In an enthrallingly smart, clear-headed essay in this week’s New Yorker, Jill Lepore slams the “bad parent” movement into historical context.

Lepore’s immediate target is the current bestseller Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace by Ayelet Waldman—the book that triggered a million mommy-blog posts in the dramedy [...]

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Candid admission: Earlier tonight, I saw the horror movie Drag Me To Hell (a smartly cheesy film about a young mortgage-loan manager cursed by a bug-eyed gypsy). I’m a little jumpy, unhinged. But even if I’d been calmer when I stumbled on The 2009 Cute Kid of the Year website, I suspect it would have [...]

» Continue reading "The vast, bizarro world of “The Cute Kid” contest"

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 [...]

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After yesterday’s meditation on toddler vehicles, I stumbled on a website hawking retro toddler firetrucks. Sold alongside these tiny $240 emergency vehicles—propelled by pedal power—is a small collection of firefighter garb. As you can see, the options are completely gender-neutral….
Why do little boys get to douse imaginary flames in realistic uniforms, while little girl [...]

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While no few parents are perfect, most try their best, especially in areas such as birthday-cake baking where public failure is particularly awkward.
Just ask Guinever, a mommy blogger who inadvertently created this object (right) for her son’s fourth birthday. Allegedly a dinosaur, it looks more like a piece of half-digested asparagus. As she explains, she [...]

» Continue reading "The seven ugliest birthday cakes in America"