otherwise receive it. While love is not a finite resource, face time certainly is and we therefore rob the developing world of “care” to feed our own needs.

When the Latina Nannies Found Out I Spoke Spanish

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

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I had tried to hold out on the older Latina nannies in the park knowing I spoke Spanish. As long as we spoke in English our relationship was kept shallow, limited by their vocabulary. They would ask about my day and coo over my infant but that was about it. I knew that once they knew about me, I would never again be alone for better or for worse.

Warning: Babies Blinded by Eating Sand (and so I let them)

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

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America is no more dangerous than it was in the fifties or seventies when parents let their children run wild through the neighborhood. So why has parenting culture become so restrictive and paranoid? One thing I’ve noticed is that the age at which we parent makes a difference.

What Makes Breastfeeding so Darn Controversial?

Friday, October 7th, 2011

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Why the breastfeeding debate remains downright radical after all this time

Why Americans Value Independent and Competitive Kids

Friday, September 9th, 2011

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The primary American parenting goal is independence, as opposed to say cooperation or social integration, and it matches our society’s emphasis on individual achievement and self-reliance. It is a strategy that extends across class lines, religion and education level.

International Baby Naming Laws–Are They a Good Thing?

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

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The degree of freedom we enjoy here in the States with regards to baby names is not shared internationally. Naming laws abound worldwide: France, Poland and New Zealand are just a few countries that have laws on the books.

You Named Your Kid What?

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

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The culture of unusual baby naming in the age of individualism.

Nanny Wanted: Must Be Both Idiot and Expert

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

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All over the world, women trade parenting. In Hong Kong, babies are raised by Indonesians, in Australia they’re Filipinos. It made me think about the amount of trust entailed in letting someone care for your children…it’s fascinating that people give that responsibility to those they consider so different from themselves.

Is Nanny a Fancy Word for Domestic Servant?

Saturday, April 30th, 2011

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In L.A., the mothers who reply to the ads posted on message boards ask how much housecleaning you are willing to do in addition to watching their kids. I read an article explaining that with the downturn in the economy folks are trying to streamline their household staff and I see it proves true. Part of their decision on who to hire to help raise their kids is based on the prospect’s experience with heavy cleaning.

The Performance of Parenting or Why I Hate my Job

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

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Nannying can be terribly boring. This is because the infants I care for (most of whom are under a year old) are busy entertaining themselves.

Why Gay Parents are Superior to Hetero Parents

Monday, February 28th, 2011

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I was raised by a fabulous set of lesbians in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early eighties. There were a lot less kids of gay parents then, even in San Francisco, and though it may have been an unusual childhood, it was a very happy one.

Maybe Amy Chua is Not so Bad

Friday, February 11th, 2011

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Having thought further about what intentional parenting entails, I sought counsel from my mother, Nina, about her parenting practices. She summed them up, patly, as “values based parenting.”

Intentional vs. Default Parenting

Friday, December 31st, 2010

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The parenting world can be sorted into two factions: intentional vs. default parenting. Default parenting is something no one can likely wholesale avoid. It is the kid in the car seat while I cook dinner parenting, the turn on the TV and give them apple juice to shut them up parenting. It is a necessary evil produced by a society that devalues intimacy, presence and the prioritization of family life.

Parenting Against Society

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

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Do you raise our children for the society we hope one day exists or with the skills to fit into our current one? Where is the balance struck?

Parenting: A Horse of Many Colors

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

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I have come to believe that there is no “right” parenting even if many experts offer conflicting theories stating as much.

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