Dear Mr. Dad: My wife and I desperately want to be parents. But after years of trying and tens of thousands spent on fertility treatments, our doctor is telling us that we should either consider using donor sperm or eggs or adopt. We’re considering those options, but I’m finding this whole thing rather emasculating and...Continue reading
Category: Parenting
Avoid a Halloween Fright: Keep Your Medicines Up and Away From Children
For young children, those first Halloweens can be lots of fun—wearing costumes, staying up late, counting their haul of candy, and sneaking extra pieces when parents aren’t looking. But Halloween also worries me a bit because I’ve seen how easy it is for kids to mistake medicines for candies. As a dad, I know that...Continue reading
Distracted Driving: A Real Killer
Dear Mr. Dad: This may sound dramatic, but I’m hoping you can help save my mom’s life. She’s constantly on her phone, talking or texting, while she’s driving. I’m only 13 and I’ve tried telling her to stop but she says she has it under control and says I should be quiet. She’s cut out...Continue reading
Why Dads Matter As Much As Moms
For many decades, conventional wisdom told us that when it came to child development, mothers were the most important parent. Fathers, apparently, weren’t good for much more than piggybacks, reading an occasional bedtime story, and, of course, discipline. Researchers who studied child development bought into that conventional wisdom and rarely bothered to investigate whether dads...Continue reading
Successfully Co-Parenting through Divorce
Dear Mr. Dad: My wife and I are in the midst of what’s turning out to be a rather unpleasant divorce. We can’t stand to be anywhere near each other and conversations are pretty much impossible. The only thing we agree on (besides that we shouldn’t be married anymore) is that our kids need both...Continue reading
Do We Have Vaccination Amnesia?
It is natural to dismiss dangers that are rarely seen. That has become our present circumstance with respect to many devastating infectious diseases. Since medicine has made significant progress against its former greatest adversaries, complacent beliefs have flourished. Surprisingly, a new malady has arisen and we are now suffering from a growing amnesia regarding the...Continue reading
Greater Access to Long-Term-Care: A Call from the Panini Generation
As I was recently arranging care for my ailing father-in-law, a friend texted me that I was in the “sandwich generation.” I texted back “No, that doesn’t quite capture it. A sandwich can be light and fluffy – it is more like a panini – hot pressure squeezing on both sides.” She replied: “Ha! You...Continue reading
On Immortality
If we had the ability to make ourselves live forever without losing our youthfulness, would we? According to Jonathan Weiner in his thought provoking book Long for this World we may be moving in that direction more than we speculated–whether we like it or not. The health and beauty industry has taken full advantage of...Continue reading
From the ER to Advocacy: One Father’s story
As a father, there is nothing more difficult than watching your child suffer. In 2001, my son was just 15 months old and very, very sick. He would spike 106-degree fevers twice a day. He literally couldn’t move a muscle because of the pain. He spent a month in an intensive care unit before they...Continue reading
This Father’s Day, Give Your Kids the Gift of Your Health
As a father, you want to protect your children and do everything you can to ensure that they lead a happy, healthy life. And the best way to do that is to be happy and healthy yourself. Summer vacation may have started, but June is about more than summer camps and backyard BBQs. It’s Men’s...Continue reading