I've been talking about money lately, so this story from the UK titled, "Older Men Build the Biggest Debts" grabbed my eye. According to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, there's been a 65% increase in demands for service in the last year with significant numbers of older people needing help to get back... more

I'm a big fan of marriage. I must be -- I've done it three times.

But seriously, folks ... An article from The Californian that addresses the potential for kids to lose out on positive male role models when divorce divides a family and gives suggestions on how to help build a child's self-esteme under difficult circumstances ... like when Mom can no longer stand the sight or thought of Dad, but Junior needs to grow... more

Continued from here ...

Another concern, of course, is teen pregnancy.

The consequence of starting out life as the child of a teen mother can be illustrated by the following stark comparison: The poverty rate for children born to teenage mothers who have never married and who did not graduate from high school is 78 percent. On the other hand, the poverty rate for children born to women over age 20 who are currently married... more

Continued from here ...

Here's a primer on various aspects of delinquency, including some things to look for:

The emergence of behavior problems can be detected as early as age two. Opposition to parents and aggressive behavior with other children are natural developmental pathways for toddlers. These oppositional behaviors typically decline between... more

"Do you know how old you'll be when that kid is 16?"

How many times have you heard that one? Does it make you quake in your clogs? An article out of the UK today brings to mind that most often voiced fear of people considering adopting at an older age ... the teen years.

This report illustrates that parents of any age can do a terrible job of raising... more

Once again, I'm coming across the published results of research, much of which just seems like a silly waste of money. Of course, just how much money or resources of other sorts has gone into the 'science' that is studies isn't mentioned anywhere I can find ... it's only the 'results' that get the fanfare. With that in mind, prepare for ta daaaaaa!

Starting with stating the obvious, here's a doh! for you:

Advertising... more

Continued from here, where I was about to point out how and why having kids as an older parent works for me ...

There are differences between parenting in my twenties and doing it now that I'm in my mid-fifties. Many of these have to do with maturity, security, life on a tropical island, a sense of humor and so on, but I'm too wrung to go into depth or detail, so I'm sticking with just big differences ...

Big... more

I'm tired.

Wrung, is probably closer to the physical consequence of a week spent up to my ankles in snot ... those very same ankles being the ones covered in clinging, whiny, grumpy, bored, cantankerous snot-factories: AKA Sam and Cj. In addition to my mucus-encrusted appendages exerting extra drag, therefore requiring more of an output of energy than it normally takes to get through a day, the work load has been bumped by the fact that the month is February, so short, yet still due the 86 blog posts a 31 day month gets, and I'm behinder... more

Continued from here ...

So, evolutionary scientists would say that adoption makes no sense, and as far as evolution goes, it doesn't, but this study has shown that adoptive parents do, indeed, invest in their children "as much if not more" than bio parents do. This is NOT a slam on bio parents; it is simply a statement of the facts of the study as they found them. The scientific parameters are there for the reading, by the way.

The report... more

Rather than spend the hours I normally would composing blog posts addressing comments on yesterday's blogs, I'll use the time constructively and do both at the same time. Oooooh ... multitasking! I'll even keep my kids' snotty noses wiped (They both have colds, and Sam is home from school this week because he's just too miserable to leave the house.), get the laundry done AND do my Kegels at the same time.

So, with no further ado ...

Rush Limbaugh aside... more