I've been seeing this a lot: A toddler, or little kid, wearing a t-shirt with the iconic Nirvana smiley face. It's bewildering on a few fronts to me, the first one of which is merely temporal. For, assuming that the parents of young kids (younger than, say, five) are not much older than 40, then … Continue reading On toddlers and Nirvana T-shirts
Category: Parents & Children
On being a normal dad and getting compliments from strangers
“Super dad here!” The male cashier’s comment threw me. Super dad? I was in the local King Soopers on a Friday afternoon with my five-month-old son and a stroller-ful of groceries. Three weeks earlier, I was pushing the stroller listlessly around the aisles of a Byzantine antique store when a passing older woman commented: “What … Continue reading On being a normal dad and getting compliments from strangers
On people telling you about TV episodes you’ve never seen
My mom didn't let us watch a lot of TV growing up. While today I'm thankful for the enforced abstention, this withholding really irked me at the time. I felt I was missing out—recess and lunchtime conversation invariably surfaced movies and television shows I'd never seen. Remember when [that hilarious thing] happened on [television show]? … Continue reading On people telling you about TV episodes you’ve never seen
On joy in your child’s joy
We were to hibachi last night for the second-ever time with our toddler. I don't think he was as impressed on the second go-round, but he was still transfixed by the showmanship of the "onion volcano" and the spinning egg (brought to within inches of his face by the cook). And I was transfixed by … Continue reading On joy in your child’s joy
On who Father’s Day is for
That Father’s Day is more like National Donut Day and less like Thanksgiving is a given; all holidays are made-up, but some are more made-up than others. Since becoming a father, Father’s Day has felt like an oddity. Firstly, my children are too young to understand (and, therefore, to care) about the nominal meaning of … Continue reading On who Father’s Day is for
On worrying that work means too much to me
As I write this, I’m embarking on 10 weeks of paternity leave. The thought of 10 workless weeks in a row is both thrilling and worrying—thrilling because who doesn’t want a break from the grind and worrying because work has slinkily become a sizable chunk of my identity these past few years. That last bit … Continue reading On worrying that work means too much to me
On miller moths and toddlers
The other morning my toddler and I were washing our hands in the bathroom when a small something flitted out from behind the mirror. "Bug! Bug! Bug!" he cried, and nearly fell off the stepstool. Wary of inciting any nascent phobia insects—a phobia I'm half-sure lies dormant within most of us, entomologists excepted—I stilled him … Continue reading On miller moths and toddlers
On Schrödinger’s childcare
When I leave my wife alone with our two kids, there’s always that question: Will anything happen while I’m gone? I don’t mean in the tragic sense—I’m not so inveterate of a worrier—I mean more in the pedestrian sense. As in, will the baby wake up? will the toddler have a meltdown? That momentary uncertainty … Continue reading On Schrödinger’s childcare
On the struggle with ‘x’ in alphabet content
Part of life with little kids is alphabet content. The alphabet is a key element in early literacy, so it makes some sense that authors and toy-designers stuff it in anywhere it might fit. But this surfeit of alphabet content can feeling a little overwhelming. Plus, there's the issue of 'x.' Yes, 'x' is in … Continue reading On the struggle with ‘x’ in alphabet content
On the joy of talking to parents about parenting
How did no one tell us about this? This was the mantra for the first year of life as a parent. There's the hard stuff they don't tell you—the sleepless nights, the visits to urgent care, the devious and various behavioral "regressions." And there's the good stuff, too—the toothless smiles, the first words, the innocent … Continue reading On the joy of talking to parents about parenting
Taylor Coe 