Making parenting more fun, easy, meaningful and joyous
It’s time to introduce Kubla to some thinking games. Chess, checkers, Connect Four. I teach him the rules. We play a few games. I warn him what I’ll do next if he makes this move
My nephew is four years old. His preschool class is playing duck, duck, goose. He’s younger and smaller than the other kids. Try as he might, he can’t run around the circle fast enough to
Our Sweet Token experiment was working wonderfully—for about 3 hours. “I want another cookie.” “Do you have a sweet token?” “No, I already used them both.” “So what’s the answer?” “But I want a cookie!” Liping chimes
Like many boys, Kubla hated learning to read. He would walk on hot coals to get out of reading practice. Like many boys, Kubla loves video games. He would eat hot coals to get time
When Kubla was a baby I set up an email address in his name so I could send messages on his behalf to friends and family. Here are some samples. Mama, I want to tell
Kubla pops another marshmallow into his mouth. It’s his third. “Kubla, stop. That’s disgusting.” His face falls a little. “But can I tell you a secret? When I was your age, I thought marshmallows were
Every morning since Kubla was two, we open the window shade together as I ask “I wonder what kind of a beautiful day it is today?” Sometimes it’s a beautiful sunny day. Sometimes a beautiful
In our family we try to avoid dumb rules. Drools, we call them. I love making up silly rules. Kubla loves breaking them. I tickle Kubla. He dissolves into giggles. He starts to tickle me
Kubla usually doesn’t have trouble turning off the TV. It’s a challenge to peel him away from YouTube videos. God help the poor soul who tries to take a smartphone out of his hands. With
Kubla and I love Japanese monster movies. Ultraman, Godzilla, and Mothra all have pride of place in his imagination. We’ve whiled away many an afternoon battling monsters—he’s always the hero, saving the bad guy role
