just remember: it's nothing compared to actually being a conscientious parent to a special needs kid. That's the takeaway from Lisa Belkin's loooong NY Times Magazine piece today about Thomas Ellenson's first year of kindergarten. While Tom has cerebral palsy,...
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September 2004 Archives
September 12, 2004
If you think the special needs kid story's a slog
George of Jungle has Monkey Baby
Hats off to Brendan Fraser, whose wife Afton gave birth to their first second son. As befits someone who played an apeman, the kid has a monchichi-size mop of hair. To ensure that he will run away from boarding school,...
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September 9, 2004
Painted "Wood" Toycart from Target
The NY Times calls this a wood toy cart; the Target website description is "wood and wood composite," so I'm sure it's safe to gnaw on. And it won't outgas any kind of bonding chemicals, at least not any more...
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September 7, 2004
Parenting The Hamptons Way
The NY Post hands out some funny awards for Hamptons Summer Inanity. At least one goes to a parent:THE NOTHING GETS BETWEEN ME AND A PARTY AWARD: The unknown person who left a baby in an SUV to attend a...
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Totshop T-shirt, (Psychotherapy Not Included)
Gee, I don't know why I didn't know about this. I mean, I only get about 500 emails on this topic every day. Wah Baby makes some irreverent baby-sized t-shirts, which are available at Totshop.com for $19 each. Besides Sophocles...
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When Vegan Parents Go Crazy
How about when Crazy Parents go Vegan? Parents lose it everyday, but for some reason, some of the craziest like to take Veganism down with them. The NY Daily News reports that Coney Island dad Raphael Spindell has spirited his...
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Weeblock Baby Cup
"Haven't you ever heard of just holding up the diaper??" That bit of advice comes from weatherman/curmudgeon/author/dad Al Roker, who, we learn on this Today Show segment, "is too big for these." "These" are Weeblocks, soft jersey cotton-covered foam cups--as...
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September 6, 2004
Harper's Magazine: A Child's First Impressions of Death
"Lessons learned from the deaths of poor Frank and little Mary, who had the canker-rash. Originally from Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 64, iss. 384, pp. 822-824, May 1882. By William H. Beard." Two quotes: There had been some hills...
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Lullaby Cover Songs from Punk Rock Baby
I know it's great, and the kids love it and all, but I'm just not into all the folk-y music. And while I support hemp in theory, I'm not ready to limit my kid to Paul Simon's CD series of...
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Fetopia, home of Cletus the Fetus
I can't believe I haven't posted this before. Fetopia is not only the home of the original Cletus the Fetus, but of a small, small world of feti, all handmade from sculpey clay and ready for...well, I bought about twenty...
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The Thula Project: South African Lullaby Compilation
This CD takes its name from "Thula Mntwana," the Zulu version of that mid-night staple of new parents everywhere, "Hush Little Baby." Have you heard it? It goes a little something like this: "Hush little baby don't you cry/ Mama...
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UrbanBabyWatch: Fetal Nicknames
An incomplete list of nicknames given to the little fetus by expecting moms and dads, culled from the UrbanBaby message boards: Moms: Cookie Pie Face Squirt Rice ("b/c the lady who did my ultrasound said, 'like a piece of rice'")...
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September 4, 2004
Hee Hee: Pee-Pee Teepee
If you're the type who can't say "urination" or "penis," 1) I don't know what you're doing on this site, and 2) the Pee-Pee Teepee for Sprinkling Wee-Wees is for you. Stop draping a diaper wipe or washcloth over your...
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Star Trek Baby Names
Any name's fine, as long as it's Jadzia. Also popular: B'elanna, and Seven (of Nine). i.e., all the alien hottie characters. Let me go on record here: any Star Trek name is going to be several circles deeper in taunting...
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Cult Film Baby Names
Running down the slippery naming slope here. Anyone could name their kid Cooper, but if you want to name him that because you loved BASEketball, The cult film fansite, Mutant Reviewers From Hell, has a baby name list for you....
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September 3, 2004
Bugaboo By...: Strollers get Murakamified
When I lived in France, I was shopping for a used Citroen Deux Chevaux (only the coolest car in the world). One ad I called about, the lady said, "yes, it's white, with schtroumpf painted on it." "What's that?" "Schtroumpf...
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LOTR Baby Names
These names are acceptable if your child is born with pointy ears, hairy feet, or an obviously orc-like face. Dwarf-like doesn't cut it because, let's face it, they all come out looking a bit like dwarves. Lord of The Ring...
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The Cruelty of Kate Spade's MacLaren Stroller
Is this the second limited edition stroller Kate Spade designed for MacLaren? To be honest, I wasn't following stroller fashion too closely before the kid pencilled herself into our calendar. But I remember a distant buzz about it among our...
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Learn to Play the Brazelton Way (with some Disney and McKinsey thrown in)
They say play is a child's work. And just as work could mean anything from alleviating world hunger to hoarding red staplers, play can be a timesink or a richly rewarding developmental experience. (Hint: you want the latter.) Which is...
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John Lithgow's CD To Stay Awake To
Yes, that John Lithgow. And no, there are no songs from Buckaroo Banzai. I have it on great authority that--ok, fine. Some random commenter on Defective Yeti said, "Mr. Lithgow however never ceases to entertain." Which, if you listen to...
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September 1, 2004
Old School O.C.: 80's Punk Concert Flyers on Onesies*
Mini Maniacs stands out among the cottage industry sprawl of SoCal parent t-shirt companies. For one thing, they make more than t-shirts, and for another thing, the t-shirts they do make are actually unique. They may bring back troubling memories...
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Google, Babies, and Evil
While exploring the resilience and deeper meanings of of Google's motto on Ftrain, Paul Ford reveals a handy parenting tip: "If I had a colicky infant daughter, I know I could leave her with Google, and she'd be okay." The...
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Grrrr, If she's so tired, why won't she go to sleep??
I mean, I've explained the situation to her multiple times. The signs are obvious. She's not having fun playing, in fact, she's just fussy and constandly rubbing her eyes. Yet she can spot a "put you to sleep" gesture a...
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