Triple The Dad

We have been doing quite a bit of moralizing about bullying lately.  And by we, I mean pretty much everyone.  Media.  Educators. Parents.  Experts. Doctors. Find someone in any way even peripherally associated with children and you’ll probably find someone railing against bullying.  That I have an opinion about bullying is therefore not surprising.  Nor is the fact that I’m posting  about it. In this article , Emily Yoffe interviews Emily Bazelon about her book on bullying, Sticks and Stones.  Now, I admittedly have not read the book, but Bazelon makes a mistake that I see repeated across the bullying debate.  Namely, that bullying is some kind of A or B equation where you are A Bully (A) or the Bullied (B) and no middle ground exists. Yet this view strikes me as fundamentally flawed.  We see bullying as an either/or scenario, when in reality bullies are themselves often bullied and those who are bullied often bully ...

Triplet tested; Triplet Dad approved Step 2 Choo Choo Kids Wagon We absolute love this one.  It is great for hauling our three around just about any space: malls, Target, flea market, farmer's markets.  You name it, this thing will go there. Unlike many strollers, and our triplet stroller in particular, the open air nature of this train gives riders nearly 360 degrees of viewability, allowing them to look around.  Our three prefer the less restrictive nature of the seat belt compared to the harnesses in strollers and the ability to look around. An unexpected and immensly useful aspect:  It has cup holders.  This is an awesome feature for those warm days or for snack holders.  And considering its length, its amazingly mobile.  You'll certainly get noticed. Pictured below is a three-unit Choo Choo, but you actually have to purchase an extension seat to get to three.  You can easily find two-unit Choo Choos available .  Price: $130 with...

Somehow – I’m guessing it has something to do with my own triplets – I missed the news that the heaviest triplets on record were born to a California mother in November 2012.  The California trio weighed in at 20 pounds, according to news reports .  The previous record: a hefty 18 pounds, 11 ounces. To give you an idea: my three went almost 36 weeks and weighed in at 12 pounds 5 ounces (4 pounds, 15 ounces; 4 pounds, 5 ounces; and 3 pounds, 1 ounce).  That’s a little south of 60 percent of the record. I didn’t see anything about bed rest for the mother or other complications, but I just can’t imagine. The mother conceived in a rare case of spontaneous triplets, the odds of which are about 1 in 8,000.  I’ve estimated the odds for the assisted-type triplet pregnancy at about 1 in 5,000.

We spend a lot of time and emotional energy, and I mean A LOT, trying to increase or at least maximize our childrens’ IQs.  In his State of the Union address President Obama upped the ante even further, suggesting universal pre-school so we can also spend some money on the issue.  No matter whose politics you subscribe or your thoughts about the president, you can’t help but notice that a lot of what we do doesn’t work well or in the long run provide much help.  This extends to pre-school, whose potential pointlessness I discuss a little here .  And while Head Start’s heart is probably in the right place, its results are largely in the dumps . I’ve blogged before about how my experience with triplets tells me nature wins out over nurture every time.  At the moment of conception your child’s IQ is largely set.  Through those first 4 or so years explosive brain growth you can do things to set IQ back big time or you can maybe nudge it forward a li...

Triplet tested; Triplet dad approved! Little Tykes Rocking Puppy As toys go, this one isn't educational, its all fun.  Having said that, it is all fun and an absolute winner.  In fact, our three little ones like it so much we offered it in response to a friend's inquiry about what gifts to give a young child.  There isn't much else to say.  Our kids love this it.  I do worry that they may one day flip it over backwards.  Despite my worries and with one possible exception that I was able to prevent it hasn't happened.  It retails on Amazon for $35, but my wife was able to find one at a consignment sale for $6.  Some of the best $6 we ever spent. Age: Up to 3 Weight: Up to 50 pounds

So last week I started in on the first 4 of the 8 common mistakes parents make.  As promised I’m back with the final four.  If you want background, check out last week’s story .  Otherwise, let’s get right to it: 5) Overscheduling your child.   I’m already seeing this creep in.  Honestly, I can see how parents quickly fall into this trap and not only aren’t sure how to extricate themselves from it, but don’t even realize they are stuck in it.  It starts with a pool membership, then a visit to a bounce house place that everyone agrees was enjoyable.  And then of course you want a trip to the zoo.  And a museum is a must.  And vacation, you just have to go to the beach – the kids need to see the sea.  And then there is music.  Music is important; everyone agrees.  But isn’t that a lot of seated activities?  We really need more active activities.  What about soccer?  Suddenly, an entire summer comes and...

At 18 months my triplets are a little shy of the three-to-five year age covered in this article .  But I read with interest.  It was nice, for instance, to find out that in a mere 18 or so months we will enter “among the most active and frustrating in terms of parenting.”  Yeah! Anyway, it never hurts to take a look at what we might be doing now that will hurt us 18 months from now.  At the very least I can discern what future behaviour I might want to avoid.  Consider this a midterm review.  The list is somewhat long and I want to take the time to evaluate my performance and provide advice, so I’m breaking down into two parts.  The first four I’m putting up today, with the last four going up next Thursday. Without further ado: 1) Don’t stray too much from routine.   I’ve blogged about this a little in the past and there are no problems here.  While it might be different, or more “active and frustrating” 18 months from n...