Features

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Parenting

The Imperfect Parent's archive of parenting articles and essays

In Training
Tricks are for kids!
By Danielle Mutarelli
On some level I’m sure the following would be recognized as bad parenting, but we just can’t seem to help ourselves. You see, we like to teach our two and a half year old son Leo "tricks" solely for our amusement. The most recent of which is our instruction on how to greet my husband when he arrives home from work. As my husband opens the door Leo will ask, “How was work?” proceeded by, “Take your jacket off,” and concludes with, “Grab a cold beer.” We actually dream of the day when he can retrieve the beer for us. We tell our friends about Leo’s evening greeting as we suppress a snicker. “We know it’s wrong, but it’s just so funny.”... read more

REM Commando
Queen Super Sleep strikes back
By Kim Lachance Shandrow
You’d think the exhaustion of pregnancy and childbirth would prepare you for the marathon sleepless... read more

The Note
Where could he have gone?
By Michelle Kennedy
6 a.m. on Saturday morning is not my favorite time of day. O.K. -- 6 a.m. on any morning is not my... read more

Who's the Fuddy Duddy?
My, how times have changed.
By Erica Manfred
I see child-rearing from a perspective that none of these young parents have experienced. I grew up... read more

Project Runaway
I like shopping... by myself.
By Melanie Lynne Hauser
I’m a girl. (No, really! I know my family doesn't see me that way, but I really am.). And as... read more

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Politics/Society

The Imperfect Parent's archive of political and social issues articles and essays

September 11, 2006
Five years later.
By Jessica Carlson
Just how the Grandparents and parents of some of us older folks claim they know the precise moment that John F. Kennedy was shot and what they were doing down to the detail of whether they were sitting or standing, the same holds true for our generation and the events of September 11, 2001. I find it difficult to even schedule an appointment or tell someone I'll get back to him or her on September 11th; five years later it still seems blasphemous. Things have changed since that infamous day when two planes flew into the financial towers in New York City, carrying a human load of innocent men, fathers, women, mothers, children and babies who must have experienced fear beyond their tormented imaginations. With intentions that morning... read more

A Socially Irresponsible Stroll Through My Neighborhood
Sometimes convenience trumps political correctness.
By Robin Dutton-Cookston
By the time you finish reading this essay, you will think I am a depraved, cold-hearted, unfeeling... read more

Steal This Child
Is the news media exploiting parents’ fear of child abduction?
By Prescott Carlson
You’ve heard the names. Samantha Runnion. Elizabeth Smart. Baby Jessica. Erica Pratt. Tamara Brooks.... read more

Cutting Away the Truth
A view on one of the very first parenting decisions -- circumcision.
By Peter Mackey
"Circumcision" is a frightening... read more

Little Miss Feminist
We're just not a beauty queen kind of family.
By Rita Fiorentino
Earlier this summer, the owner of my kids’ Taekwondo school sent us an e-mail. It said: I’d... read more

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Humor

The Imperfect Parent's archive of humor articles and essays

Stick a Fork in It
Ten technological marvels that help me ignore my kids.
By Brandy Stoner
A Danish company has developed the EdisonSalvo socket, an electrical socket that will probably not fry children who stick forks in outlets. (It’s shock-resistant, not shock-proof!) I and my siblings had hours of fun sticking objects in sockets. It was the original thrill sport. Why deprive my children of that jolt of fun? I hate to thwart their sense of adventure, but I do have a legal obligation to protect them from burns. I also have other obligations, and I work from a corner in a 500-square foot apartment. So probably won’t fry is good enough for me. I want to take a moment to pay tribute to all the little inventions that make it possible... read more

An open letter to the J.M. Smucker Company, maker of Uncrustables

April 1, 2005 Executive Offices The J.M. Smucker Company Strawberry Lane Orrville, OH 44667-0280 RE:... read more

Changing Ronan
A dad's version of a day out with toddler.
By Adam Kane
The two pound nappy was dripping with anticipation. I'd been left at home to mind my fourteen-month... read more

12 Useful Tips
Don't just throw away that baby spitup.
By Pamela Redmond Satran
12 Useful Things to Do With Baby Spitup 1. Smear it all over those size 6 pants, those ones you barely... read more

Ask the Angry Baby
Cursing habits, sippy cups, co-sleeping sex, international travel, and saying "no"

My 7-year-old has a habit of cursing. He occasionally does it in front of me, and I've heard... read more

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Lifestyle

The Imperfect Parent's archive of lifestyle articles and essays

The Minivan. Grocery Getter or Sex Machine?
I want a minivan.
By Liz Weslander
I want a minivan. Although it sounds like an innocuous desire, I am often met with a barrage of disparaging groans and snickers when I admit this in mixed company. “Don’t do it!,” the crowd will yell as they look at me with mix of horror and pity on their faces. Apparently, minivans symbolize something undesirable to many people. From what I can gather, many believe that purchasing a minivan is tantamount to surrendering any chance of being hip, spontaneous, and most importantly, sexy. I think this population of knee-jerk minivan-phobes is sorely misinformed. I will concede that my desire for a minivan is pragmatic, even banal. Basically, I want the ability to transport more than just my family of four in a safe and comfortable fashion.... read more

The IP Bookshelf
The World's Greatest: Poems by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Keith Graves

... read more

The IP Bookshelf
The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Junior Edition by David Borgenicht and Robin Epstein; illus. by Chuck Gonzales

... read more

The IP Bookshelf
Who's Hiding? By Satoru Onishi

... read more

The IP Bookshelf
One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three-Eyes! A Very Grimm Fairy Tale written by Aaron Shepard; illustrated by Gary Clement

... read more

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