Triple The Dad

UPDATE: On our most recent trip for flu shots, my son picked a sticker of a princess from the tub of stickers they offer patients.  As he picked it up, the nurse says to him... "oh, you don't want that one... that one is for your sister." I was dumbfounded and not looking for a confrontation, but honestly, why would you say that to a three-year-old?  Let him have his sticker! That comes on the heels of what is below, which I previously posted: The triplets were in for their three-year-old annual a couple weeks ago.  The great news is that the triplets are healthy and happy.  And no shots.  The kids actually did great.  They listened and acted politely and were helpful with the exam. Our pediatrician actually said they have the listening skills of 6 year olds, so yeah us! And then, toward the end of the exam our pediatrician went through what I assume is a scripted speech about "private parts" and inappropriate touches and what to do if they get lo...

Is raising your kid as easy as playing Mario Bros.?  Or Contra? I know there are days when it would be nice if a little Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right B, A, Select, Start action could summon 99 extra parents to assist me. On second thought, no, that sounds awful.  But it would be nice, wouldn't it, if parenting were as simple as repeatedly mashing the A button? Parenting, perfected This guy at the Art of Manliness says it is. Before you scoff, read the article.  He has a point and its a good one.  Also, what follows is perhaps just a bit of confirmation bias. As he says, the real trick to parenting is getting kids to do what you want them to do and cut out the annoying stuff.  Face it: as much as you'd like to think you have some role to play in when they learn to spell, or talk or walk, those things are mostly as programmed as when they get teeth.  There just isn't a lot you can do about it. So what do you do in the face of 25...

I posted last week about why I dropped my opposition to the color pink. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon this article about pink lockers at the University of Iowa. The lockers in the visitor's locker room, you see, are pink.  The walls have been that way since forever, apparently, but during a 2005 renovation the school took it a step further and added shades of pink everywhere, including lockers. There is pretty no question that when the practice started in 1979 it was intended as an insult.  And the new pink-hued lockerrooms were of course was called out as sexist and discriminatory.  But why is that?  Would it be sexist to put Tonka trucks out?  To make the benches appear like tires rising out of the ground?  If the visiting women's team's locker room was blue would that be sexist? Being offended by the presence of pink gives the people using that symbol, and the symbol itself, power.  If the visiting team wins 9/10 games, does the color pink...