“Come here,” I said. “You need to see this.” My oldest boy walked toward me, his hands bright and swollen in mismatched oven gloves, one of which complimented the apron. He knew what it was that he needed to see, or at least the gist of it. I had been calling him to my side of the kitchen island for the better part of an hour, skipping from video to video, Twitter to Facebook and back again. “Watch this one,” I said. This one featured a man twisted as a pretzel. He was stale, salty and, apparently, wanting for beer. My son watched in silence for a moment, the words screaming … [Read more...]
Oregon Leader 1st Gay Father to Lead National At-Home Dad Network
Josh Bellish of Beaverton, Ore., hit the internet shortly after the birth of his son three years ago in search of others in a similar situation to his own -- an at-home father looking for a way to combat the isolation that sometimes comes with full-time parenting. Just three years later Bellish has become a leader in two of those groups he found online: co-organizer of our 550-member Portland (PDX) Dads Group and, as of this month, the president of the nonprofit National At-Home Dad Network. That latest title is of significant note. Bellish's election a few weeks ago at the HomeDadCon … [Read more...]
Bipartisan Parenting: Turning Presidential Racism into Teachable Moment
On the same day President Trump reportedly said “s---hole” countries in Africa were inferior sources for future American immigrants, my 12th-grade daughter was starting to read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in English class. The juxtaposition was too much.Conrad’s British novel indicts the racism of European imperialism in Africa in the late 1800s, specifically during the ivory trade. Ironically, however, many readers consider the novel a racist text because of the way it backgrounds Africa, stereotypes the “primitive” natives, and treats the whole continent as a blank slate for the white … [Read more...]
Could Social Security be a Key to Universal Paid Parental Leave?
An intriguing idea to finally bring paid parental leave to all working moms and dads in United States has come out of Washington, D.C., just not from the government. An opinion piece in the Jan. 25, 2018, issue of The Wall Street Journal floats the idea of a parent's future Social Security benefits being used to fund time off to care for a new child. If a parent uses any of his or her benefits for leave, the parent would be delayed in receiving Social Security payments upon retirement. The opinion piece's authors write that the delay in payments received later in life would be shorter … [Read more...]
After Election, Our Children Can’t Be Distracted from Hope
Editor's Note: The presidential victory of Republican Donald Trump, an upset that surprised the pundits, had many parents openly fretting online about their children's future this morning. Guest columnist Bill Peebles was one of them, and he offers this insight and strategy. My 11-year-old sons will be home from school soon. We discussed the presidential election this morning. They seemed a little stunned, but I was glad to see they weren't frightened. They may come home that way, though. I imagine different scenarios. What I might say to a kid who asks if everything will be OK; who … [Read more...]
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