Triple The Dad

Many parents have probably looked beamingly at their children and thought “what a wonderful job I did.” At times, at least. But what about the bad seed? Are parents responsible for that one, as well? These questions come down to whether our children arise from “nature” or “nurture.” Is it the genes we give them at birth, or the jeans we wear when we play with them that molds them, so to speak. Most parents don’t get a good shot at any type of scientific look at this. Even if you have three kids, they are likely spaced out over various periods in life featuring different levels of income, stress and parental availability. If nothing else, life is different with one than three, meaning that first one probably received a different level of attention – at least at first. But I’m somewhat unique here: I have all 3 at once. Same circumstances; same income; same attention. Its that experience that leads me to the belief that its definitely nature and not nurture. DS1 is a laugh machin...

There are two things that I've learned in life that I think are incredibly poignant and true and that I hope to impart on my kids. I wish I could claim to have arrived at them on my own, but the one I read in the bible, as my wife calls Men's Health; and while I'm not sure where I picked the other up at, I know its origin isn't with me. So here we go: 1) There is a difference between being frugal and being stingy. Know the difference. A frugal person eats Ramen at home and skips the dinner at the swanky Ramon's Restuarant. A stingy person orders the surf & turf at Ramon's and then wants to split the bill equally among all the diners. 2) You should never be shy about what you like, but you should never under any circumstances be finicky. Find that drink, or meal or entertainment you like and make it your signature; but you should never put off if it isn't available. "Real men (and women) are discerning, but they're not disabled if things ar...

Editor's note:  The following my twitter friend's account of her first time babysitting for brother's triplets: Five hours, three babies. It can’t be that hard, can it? That’s what I told myself the week before babysitting my six week old triplet niece and nephews. But, as the time grew near, the more frightened I was to care for that many newborns at the same time. I’m a seasoned babysitter. My first job, at the age of thirteen, was babysitting a newborn and a four year old five days a week. I briefly worked in a daycare during high school, and I have 18 and 16 year old daughters that I have somehow raised without scaring for life. All my previous experience is exactly why I enlisted the help of three others for this epic babysitting adventure! I learned that the key to caring for multiple babies is a well-kept schedule. Feedings and diaper changes can only be kept up with when written down. My sister-in-law neatly presented the newborn schedule of events in n...

Here is an  article  that caught my eye titled “5 ways milk doesn’t do a body good. It’s a The Week story apparently based on an opinion piece in the  New York Times . The gist is that there are reasons why humans should not drink milk, or at the very least, the downsides to such consumption. But the reasoning is a bit flawed; to say the least. I take down the five (really four and one half) arguments below. “Checks” indicate my support with the argument. “Milk dud” indicates I think the argument falls short. First description of problem:  I’m guessing they put it up top is because it’s the best. Anyway, the article notes milk is high in calories and saturated fat. The article notes that milk has the same calorie load as soda on an ounce for ounce basis. Also: Sugar. Egad! And the story notes milk consumption is linked to type 1 diabetes and that milk contains as much saturated fat as French fries. My thoughts : Since when did calorie load become the absolute ...

Triplet tested; triplet dad approved. I doubt I'm uncovering any type of secret product with one, since it proclaims itself the #1 bottle choice of the UK, but this Tuesday Trip Tip is the Tommie Tippee line of products. My recommendation is limited to the bottles  - the only line of the products that we actually used.  We tried out two or so different bottles with our triplets before settling on this brand.  While each had their interesting and unique aspects, these were by far the best.  They are easy to hold onto (when the kids get to that age) and the nipple is soft and realistic.  And unlike some bottles, putting it together doesn't involve seperate gaskets and complicated procedures - a boon to sleeplessly weary parents.

The big meme on the internet recently – at least on my parentcentric twitter feed – was about a study supposedly demonstrating that spanking leads to a host of mental and behavioural problems. Not an open palm. Not spanking.  Not OK. Yahoo ran a story on the study titled “Spanking Linked to Mental Illness, Says Study.” Lots of other news outlets trumpeted the same message; spanking = mental illness. Suddenly everyone on my twitter feed was posting #Idontspankmykidbecause statements. Which is fine, except that the press misrepresented the study's findings.  This is how we end up at the autism vaccine situation, people! As Melinda Wenner Moyer pointed out in this Slate.com article , the study that got everyone spanking mad didn’t say what Yahoo said it said. Instead, the study in question asked 34,000 adults about their experiences as children with being pushed, grabbed, shoved, slapped or hit by their parents. There is a long road between light corrective measu...

I read an article recently exploring when a child actually starts to form their first actual memories. The article delved into what you actually remember, and what you may recall based on the retelling of stories. Sure, you may remember doing XYZ during your childhood, but do you actually remember it, or is it something that you recall simply because your parents have told that story 1,000 times? Some people reported remembering things from before their first birthday – much earlier I can fathom remembering stuff. My triplets are almost one-year old now, so I started thinking about when and what they would eventually remember.  With that in mind I started thinking about my earliest confirmable memory that wasn’t the result of parental retelling. Placing those memories can be a real problem. Life and time have a way of blurring everything together. I have trouble remembering whether I did something last month or last week, or the month before, let alone something I haven’t thou...