Daddy Types: January 2005 Archives

January 2005 Archives

January 31, 2005

Ralph's World: Nursery School of Rock

David Edelstein writes what he knows in the NY Times, with his profile of not-just-for-kids rocker Ralph Covert. Covert was in Bad Examples, a real band--*cough cough* I mean a band for grown-ups--when he took over a Chicago music school's...
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Dooce Is The Miramax Of The Bloggies

How else to explain her multiple Bloggie nominations AND the perfectly timed marketing campaign--a NYT Style secion coverstory on parent blogs starring Heather and Leta? [Right now I'm making a rocking hand-to-ear phone pantomime and mouthing the words, "let's do...
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January 30, 2005

Edmunds' Top 10 Car Seat Cars

There's a hi-larious insurance commercial where a young black guy is trying to fit a giantic car seat into the back of an old Volvo coupe as his very pregnant lady watches on. When he gets himself wedged in and...
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iPodcast, Therefore iAm Rebel Dad

Brian has just launched Rebel Dad Radio, his inaugural experiment with podcasting. If your first response is, "Podcasting, what's that?" it's time to move into 2005, people. Podcasting is audio content--often from a blog--that your iPod can automatically download. It's...
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Discrimination's Discrimination, Except They Call It LE Discrimination

Just in case you were tempted to move there by recent posts that made Canada look like the parents' paradise, where everyone just shuttled back and forth between hockey games, lavishly subsidized child care, and endless free surgeries, be sure...
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Million Dollar Buzzkill

Last night when we took her to a French friend's party, she skipped learning to walk and started dancing a jig. She said "woof!" upon meeting her first dog, and after playing with him for a few minutes, she looked...
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January 29, 2005

All, For The Ladies

Doing something I almost never do--read a parenting magazine, Child in this case--and I barely get past the table of contents before I regretted it. There's a cutey cute cartoon advertisement for All laundry detergent where a guy is pulling...
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Bun's Out Of The Oven? Try A Popover

Ever-thrifty WASP's would never dream of throwing out that favorite chair just because the upholstery's worn through; they'd just get a slipcover and--presto!--it's good to go. Likewise, you don't need to get rid of your child just because it's winter...
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The Pramulator: Kinda Rhymes With Day-um!!

Growing up, my favorite car ever was the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante [OK, my actual favorite car was the 1955 Porsche Speedster, because I'd seen it in person and was deluded enough to think I should get one before graduating...
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January 28, 2005

I'm going to be the worst father ever T-Shirt, from The Onion

In an even funnier world, this shirt from The Onion would come with little cards pre-printed with info on the local Social Services hotline, which you would pass out to all your neighbors, relatives, and colleagues, who would proceed...
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Speaking of feeling guilty...

In the formula cost comments, Kaz mentioned guilt, and I was saying how guilt and parenting go hand in hand. So now I've got a work email to get out before the kid and I drive to DC, and so...
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Popular Dutch Baby Names

While you could ask where Sem and Senna came from--they're the top boy and girl names, respectively for 2004--it's more interesting to compare the classical (to my ear) Dutch names that were popular in 1939--Johannes, Jan, Hendrik, Willem, Johanna, Wilhelmina--with...
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Google Onesie

Finally, there's a Google Onesie available at the GoogleStore. It's $11.75, white, and made by Hanes, whose global reputation for high quality childrenswear has made Onesie the bodysuit brand parents ask for by name. What's that, Onesie is a trademark...
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January 27, 2005

McDonalds, 262 Canal St at Lafayette, in Chinatown - YES

It's in the wheelchair-accessible restroom on the main floor. For customer use only, so buy a couple of pies, why dontcha?...
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Something We Can All Agree On: These Swedish Parents Are Crazy

In 1996, as a protest to a court order to register an official name for their new child, a Swedish couple named him Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116. Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 Hallin. They said it was "a pregnant, expressionistic development that we see as an artistic...
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January 26, 2005

Calculate This Formula

I decided to figure out the cost of baby formula. In order to identify the least expensive way to buy formula, I quickly settled on calculating the cost per fluid ounce of formula in the kid's mouth, in order to...
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January 25, 2005

Eh, Who Needs Stroller Skis?

Jen from Gothamist keeps her eye out for Daddy Types, like the one pushing his orange Bugaboo down Broadway in the snow on the photoblog, what about the plastic animals? Thanks, Jen, and congrats on the Bloggies nominations!...
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But Some Of My Best Friends Are Little Houses!

I just read Virginia Lee Burton's classic, The Little House, to the kid for the first time, and it shocked me. Written in 1942, The Little House is a Caldecott Medal winner that probably every person born in the US...
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Fertility Tourism

According to this front page report in the NY Times, the high cost of infertility treatments in the US--especially egg donor programs and in vitro fertilization--are driving increasing numbers of Americans to find foreign clinics. One South African doctor pitches...
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A Man, Two Dogs, And A Baby

If you thought going on a walk with a kid and a latte was tough, try adding two dogs to the entourage. Chattanooga dad-to-be Damon faced just such a dilemma: Before Fuller was born, we anticipated the difficulty of...
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January 24, 2005

Bugaboo Cup Holder Nirvana: Easy Holder from Easy Rider

Ahh, there's nothing quite like the freedom of the open road. Unless it's enjoying the freedom of the open road with your drink handy. That was presumably the inspiration for The Motorcycle Drink Thing, one of the slickest, best-looking drink...
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Celebrity-Babies.com Turns 1, Parents Throw Party

It seems like just yesterday when I was cringing at the thought of a whole magazine devoted entirely to forcing its surreally materialistic vision of celebrity parents on the world. And that's just People! Turns out there's Us, InTouch, InStyle......
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It's Just A Plant: A Book to Explain Marijuana To Your Kids

"One night Jackie woke up past her bedtime. She smelled something funny in the air, so she walked down the hall to her parents' bedroom" From the book's website, where you can order It's Just A Plant at a special...
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January 23, 2005

Ventaire, Enfamil. Enfamil, Ventaire

8 oz. of water AND 4 scoops of formula in a 9 oz. bottle. Scoops that are almost the exact same width as the bottle's neck, resulting in messy powder spills almost every damn time. Discuss amongst yourselves....
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La Chenille ABC Teaches Your Child Quebecois

DT reader Cameron mentioned this in the comments for the loud Learning Home toy:We have a Chenille ABC (I have no idea what it's called in English) by Leapfrog. Lucas loves it. Adores it. The first one broke and we...
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January 22, 2005

Celebrity Baby Embraces Giant, Super-Annoying Toy!

Although his nursery/playroom wing in the Defective Yeti cave must be full of gigantic and entertaining toys, online celebrity baby The Squirrelly has a special favorite. Frankly, it sounds so annoying I'm glad we can't even hope to fit it...
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MacGyver A Bugaboo Cup Holder, Round 2

DT reader and dad-to-be Steve Chapman has been spending the last few days of his care-free, child-free life in his workshop, where he has been trying to make a better Bugaboo drink holder. His solution, which won't undergo field...
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Robo-Party!

The kids these days have taken to getting high--and OD'ing and dying--by guzzling cough syrup with dextromethorphan [DXM]. In some states like Utah, misuse got so bad a few years ago that pharmacies were ordered to put Robitussin and Coricidin...
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January 21, 2005

Breast Milk/Astronomy Factoid

I guess it's Breast Milk Week around the Daddy Types offices.The story of the Milky Way, as it appears in Greco-Roman mythology, concerns the feeding of baby Hercules, son of Zeus. Because Hercules' mother was mortal, Zeus put Hercules to...
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Breast Milk Taste Test

While not as scientifically rigorous as, say, the Daddy Types baby formula taste test, Steve at The Sneeze conducted a Breast Milk Taste Test. Actually, he spends most of the time talking about the containers. His breakthrough discovery: breast milk...
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January 20, 2005

How To Be A Good Dad (Without Breaking Into Buckingham Palace)

Celebrity philosopher--and the most important man he knows--Alain de Botton discovers "the new dad-lit" in the Times of London. He reviews two new advice books, From Lad to Dad: How to Survive as a Pregnant Father by Stephen Giles; and...
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Brazilian Doctor Masters Art Of Stating The Obvious

"Obviously the baby was born by Caesarean section." - the director of Albert Sabin Maternity Hospital in Salvador, northeastern Brazil, about Ademilton Ramos dos Santos, who weighed 16.7 lbs when he was born Tuesday. That's as big as a...
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NY Times' Designer Crib-a-palooza

The NY Times has a roundup of modernist crib options, running the gamut from the Netto Collection to, um, IKEA. The big emphasis is on convertability; designers figure that you're not gonna part with $800-1,500 for their crib unless it...
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January 19, 2005

Who's The Genius Who Invented The Crib Bumper?

Because it seems pretty much unnecessary, yet it now represents about 30% of the baby industry. Entire villages in Africa are kept working to hand-embroider $700 crib bedding sets that you'll have to remove as soon as the kid's old...
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The Compleat Star Wars

You've already reserved your Darth Tater. Your plush Jawa is still new in box, with tags. What's the one thing no serious Star Wars collection can do without, yet is made all the more difficult to obtain precisely because...
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January 18, 2005

Mother, Jugs & Plead

How'd I miss this? Back in November, Metrodad almost made a bet with his wife, and the loser was gonna have to sample her breast milk. He asked, was it just him, or were they crazy? Well, he got answers....
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On Going Into Overtime

More Diapers is a new dad blog, or at least it will be; at the moment, it's still a dad-to-be blog, since Eric's wife Jen is now a week overdue. But hey, who's counting, right? If this has ever happened...
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Fossil Tries To Drive Us Daddy T-Shirt Salesmen Out Of Business

In a shameless and cruel attempt to corner the market and drive the rest of us Daddy T-shirt salesmen out of business, the giant, evil fashion empire Fossil has cut prices to an INSANE level for these "Who's Your...
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Micralite: Stroller-gami

My personal jury's been out on the Micralite folding stroller for a while, but several people have emailed me about it [including DT readers Stelly and Emily], so up it goes. The Micralite's made by Kolcraft for the UK market....
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January 17, 2005

Boston Globe on Gen X Dads

These guys dub themselves "Dads in the Dark," though they see their group as far from unenlightened. They grab paternity leaves and reject overtime even when they could use the money. They are as adept at sculpting Play-Doh as they...
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Remember 'Desperate Househusbands'?

A while back the NYT ran a story so transparent in its origins and so goofy-biased in its portrayal of suburban at-home dads, it was laughable. At least to us cityfolk. Dads in the suburbs, meanwhile, were pretty damn pissed....
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Sleepy: The Swiss-Made Miracle Caster

Guido Tschopp, a Swiss engineer, spent 14 years perfecting Sleepy, a set of four casters which, when placed under the corners of your kid's crib, helps "mimic the rhythmic movement of the uterus." Sleepy uses the baby's own movements...
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The Doormat That Rocks The Cradle

In a climactic scene of Braveheart, as the evil English prepare to execute him, Mel Gibson's character William Wallace, Scotland's founding father--think of a mash-up of George Washington and Adam Ant--cries out, "Freedom!" Now, by sheer coincidence, a well-rested, crying-free...
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Pataki Proposes Baby Daddy Tax Credit for NY

Since the site has been getting a lot of visitors from their message boards, I was poking around S2S, Sister 2 Sister Magazine over the weekend. A lot of the discussion is about how a baby mama can get her...
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January 16, 2005

Art Auction For A Kid With Leukemia

Some friends have organized this at a friend's gallery, and quite a few wonderful artist friends have donated work. On Mon. Jan 31 from 6-10pm, at Passerby, there will be a silent auction to raise money for treatment of Amina...
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The Blanket Fairy

The book Be Prepared recommends not letting anything irreplaceable or one-of-a-kind become your kid's security blanket-thingie, and goes on to suggest that you keep a couple of spares around so the kid won't have a meltdown when it inevitably gets...
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January 15, 2005

Quinny Zapp w/ Maxi-Cosi: A Dad-to-be's Review

DT reader Hadi is about a week away from the arrival of his baby, which means he has PLENTY of time to kill surfing around European baby sites and writing in-depth ruminations about the Quinny Zapp travel stroller and the...
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January 14, 2005

Well, The Spammers Are On Our Side, I Think

A friend just forwarded this spam he received:www.babychangingXXXXXXXXXXX.com [sorry, pal] > Men's and ladies restroom Koala baby changing stations. > You need 2, If you have 2 you are politcally correct! > If you have 1 in the woman's room...
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January 13, 2005

Bzzzpeek.com: What The Cow Says In Swedish

Never mind that he says "wan wan" in Japanese, we've already run into problems where the dog says "woof" in one book and "bow wow" in another. Now we can turn this problem into a game of its own, with...
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Because You Can Never Be Too Rich, Or Your Kids Too Well-Dressed

I'm sure you've all read this already, but I've been kinda busy lately and just came across AnneMarie Iverson's article on classic, well-made kids clothes in the December issue of Departures, the American Express magazine for Platinum and Centurion cardmembers:The...
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Who Does The Drink Deputy Work For?

The website says "Made for Moms," the kid in this picture doesn't look all that thrilled with it, and dads aren't mentioned anywhere. But if you're looking for a way to carry a bottle around--whether it's the kid's or your...
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January 12, 2005

UrbanBabyWatch: When Putting Down The Seat Just Isn't Enough

This just in from Urban Baby's Toddler message boards, a fast and furious discussion that DT reader Raquel wanted to share right away [quoted verbatim and without commentary because, honestly, I don't know what to say. Except that 'dh'...
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Dad Ads: They're Really For The Ladies

Ads with bumbling dads in them have gotten under the toupees of more than a few at-home dads out there, but according to Fox News, gee, you're being kinda sensitive about it, dude, and besides, those ads aren't meant for...
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Bugaboo Frog vs. Quinny Buzz: The Daddy Types Smackdown

While he wasn't buying Tummy Tubs, DT reader Florian and his wife were putting the Quinny Buzz through a side-by-side comparison with the Bugaboo Frog. Here's his assessment:I wouldn't wait for the Quinny Buzz. Having had had my eyes set...
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Because It's Not How You Sit, It's WHO You Sit For

At least that's the strategy of one CosmoGirl research director, who advertised for a once-a-week babysitter ["Stay-at-home dad needs a break!"] on the CraigsList journalism grad student discussion section. Hey! I, too, would like to employ an eager, over-educated, over-qualified...
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The Tummy Tub, Dutch for 'Baby Bucket'

While most Dutch are revolutionizing stroller design, others are busy improving that grand European tradition of finding new ways to be naked in large groups. And in order to be totally comfortable flashing the French on a Riviera vacation, it's...
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Bugaboo Daytrips

We just recently began turning the kid's Bugaboo seat around so that she now faces forward, instead of looking at us the whole time. I have to say, it causes a bit of separation anxiety. Now she's facing the whole...
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January 11, 2005

The Andy Blog

Talk about extreme parenting. Andres Trevino and his wife are from Mexico, but they have been basically living in Boston for the last few years after their 5-year old son, Andy began treatment at The Children's Hospital for a rare...
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Can You Still Get A Maxi-Cosi Cabrio?

I've heard from several people in the US the last couple of weeks who have tried to buy a Maxi-Cosi Cabrio carseat online, only to find out the European retailer won't ship to outside the EU. Is anyone else finding...
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January 10, 2005

A Boy Named Tsunami

In India, Lakshmi Roy put his family, including his 8-months pregnant wife, on his bike and pedaled them to higher ground to escape the tsunami. His wife then went into labor and delivered the baby three weeks early. Some wiseacre...
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Rock Star Baby Pictures

Yeow. Sometimes you just don't know how they'll turn out. That's Bono. There's Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Manson, Gwen Stefani, Gene Simmons... Isn't it weird how The Edge looks the same, though? Bebes do rock part I Bebes do rock...
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January 7, 2005

The Haircut Decision Delayed

Just to update: We went back and forth on the haircut thing for a while. Basically, it seems like the kid's still a bit young to really be susceptible to the pony-riding, video-watching haircut-facilitating stunts people have suggested. And besides,...
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Time Out New York Kids

I stopped reading Time Out New York a while back when I realized it was just reminding me of all the things I was missing because I was 1) out of town, 2) too busy, or 3) doing something else...
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January 5, 2005

In Case Your Mobile Phone Isn't Toy Enough

Hey, when chewing on my cell phone is the only thing that quiets the kid down, 9 times out of 10--ok, maybe 7 times out of 10--I'll let her have it. In the most desperate moments, goo-soaked keypad and potentially...
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January 4, 2005

Cookie: The Magazine For Conspicuous Parenting

While I was out yesterday, Fairchild, the publisher of W Magazine, was reported to be preparing the launch of Cookie, a combination of Child and Lucky magazines "aimed at parents who plan to spend a fair amount of money styling...
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January 3, 2005

Stokke, Coco. Coco, Stokke

Courtney Cox and David Arquette have clearly had a visit from Stokke's publicist. Celebrity Babies has a paparazzi photo of Coco's new Xplory, with a gigantic Precious Moments diaper duffle bag jammed under it. Or, as Patty says, "I thought...
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Schrodinger's Baby

Schrodinger's Cat is a famous imaginary experiment* meant to illustrate quantum physics: you have a cat in a box with some poisonous substance, and as long as you don't open the box to check, there's always a 50% probability that...
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Blue Ribbon Brooklyn, 280 5th Ave, Park Slope: YES YES

The bathrooms are "fancy," says DT reader Paul, and one has a changing station. Dinner was "awesome," with "the feel of a fancy seafood restaurant." NY Mag calls it "the most kid-friendly restaurant in all of New York." Guess they...
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January 1, 2005

Sure, He Has A Name, But Can He Get A Reservation At 60 Thomspon?

As writer Rich Cohen tells how he and his wife came up with their son's name, he goes through just slightly over half the frightening/funny/weighty/ stress-inducing/exasperating thoughts and experiences an expectant father has to deal with:In the seventh month of...
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