Posts Tagged ‘toys’
Monday Meta: Topic Redux
Mondays? Making up excuses for missed connections.
I’d like to write here every day, but it’s just not going to happen. In the meantime, little two-week breaks from my rants provide opportunity to let new ideas and experiences marinate. We have a medium-sized circle of friends, and when I’m not playing with the girl, pounding away on a keyboard, or puttering about the garden, we’re usually socializing. And, even if those friends don’t have kids of their own — which most of them now do — they always have opinions on child-rearing. What’s a skepdad to do? Commentate on those ideas, of course.
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Friday Consumer Culture: Priddy Books
Fridays? Products, from one to five skeps.
We’d likely be kidding ourselves as parents if we thought all the stories we were reading to our very young kids were offering any more benefit than the sound of our voice and perhaps some loose vocabulary development. The girl is seven months old and I’m under no delusion that she is following the plot of “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” or “Charlotte’s Web” as we read aloud from them on a nightly basis. But there is a ritual there and I’d like to think that my voice has something of a calming effect on her little mind. This raises the question as to the value of books in the life of a “Really Young Thinker” when books can really be no more than colourful toys to be grabbed and manipulated by equally young fingers. To help answer this, we were lucky to be given an interesting cloth book as a gift early on, and its only recently that the girl has taken to it with devoted fascination and often giggling delight — so much so that we bought another in the series.
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skep/dad’s “free time” the first
I have gaps in my attendance here. And the fact that this is a parenting blog, such a statement should be fairly self explanatory. I’m a busy guy. I’m in demand (or so I’m told.) And I’ve got a little girl who yearns for my undivided attention. So here are some “free time” moments that I don’t have the “free time” (except on a lunch break) to flesh out much further at the moment.
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Toys for (Really) Young Scientists, Bug Jug
I think it would be fair to say that I have something of an askew fascination with insects. Having (unofficially) minored in entomology in university, I took every undergraduate course offered by the school filling the gaps in my schedule left whilst studying the arguably less critter-filled world of molecular genetics. Had I been gutsy enough to pursue the passion over the practical (a conversation for another day) I might today be writing a more scientific exploration of some rare lepidopteran mating habit instead of a sure-to-be overlooked fluff editorial on plush, bug-shaped children’s toys. But, alas, such is life. And being in the curious position of father, writer, and science-buff I thought it useful to put otherwise wasted talents to better gain and continue the mission of bringing critical thought to the next generation by looking at my own experiences locating toys for aspiring scientists.
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Future skep/dad Topics, Perhaps?
I’ve not had much time to sit down and write this week. Truth is, I scraped together some cash and bought myself a new notebook that has been occupying too much of my attention whilst I try out the many new features. That said, the plan in buying the new notebook was to give me more time and convenience in writing for this project (as well as a few others). Convenience? Well, it’s a notebook, so I can sit on the couch, put on some tunes, and type. Time? A rare commodity as a parent, but the new computer is, admittedly, a Mac so (as promised by the onslaught of advertising) its been running all weekend trouble free right out of the box. No more precious hours shared between changing diapers, reading aloud, and wireless connectivity maintenance. Of course, this gives me reason to pause and consider what I should write.
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Over-Educated Toys
My daughter received numerous toys as presents for the holidays from friends and family. (Not from me. I bought her books.) I appreciate that — and I especially appreciate the care with which some of the toys were chosen. Despite being in the first year of her life, she is going to have an interesting time of growing up with so many people actively looking out for her education. But while some of the toys have obvious educational value — and by that I mean books, coloured blocks with shapes, numbers, and letters, and even the (most excellent) “bug bottle” a soft-sided container with a small collection of plush insects inside (actually meant to impress her entomology-enthused father) — some of the toys just try too hard.
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THE SKEPDAD BLOG is a place for rational, science-minded fathers to express their thoughts, opinions, and ideas about bringing up kids to be critical thinking adults in a world filled with superstition, mysticism, and pseudoscience.
- MINIBLOG: Obama Trend - What does the election of Barack Obama mean for the course of science and science education in the US in the coming four years? How will this impact internationally? Discuss.
COMMENTS: Multiple. Add something! - MINIBLOG: Purity - We watched a documentary last night on TLC about the Purity Movement. Nothing like a good old fashioned biblical excuse to wrap one’s daughter in a bubble of ignorance and second class gender roles like a “sign this contract with your dad re: sex” to set society back a couple centuries. It’s as if they’re [...]
COMMENTS: None. First Post? - MINIBLOG: Brain Games - I’m researching. (Or that’s what I’m calling it.) I picked up one of those “intelligence” and “brain training” games for my PSP last week. How smart will I become thanks to this five dollar exercise? Look out world: I’m about to release unlimited potential of my hitherto confined mind. *sigh*
COMMENTS: Multiple. Add something! - MINIBLOG: Drinking Skeptically, October 22 - If you haven’t made plans to attend the Edmonton Skeptics’ Pub Night tonight, there’s still time. See you there.
COMMENTS: None. First Post? - TWITTER: skepdad thinks you should check out the second edition of the Skeptical Parent Crossing, Blog Carnival... >>
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- Another Skeptical Parent Crossing
- Wednesday Wild Card: Twin Troubles
- Obama Trend
- Purity
- Friday Fizzicle: Skepdad on Sex, Part 1 COMMENT: Hugo: The anti-gay bills may have passed but the anti abortion bills got shot down and while I sympathize with the GLBT community and would like to see a world where everyone is really... COMMENT: Brad: Yes, very sad about all the successful initiatives. I didn’t see much news coverage for that where I was watching. Telling? Still, a small step left trumps a small step right.... COMMENT: Ian: He may have won, but every anti-gay marriage/adoption bill passed (including California!), showing that the Right is still strong. Over 45% of Americans still voted for McCain/Palin.... COMMENT: Brad: You’re spot on with the first comment. Funny that. As for our own hang ups, I think that goes with a lot of what we’ve been taught about “touchy” subjects:... COMMENT: Jess: I think the quote “adolescents who say that their families understand them, pay attention to their concerns, and have fun with them are more likely to…” can be...
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Brad adds: As of October 2007, I'm soliciting interest for skeptics in the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada area who are interested in forming a skeptical society to contact me. Please do so through this blog or via Facebook (through the Edmonton Skeptical Society Group).
Or visit our new website: www.edmontonskeptics.org - Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense.- Dr. Carl Sagan
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