Last week New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a new program for existing father and fathers-to-be to become more involved in their children’s lives by creating programs and classes that are accessible to fathers of all walks of life in the City. He also announced that he would be creating a new role for city-wide fatherhood services coordinator, who will be in charge of ensuring that all city services...

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...

Cancer From the Kitchen? New York Times, December 5, 2009 Recent op-ed piece in the NY Times by Nicholas D. Kristof positions some compelling evidence about everyday kitchen chemicals and usage within the national health care debate.  He begins by pushing for more exploration and research into the potential causes of cancer, which tend to be one of the most devastating diseases, both physically and financially. While...

Postpartum Depression Strikes Fathers, Too New York Times, December 7, 2009 When reading this article about how some fathers develop a postpartum-style depression after their child’s birth, I was sympathetic with the Dads who were subjects of the story.  Clearly, they had issues they needed to workout long before they had a child, but it just happened to manifest when the newborn was drawn into the picture. However,...

BBC Article from Sunday, November 8, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8348938.stm Somewhat validating article from the BBC covering recent research that indicates a ‘tough love’ approach helps build important character traits in children.  I wouldn’t say that I’m a real hard-ass with my daughter, being that she’s only 22 months at the time of this article, but I do like to stand...

New York Times article on October 23, 2009 -  No Einstein in Your Crib? Get a Refund by TAMAR LEWIN When I first read this article I had mixed emotions.  Initially I started an internal dialogue on how litigious a society we live in and how cliche the term ‘litigious’ has become. Next, I was remembering my first experience with Baby Einstein – it was one of the first few months after my daughter...

I recently read an interesting New York Times article entitled “For Some Parents, Shouting Is the New Spanking” by Hilary Stout, where the author observes how parents now tend to use yelling as a preferable form of discipline over spanking or hitting. As fathers, I think for most tend to assume the role of disciplinarian in the family.  When I was a child my mother constantly repeated the phrase, “Just...