Even if you’re not the biggest hockey fan in the world, the gold medal game in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics was a big deal – USA vs. Canada.  So much of Canada’s identity and pride is based on hockey, and the USA team already upset Canada once in the Olympic tournament.  The stars aligned for them to rematch in the final game to decide who takes home the gold.  This turned out to be one of...

Jaime Kosinski, Speech & Language Pathologist FunctionalFather.com is happy to feature a multi-part Q&A session on childhood speech development with a personal friend to the site, Jaime Kosinski, Speech & Language Pathologist.  The Q&A exchange was originally intended for a single posting, but the first question in the thread warranted a lengthy response and became an excellent resource on its own.  Here...

If you’re a Dad like me, then you knew you had a key responsibility when your child was first born – sending an email announcement to your friends and family.  Now, unlike me, you may not have prepared for the delivery-day communication in advance with an predefined email template and recipient list. Here are some tips for completing this ever-important new-Dad task. Prepare an email group in advance - Include...

At the time of this posting my daughter just turned 2 years old and she is fully embracing the “terrible 2″ phase. It’s almost like she was reading a magazine article written by another toddler that inspired her to begin consistently using the word “No”, refusing to eat or drink things that she normally loves, disobeying every command and reprimand given by her parents, and fighting like...

Wanted: Volunteers, All Pregnant New York Times, February 15, 2010 Like something out of a movie, this NY Times article uncovers a government study underway to track the life of 100,000 children from when they are first an embryo/fetus all the way through age 18. The first step for the project right now is finding women who are in their first trimester and soliciting them to take part in the study. It’s a big...

18 AND UNDER: When to Worry if a Child Has Too Few Words New York Times, February 8, 2010 This NY Times article discusses the delicate matter of childhood speech development and when parents should begin to scrutinize their son or daughter’s progress with finding their voice. The story is told primarily from the pediatrician’s standpoint, explaining the necessity of asking parents the standard questions about...

To Treat Bed-Wetting, Healthy Doses of Patience New York Times, January 11, 2010 Found this article in the “18 and Under” section in the New York Times, which takes a deeper look at bed-wetting and some of the psychological and hormonal causes for prolonged issues. The article takes a look at steps parents can take to help with children who are perfectly fine with their potty-training during the day, but...