Item A: Confusing a trend with an authority figure, Babble.com’s Karen Bridson blogs about how the “bad mother” craze has cut her “a little slack” after seven years of pressure to “do everything perfectly.” She has never met a trend so thoughtful and lenient.
Item B: Just when she’s feeling pretty good about her new imperfection, [...]

» Continue reading "Obama tries desperately to get in on “bad parent” craze"

If you haven’t seen this promo for “Jon & Kate plus 8,” please do so now, so we can discuss. It teases the upcoming announcement of a “life-changing” decision the couple has made. You’d hope their decision is to stop selling their family crisis like it’s a Snuggie (“Act now and get this tearful toddler [...]

» Continue reading "An emotionally draining message about sunglasses from Jon & Kate"

Readers of this blog have made one thing clear: They love insights into the risky business of naming newborns. This isn’t surprising. While writing The Perfect Baby Handbook, I came to understand how the pressure to select an extraordinary baby name can unhinge a well-balanced adult to the point where he or she considers [...]

» Continue reading "Choosing a perfect baby name: A Bonus Excerpt"

Okay, so this is disturbingly bone-headed: Tomorrow, the edutainment company Leapfrog begins shipping the new “Text & Learn,” a new Blackberry-like toy that lets kids “ages 3 to 6″ pretend to text-message:
Text and Learn [says Leapfrog] is designed to let little learners play in a grown-up way! Children can exchange text messages with [...]

» Continue reading "New toy lets toddlers start “texting,” if not “sexting”"

The mood was cheerful here at PBH Headquarters today: The Perfect Baby Handbook received lovely complements from both Nicole Feliciano at Momtrends, who praised its “biting wit,” and high-profile father Greg Williams, author of the new dad-lit novel, The Accidental Father, and executive editor at Details magazine, who wrote:
Dale’s hilarious skewering of helicopter parents and [...]

» Continue reading "Perfect Baby Handbook curtails indulgent parenting (with a little help from devastating recession)"