Reading up on parenting
54 deep · digging since nov 24, 25
- Silicon Valley Executives Are Tech Fans. Just Not for Their Own Kids.
Silicon Valley executives limit their children's technology use at home, emphasizing moderation and boredom even as they themselves rely heavily on tech.
- My Husband Has Alzheimer’s. Can I Date Other People?
She wonders whether she can pursue a romantic relationship while managing her husband’s Alzheimer’s care, raising a child alone, and supporting the family financially.
- Mamdani Gave These Parents a Night Off. This Is How They Spent It.
New York City offered four hours of free babysitting to hundreds of families, letting parents reconnect and finish chores uninterrupted.
- Should Letting Children Play Alone Outside Be a Crime?
A growing number of parents are being investigated or charged with neglect for allowing their children to play unsupervised outside, sparking debate over changing societal norms and legal interpretations of child safety.
- Wealthy Families Swap Traditional Classrooms for AI Tutors and ‘Alternative’ Schools - WSJ
High-earning families are increasingly choosing alternative schools emphasizing life skills and AI over traditional public schools.
- This Music Box Is a Ray of Hope for a Decadent Tech Industry
The Yoto audio player for children proves a tech product can be profitable while countering screen addiction and techlash.
- Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows
A report shows reading for pleasure among schoolkids has sharply declined since 2012, with commenters blaming smartphones, classroom technology, and parental habits.
- How Remote Work Has Helped a Generation of Working Parents
Remote work post-pandemic has enabled more working parents, especially mothers of young children, to better balance career and caregiving.
- Opinion | My Teenage Sons Love U.F.C. Here’s What We Saw at the White House Cage Match.
The author reflects on taking teenage sons to the White House for a U.F.C. event, feeling conflicted about cultural exposure amidst political imagery.
- Opinion | Behind Every Dad Bod Is a Healthy Dad Brain
Fatherhood provides deep, long-lasting benefits for men's brain health and overall well-being.
- They Wanted to Upsize for Their Kids, but Could They Do It on the Upper West Side? - The New York Times
A couple with a $1.5 million budget searched for a larger Upper West Side apartment with extra bedrooms, office space, and a short commute to their children's school.
- What we lost when we stopped letting kids leave the front yard
Hacker News commenters reflect on the decline in children's free-range play, attributing it to larger vehicles, safetyism, loss of community surveillance, and changing family structures, despite lower crime rates.
- What’s Your ‘Mom Aesthetic’?
The rise of 'mom aesthetic' branding pressures mothers to commodify their parenting identity into marketable vibes.
- How Silicon Valley’s Brightest Parents Broke Their Own School - WSJ
A Silicon Valley private school for gifted children, founded by tech executives, collapsed into lawsuits, neighbor disputes, and internal feuding after a Meta executive pulled his son to start a home school.
- How to Pack Light When Traveling With Babies and Young Children - The New York Times
The article provides concrete packing strategies—like the 1-2-3 rule and limiting shoes—to reduce luggage weight when traveling with babies.
- What Is YouTube’s Dominance Doing to Us? We Asked Its C.E.O. - The New York Times
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan discusses concerns over AI-generated content, the platform's influence on culture, and new parental control features.
- A Phone-Free Childhood? One Irish Village Is Making It Happen. - The New York Times
The Irish town of Greystones adopted a voluntary code among parents to delay giving smartphones to children until secondary school, with widespread community buy-in.
- How a Family of 3 Lives on $500,000 on the Upper West Side - The New York Times
A family earning $500,000 on the Upper West Side struggles to save for a larger apartment due to high day care costs and cost of living.
- I Taught My Son Everything, Except How to Take a Vacation - The New York Times
A father realizes he never modeled true vacationing for his son—unstructured time without planning or productivity—as his son prepares for college.
- The Struggle to Find Good, Affordable Schools - The New York Times
New York parents struggle to afford housing in good public school districts as private and other school options become increasingly expensive.
- My Sex Addiction Nearly Wrecked Our Marriage. Do We Have to Tell the Kids? - The New York Times
A couple debates whether to disclose the husband's past sex addiction to their children, weighing honesty against the risk of harming family trust.
- I Saw a Child Who Seemed Neglected. Should I Have Done Something? - The New York Times
An advice columnist examines whether intervening when a child appears neglected is ethically required or risks imposing unfounded judgments on struggling families.
- It’s March. Do You Know Where Your Children Are Going to Camp? - The New York Times
New York City parents face a stressful annual struggle to find affordable and convenient summer camps for their children.
- China’s Parents Are Outsourcing the Homework Grind to A.I. - The New York Times
Chinese parents are using AI chatbots to help children with homework, aiming to reduce family conflict and give an academic edge.
- For College Applicants, Pressure to Make Summers Count Has Gotten Even Worse - WSJ
Ambitious high-schoolers now feel pressure to specialize in summer activities as early as freshman year to craft a coherent narrative for college admissions.
- How a Family of 4 Lives on $168,000 in East Elmhurst, Queens - The New York Times
A family of four in East Elmhurst, Queens, manages on $168,000 annually with help from a kind landlord and family babysitting, prioritizing one major vacation per year.
- South Korea Questions Cram School Culture and Childhood Stress - The New York Times
South Korea's intense academic pressure now drives even preschoolers into private after-school classes, sparking concerns about children's rights and well-being.
- Youth Sports Training: Why Some Preteens Are Turning to Private Coaches - The New York Times
More preteens are hiring private coaches as youth sports grow more competitive, driven by parents seeking an edge for their children.
- Her Sudden Back Pain Was Unbearable. What Could Ease It? - The New York Times
A doctor and mother of four experienced severe, unstoppable back pain, highlighting the limits of medical relief for acute spinal conditions.
- Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids
A parent built a floppy-disk-based physical remote for kids to independently select and play one video at a time, avoiding auto-play and touchscreen complexity.
- Waymo Has Come for the Kids in Los Angeles - The New York Times
Waymo's autonomous ride-hailing service sees adoption by Los Angeles families to manage complex schedules, including shuttling children.
- As Youth Sports Professionalize, Kids Are Burning Out Fast - The New York Times
Pressure from overbearing coaches and parents in increasingly professionalized youth sports is causing emotional harm and injuries in children, according to research.
- Toys with the highest play-time and lowest clean-up-time
Magna-Tiles and similar magnetic building toys offer the highest play time and easiest cleanup among children's toys, according to parent reviews.
- The Revolution of Rising Expectations - by Zvi Mowshowitz
Rising expectations and requirements, not declining data, make it harder for families to afford a socially acceptable lifestyle despite material improvements.
- How to Stop Supporting Your Adult Kids When You’re Retired - The New York Times
Parents who financially support adult children risk their own retirement security, and the article offers strategies to stop the money flow.
- Outside Dallas, a Young Family Just Wanted Some Space. Here’s Where They Found It. - The New York Times
A Texas couple returning from Europe found a home in a Dallas suburb that met their needs for space, good schools, and multigenerational living.
- Opinion | A Gift That Gets Children Reading - The New York Times
Giving children early access to high-quality books as gifts improves educational outcomes and creates curious, informed citizens.
- He Tried to Protect His Son From Bullies. He Didn’t Know How Far They Would Go. - The New York Times
After repeated attacks on his son, Rick Kuehner sought help from school and police, but the bullying escalated into worse violence.
- Nick Reiner’s Struggles With Drugs Left His Parents ‘Desperate’ - The New York Times
Nick Reiner, arrested in connection with his parents' deaths, had been in drug treatment 18 times as a teenager, leaving his parents desperate.
- The Chinese Billionaires Having Dozens of U.S.-Born Babies Via Surrogate - WSJ
Chinese billionaire Xu Bo fathered dozens of U.S.-born children via surrogacy, aiming for boys to inherit his business, raising concerns about citizenship laws and parenting ethics.
- Social-Media Ban Imposes Brave New World on Australian Teens - WSJ
Australia's social-media ban for under-16s divides teens and parents, with some teens like Zoey Bender finding community and career opportunities online.
- Banning Social Media - The New York Times
The article examines whether school and government bans on social media effectively reduce kids' screen time.
- Opinion | How to Prepare Your Kids for the A.I. Revolution - The New York Times
The author, an AI practitioner, expresses concern about AI's impact on children and offers specific strategies to help parents prepare them for an AI-driven future.
- Utah Hiker Rescued With His Children Faces Abuse and Torture Charges - The New York Times
A Utah hiker praised for rescuing his children from perilous terrain now faces abuse and torture charges for allegedly endangering them.
- Can I Use My Parents’ Address to Get Our Kids Into a Better School? - The New York Times
Using a parent's address for school enrollment raises ethical and legal concerns, with experts advising against deception due to potential consequences.
- How Parents Talk to Kids About Money, Privilege and Inequality - The New York Times
Parents use books and movies to talk with their children about money, privilege, and inequality, though they often lack complete answers.
Takes
We tell young people in our society that end of the rainbow is retirement at 65. We ought to tell them that "there is going to be this short but beautiful golden window from roughly age 3 to roughly age 12 where your kids are not only easy (comparatively to bottles & diapers), but are going to be these beautiful little creatures and it will pain your heart to be away from them for too long. So, prepare in your 20's, financially and career wise, to build that flexibility into that chapter of your life". You don't get another shot at living the "golden window". And, for me, leaning hard into that golden window has made everything else in my life feel fairly insignificant in comparison. I have made plenty of mistakes as a father, but what I won't have is the regret of having been distracted and absent from these formative years. In some cases, that has required financial sacrifices (declining a particular career opportunity that would have required relocation), but I personally have zero regrets. I also hear from some ambitious & successful people with a 4 year old that say "I've lost my ambition, I am so immersed in fatherhood". At least for me, and a number of my friends, it comes back. You can't keep an ambitious person down and if you have the fire, hanging at a playground on too many Tuesday afternoons is going to feel like torture after too long. My three boys are approaching 13, 11 & 9, and it's much different than 7, 5 & 3. This summer, for example, they slept until 11am and I hard an unencumbered 6am-12pm to work (being on PT helps), then got another great window 7-11pm, but was able to be present in the heart of the day, then weeks when they were at basketball camp, etc. It gets easier, your time frees up again (there's a sadness to that too), but I'm back to working as intensely as I did pre-kids just because my day to day presence requires fewer hours than it did before (also, my wife is just superbly wonderful). And that is the beautiful gift of entrepreneurship (or at least my sort of business), the ability to deliver still a high level of output but work that around your life rather than the opposite. TLDR, grind before, and grind after. Prepare for the golden window.
@FundamentEdge
Try adding kids to the mix 🙃
@joelgascoigne
I’ve been asked for an updated daily schedule given Superlogical, second kid, and AI usage. Here you go: - 530 awake, 20 minute interval cardio - 600 review nightly agents, start new - 700 wake and feed newborn - 730 wake, dress toddler - 745 breakfast with family - 800 off to work - 1200 lunch (often with wife) - 1530 to 1945 family time - 2000 hang with wife, start new nightly agents Early 2026 I mentioned a goal of “always have an agent running” but admitted I was realistically only getting agents for a couple hours off work. As of today, I’ve gotten a LOT better, I regularly have at least 2 agents running constantly with many running through most of the night. I’ll cover this in more detail another time!
@mitchellh
Them: There’s really no use case for consumer AI. Moms: I really need help carrying the mental load on… 🛒 groceries 🍳 meal prep 🎂 birthday parties 🎁 gifts 📅 doctor's appointments 💊 vitamins and supplements ✈️ trips 💸 bills + taxes 📈 investing 🏠 home maintenance 🖼️ home decor 📚 reading lists 🧘 therapy + self-care 📺 screentime monitoring, 📢 community engagement 🏃🏼♀️exercise Etc.
@brit
Elon Musk reveals the moment his son Saxon left an entire sushi restaurant speechless "I was living in L.A., and I took my older boys out for lunch to Sugarfish, which is a very kind of uptight sushi restaurant. In fact, on the menu of the restaurant, it says, do not ask for soy sauce, because the chef has put the right amount of soy sauce." "So, like, extremely strict sushi restaurant. And so the waiter is going around asking everyone what they want and then it comes to Saxon and Saxon says I'll have a cheeseburger." "And the waiter takes a moment to recover because no one ever asked for a cheeseburger at this very strict sushi restaurant. It took him like 30 seconds to realize he'd just been asked for a cheeseburger, because you're not even allowed to ask for soy sauce." "So then when he finally recovered, he said, we don't have cheeseburgers. And Saxon goes at the top of his voice, what? Like, what kind of restaurant doesn't have cheeseburgers? He says, fine, I'll have a hamburger."
@voidedintern
My husband @elawless is casually tokenmogging me with data/hardware intensive AI projects and he deserves more eyes on his projects: - turned out @ClaudeDevs cardputer into a texting device for our kids to our telegram - installed a starmap on same - data labeling the kids’ basketball practices - investment brain to 🚀 our $$$ My fave dad in AI (happily biased)
@clairevo
I had a conversation Mario about electrical engineering, Pi, and parenting. Very grateful to get another chance to chat with one of my favorite builders and people. Enjoy (:
@0xSero
https://t.co/LmpEfSs06w
@jackclarkSF