At 11:20 PST/2:20 EST, I will be on FOX News Live to comment on Google’s ban on ads for companies that sell essays to help students get better grades. I will be supporting the ban because the use of other people’s essay is plain plagiarism and hurts the student in the end.
Oh, boy — make that, oh, two boys. A 60-year-old New Jersey woman gave birth to twin boys earlier this week, setting the record for being the oldest woman in the U.S. to give birth (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18817248/). Frida Birnbaum, who has been happily married for almost 40 years, said she wanted her youngest child (6) to have siblings closer to his age. She also has another son, 33, and a daughter, 29. To get pregnant, Birnbaum had in-vitro fertilzation performed at a South African clinic.
Given the factors that are known, I think both mom and dad are too old to be having children. It may be nice for the six-year-old to have siblings, but why did these parents choose to have another child so late in life? It would be one thing if these folks never had kids, however they had two healthy ones decades before. It appears that this couple had children at their advanced ages — which was risky, healthwise, for both the children and the mother — because they wanted the experience. Now, these very young ones will have parents whom they may likely have to take care of as they wear down as much as the parents will take care of them.
Given health care advances, it is remarkable that this woman gave birth and is doing well. But I keep thinking about the lifestyle of the children with parents whose mindsets will turn to slowing down, even if they are healthy. Am I being too judgmental? I’ve had my own feelings about being an older parent, compared to my own mom and dad (http://www.familymanonline.com/columns.php?id=12). Do we need to have an age line for parents?
When my first son was born, I was worried. I had somehow made it through a number of my life’s milestones intact, but would I be able to teach a boy of my own to navigate the world’s challenges with confidence and joy? To make matters even more challenging, I went ahead and had two more boys. With all the male-oriented questions I’ve gotten from my kids, I’ve managed to maintain their faith in me, but there have been too many occasions on which I felt a bit disappointed that I couldn’t show them how to play chess or distinguish a water beetle from a cockroach.
Then, a handsome red-cloth covered book with gold lettering came in the mail. Although I was expecting this review copy, its appearance felt like the arrival of a secret tome meant only for a special society of intrepid adventurers. Truth be told, The Dangerous Book for Boys (http://www.dangerousbookforboys.com/) is hardly an exclusive item, but it is a throwback in the style of its presentation and the content it presents. Brothers Conn and Hal Iggulden have crafted a resource book for men and boys to learn about scores of things that are classically male.
Reading through the pages of clever and informative text, charts, graphs, and illustrations is like absorbing the history of boyish knowledge. Among the myriad facts and lessons are details on making paper airplanes, tying knots, understanding dinosaurs, poring over pirate lore, getting familiar with important poems and Shakespeare, navigating via the stars, and teaching dogs tricks. There’s even a special chapter on girls that offers advice on being a gentleman, among other infinitely valuable tips.
In an age of computer games and mind-numbing TV, this book encourages boys to get out there and sample life, which makes it a marvelous gift for boys and for fathers who want to show more of the world to their kids.
It’s only a few hours into Mother’s Day, but already I’ve messed it up. First, I couldn’t get the kids out of our bedroom before they woke my wife just before 7am. Then, I needed tips on making the coffee (I never make coffee). I often make waffles in a waffle iron, but today I tried a different batter that produced bricks of flour that might as well have been used for home construction. I went outside to cut flowers with one of my sons, and discovered that most of our blossoms are dormant, so all I got was a single lily (lovely as it was) which housed a slimey snail. We finally got to the breakfast table, which my boys set with some flair, and Wendy was a total sport. She didn’t care that the waffles sucked or that the flower arrangement was anemic. The kids and I scored with the gifts and my wife smiled radiantly — her patience and ability to see the glimmers of sunshine in everything being two more reasons she’s a wonderful mommy.
Kentucky women Vicky Thornton and Jen Rehberger produce a podcast talk show that has more quality parenting information than most of the national programs on radio or TV. Part of it is because of the duo’s down-to-earth conversational interviews with parenting experts and tip-rich content that ranges from how to inspire your kids to read to how to cook something they’ll eat. They also love kid’s music as much as I do, which is one of the reasons we connected. The interview they did with me is now posted at http://www.vickyandjen.com/.
Perhaps we need a new kind of tooth fairy, one who makes sure 2-5 year olds get their teeth brushed. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tells us that, while oral health is improving among most people, toddlers are suffering from an increased rate of tooth decay in their baby teeth (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070430115939.htm). This is both painful for kids and expensive for their parents to recitfy. Experts recommend cutting down on sugar, especially hard candies, sticky sweets, and sweetened beverages. Regular, twice-daily brushing, as always, can help, as can dental sealants applied by dentists. But the real key is vigilance by parents, since we often de-prioritize oral health until grown-up teeth start coming in.
A couple of weekends ago, I took my family on a magical musical tour in Los Angeles. Thanks to Myrna Palma who brings the best in kid’s music to the hallowed back room at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, we saw Morgan Taylor’s weird and wonderful Gustafer Yellowgold (http://www.gustaferyellowgold.com) show. With the animated versions of his songs projected next to him, Taylor used the strange warmth of his alien-from-the-sun character to engage the families there. He invited kids to interact and managed to make the more eccentric responses work with his show. Taylor’s music may be out there, yet it has an easy pace that allows children to run their imaginations with him and his characters. Movie star actor Christian Bale’s toddler daughter seemed particularly enthralled.
Over at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the campus of UCLA, we browsed book kiosks and saw inspiring performances such as John Lithgow reading one of his picture books and storyteller Jim Weiss weaving a tale from memory. We also saw snippets of two of our favorite kindie rockers, Justin Roberts (http://www.justinroberts.org/) and Peter Himmelman (http://www.peterhimmelman.com/music.html). Roberts had a full band that initiated a whole lotta shakin’ from the kids in the audience. Himmelman played acoustic guitar with a fellow string-picker and employed his trademark wit to keep his audience laughing. His live version of “My Green Kite” (while a couple of kids ran around flying actual kites) literally soared. The song is so darn good it deserves to be on grown-up pop radio.
As the weather continues to warm, more family concerts are on the way around the country. Go out and see them as often as possible. It’s a marvelous time to picnic, dance, and bond.
