When my oldest daughter was born, and even before, I worried about princesses the way people worry about bedbugs. I was afraid that once they got into our lives, they would never leave and that the child would be obsessed by the celebration of wealth, beauty, privilege and the need …

Preparations for the birth of my second daughter led me to an unexpected moment of self-discovery: As I get older, I’m getting craftier. I don’t mean that I’m becoming more cunning or guileful (quite the opposite, I suspect). But rather that, more and more, I get a kick out of …

At not quite 3 years old, my oldest daughter is too young for a conversation about depression. But after the suicides of two beloved celebrities in June, I’m growing impatient to talk with her about my own experience with the disorder. Specifically, there are two things I learned in my …

For my family, this will be the summer of The Second Coming, by which I mean the birth of our second daughter in August. My wife and I are mostly thrilled; she’s healthy and feeling pretty good, the doctor is pleased, and the anatomy scan indicates the appropriate number of …

If you don’t have — or don’t yet have — children, you might be forgiven for imagining bedtime to be the glorious point in the day when parents get their lives back, when nursery-rhyme earworms, temper tantrums and the general toddler detritus that coats the home are gleefully banished, and …

No matter how much you enjoy having children, it’s inevitable that you’ll look back enviously at your pre-parenthood life. Maybe not all the time, but there are moments. It’s okay, you can admit it. We all do it. Being prodded by a toddler at 6 a.m. will make you long …

I don’t believe in resolutions, because resolving involves a lot of pressure and commitment. But I believe that I ought to do certain things, so I’ll give them a try.  Below are some of my New Year’s “I Oughtas” for 2018. Laugh More. My daughter is 2 ½ and she’s …

Christmas approaches, and I’m wrestling with a question to which I can find no clear and satisfying answer: What of Santa Claus? Our daughter is 2, and we suspect that she is now old enough to develop and enjoy a basic understanding of Santa (the full, supernatural implications may elude …

An old friend’s recent Facebook post about the anxiety and tears that accompanied her toddler’s first day of daycare was achingly familiar: I felt the same nervous guilt when I first left my own daughter, now 2, at daycare when she was 3 months old. If only I’d known then …

I think my wife and I are on the same page about most aspects of raising our daughter, but there is one philosophical schism that occasionally causes trouble. I think of it as the great “That’s Not a Toy” debate. My wife dislikes that phrase, believing that the toddler should …