American SAHD Feeds

In the words of the bard, This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.

Bugaboo has released what amounts to its first throwback edition, a 2012 Cameleon outfitted in one of the classic, single color Frog fabrics, navy blue, with an off-white lining. It's like it's 2002 all over again, only with extendable handles and better suspension and stuff.

I tell you, we liked our Cameleon, but when we were hitting the stroller zone the second time around, I found myself jonesing for the Frog. I looked pretty long and hard on Dutch auction sites for a nice vintage Bugaboo, from the days even before they were sold in the US. Instead of the circles logo, they had this kind of New Mexico-ish, petroglyphic snowflake. That's what I wanted. Old School.

But you could never really tell the condition of used strollers; hapless Dutchmen were unsure about packing and shipping; and then, of course, there were the performance improvements, like the front suspension, which were hard to give up. So we soldiered on.

I'd by this one in a second, though. It really is the best $800 stroller in the world.

The Navy/Off-White Bugaboo Cameleon is a limited edition, available while supplies last, only at Giggle. $979. [giggle via publicist]

greg

Fort Standard was founded like yesterday by designers Gregory Buntain and Ian Collings, and already they have a tableful of awesome, crystal-faceted balancing blocks handmade from salvaged hardwood and finished in a range of tasty colors, and white.

Fort Standard Balancing Blocks, bag of ten, $85 [fortstandard.com via ro/lu]

greg

From elsewhere in The Post: For kids who want to pretend their lip or tongue is pierced, Buckyballs magnets have become a popular toy. The magnets are also a choking hazard. Several children, including Meredith DelPrete, have been hospitalized for accidentally swallowing the balls, reports The Post’s Lena Sun.

Read full article >>

The past and the future once again meet in the present, with generally awesome effect.

Because while it seems normal that you can now instantly find and buy a copy of Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley's suddenly indispensable 1888 book, Curiosities Of Puritan Nomenclature, it still feels like a small miracle that you don't need to. Because thanks to the University of California's Digital Library initiative, the entire book is available for immediate and profitable study.

Bardsley apparently spent 12 years collecting and scouring the church registries of England to create what seems to be the first definitive history of the adoption of Biblical names in the country.

It suddenly makes sense that the proliferation of scripture names like Adam,, John, James, etc. followed the release of "mystery" plays, which dramatized key Bible stories for the masses. And that more obscure scripture names only came into wider use as English translations of the Bible became available. And that hilarity occasionally ensued when, "the parents [would open] the Bible haphazard, according to the village tradition, and select the first name the eye fell on." And also when they wouldn't: It was but a year ago a little child was christened Tellno in a town within six miles of Manchester, at the suggestion of a cotton-spinner, the father, a workman of the name of Lees, having asked his advice. "I suppose it must be a Scripture name," said his master. "Oh yes ! that's of course." "Suppose you choose Tellno," said his employer. "That'll do,'* replied the other, who had never heard it before, and liked it the better on that account. The child is now Tellno Lees, the father, too late, finding that he had been hoaxed.And here's another one:There is, again, a story of a clergyman making the customary demand as to name from a knot of women round the font. "Ax her," said one.
Turning to the woman who appeared to be indicated, he again asked, '* What name?" "Ax
her," she replied. The third woman, being questioned, gave the same reply. At last he dis-
covered the name to be the Scriptural Achsah, Caleb's daughter -- a name, by the way, which was somewhat popular with our forefathers. No wonder this mistake arose, when Achsah used to be entered in some such manner as this :

** 1743-4, Jan. 3. Baptized Axar Starrs (a woman of ripe
years), of Stockport.

" 1743-4, Jan. 3. Married Warren Davenport, of Stockport,
Esq., and Axar Starrs, aforesaid, spinster." -- Marple, Cheshire.

Axar's father was Caleb Starrs. The scriptural relationship was thus preserved. Achsah crossed the Atlantic with the Pilgrim Fathers, and has prospered there ever since. It is still popular in Devonshire and the south-west of England. All these stories serve to show the quarry whence modern names are hewn.Now that you mention it, Hewn is a pretty great name itself.

Read or download or do whatever you like with Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature (1888) [archive.org]

greg

God bless the Puritans and their Biblical baby naming strategies. Or as they might put it, God, please don't damn their infants to a fiery hell for only having a two- or three-word scripture phrase as a given/baptismal name.

Sarah Marshall has a great set of Puritan naming highlights at The Hairpin, culled from Pastor Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley's 12-year labor of love, Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature, published in 1888.

Repent Durant, Helpless Henley, and is Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith White a cousin to the first Pilgrim born in Plymouth, Peregrine White? Ask God-only-knows Burns.

Your 2012 Baby Name Guide: Puritan Edition [thehairpin via the awl]
Previously: The Peregrine White Cradle

greg

Jason continues his epic review of the Xbox 360 Kinect.

From elsewhere in The Post: If your high-schooler is thinking about applying to colleges, point him or her to this funny post on the Campus Overload blog. Guest blogger Eric N. Harris, a junior at the University of Maryland, writes about dealing with rejection letters:

Read full article >>

From elsewhere in The Post: Should college students major in a subject they love, even if it won’t lead to a high-paying job? Momspeak columnist Tracy Grant says yes, and disagrees with the advice from her colleague Michelle Singletary.

Read full article >>

From elsewhere in The Post: Is humiliating a child on Facebook the best way to teach him not to lie? A concerned family member asks advice columnist Marguerite Kelly.

“I recently opened Facebook and found that my sister had posted a picture of my nephew, her son, who was crying and holding a sign that said, ‘I lied to my family,’” says the letter writer. Read full article >>

I ran 20 miles last Saturday, and plan the same for this weekend.

Why? Why would anyone do that? Especially a guy with a busy family?

I’ve heard a lot of dads (and some moms) try to answer this question. None have been all that satisfying to me. My own attempts to answer, perhaps representative, are no less so.

Obvious (non) answer: Marathon training. Okay. Again. Why?

Sanctimonious answer: To raise money and awareness for my cause.

Meh. While both Hand to Hold and Colin’s Hope are amazing charities that deserve whatever money and attention Team DadLabs can generate (I wish it was more: donate here), that’s not even remotely an honest answer. For me, anyway. There are some people performing athletic feats that garner media attention that might actually benefit a cause, but over half a million people completed a marathon last year. Mine will not be in any way remarkable, I hope. It’s not about the charity.

Smug answer: To model for my kids that you can accomplish even seemingly impossible tasks through discipline and perseverance.

Nah. Though my oldest son has taken careful note of my training. He and I have found a great topic of shared conversation — shoes, workouts, gear. He seems to be proud of what I’m doing. My daughter is mostly mortified that I sometimes wear running tights to drive carpool (I never get out of the car, but she is nevertheless utterly horrified). My youngest likes that I’m gone on weekend mornings so he can play Skylanders, undisturbed. I think that some positive impact on my kids might be a consequence, but it’s not about the offspring.

Self-pitying answer: To compensate for my sacrifice of all exercise when my children were little.

Pure bullshit. I didn’t feel like running in my 30s. It seemed narcissistic and shallow. Sitting was more comfortable. The kids made me laugh. All good. Maybe having babies around for all those years lowered my testosterone like the studies show. I also thought being fat was kind of funny. It fit with my teacher gig. It’s not about making up for lost time.

Semi-honest answer: Vanity.

I like long-term challenges. I geek out on the data, training plans, gear. I like solitude and have found a genuine pleasure in the longer runs. Pinning on a number and standing in a starting gate is an adrenaline rush, even if you know you’re busting ass for 1462nd place. I like that it’s helped me lose weight.

Given that semi-honestly you may ask: Is it legit for a dad to pursue and almost entirely vain pursuit that consumes 10+ hours a week? Especially one that is far from risk free? I’d say the balance sheet is pretty good. Despite sketchy motives, I’ll still raise a bit of change for a good cause (come on, people), set a reasonably good example for the kids, and lose weight. As long as I continue to do 80-90% of my training while everyone is asleep, I think I can claim “no harm, no foul.”

And the fact that this all feels just the slightest bit defensive. That’s cool, right?

Sometimes things are captured on video that make your heart throw up inside your brain. It makes you wonder how humanity has survived as long as it has.

We posted this to our Facebook Page the other day, thinking people would be screaming, “what horrible parents that kid must have.” And then the comments took some interesting turns.

We know people lose track of their kids. We know there isn’t such a thing as perfect parenting. But allowing your kid to almost ride the escalator in the sky? Then, deep down or plain as day, we all know we’ve failed or at least rubbed elbows with the ultimate fail as parents.

This could have been any parent. Maybe they’re oblivious, absorbed in the sale section of some store or junior was lured away by a flashing light. We don’t know. But what we do know, is that some of you are the “catchers” in life, the people and parents doing good deeds because they desperately need doing. Trying. Striving. Catching.

We salute you. Whether you are catching your own kids or someone else’s. You are heroes.

Have a great weekend, heroes.

For a moment there, Funny or Die thought comedian Ahna Tessler's short comedy video, which included the new mom of twins breastfeeding, was obscene or whatever, and took it down. But when the Times started asking about it, they decided it was hot instead. And certianly hotter than some random beer ponger's junk. Which is now linked to by the paper of record, btw.

Breast-Feeding Video Prompts Harsher Response Than Intended [nyt]

greg

I barely missed it the other night, but DT reader Rolf sent the link along today. And sure enough, Maurice Sendak's interview with Stephen Colbert is as funny as hell:

It'll be sad when he's gone, which, wow, I wish him all the best and health, too, but maybe we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that the blurb for Colbert's forthcoming kids' book, I Am A Pole (And You Can, Too!) is the last thing Sendak writes.

Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak, Part 1 [colbertnation]

greg

Guest blogger Ben Cohen-Leadholm gets us outside on a frozen lake.

There has been a lot of controversy around breastfeeding lately.

Retail stores have told people they couldn’t do it within their walls. Formula companies implied that formula was a better route. It’s like breastfeeding is being silently marketed as obscene or something.

With all the swirling hatred on the topic, I thought my son and I should share our thoughts…

BREASTFEEDING:
GOT A PROBLEM? SUCK IT.

For those who have trouble producing milk or choose not to breastfeed, this isn’t directed at you. This is for the idiots who have a “problem” with breastfeeding and get all bent out of shape about something that women have been doing for eons.

I thought this photo of my wife and son would be most appropriate for you ridiculous few. Enjoy.

–

Need more boobie posts? Then, you’ll like this link a whole lot.

INFOGRAPHIC HELP Because you’re not getting any stupider about parenting, unless you look at those.
 

Wow, among the interesting items Andrew scouted out at Cologne specialty auction house W.G. Herr's most recent sale: this sweet, Swedish, molded ply rocking horse.

The label said it was a special edition made in 1970 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Nässjömöbel, a venerable furnituremaker which has been apparently wiped from the face of the Internet except for this horse. It's like the end of A.I., where the aliens just find the robot kid buried in the car or whatever.

Schaukelpferd, Nässjömöbel, 1970, sold for EUR200 [herr-auktionen.de via aapc]
1970's Nässjömöbel rocking horse, etc. [an ambitious project collapsing]

Previously: related: Brio molded ply rocking ox, also from Sweden, c. 1967
Lost Eames molded ply rocking horse

greg

Sometime ago we began a thing where the kids can opt to have their dessert in the bathtub.

That usually only happens when it's what you'd expect: popsicles or a lollipop.

Not Raisin Bran, which is what K2 insisted she really, really wanted for dessert. In the bathtub.

I really have no idea sometimes.

greg

Amid all the political commentary these days, Joanne Bamberger is noticing more female voices in the pundit chorus. They may not be the best known analysts or in the “Meet the Press” crowd, but these women have large followings, expansive networks and are discussing the political issues of the day. They come from the ranks of female writers often called “mommy bloggers.”

Read full article >>

When people ask me to list my favorite healthy foods, quinoa always tops the list. And not just because the National Restaurant Association named it the hottest trend in side dishes in 2010.

My boys think I like quinoa because when it was first discovered it was named “the mother grain.” Yes, I am proud to be a mother myself, but check out all the real reasons I love quinoa (pronounced “KEEN-wah”).

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You may have heard that LEGO has introduced a new line for girls. The series features girl-like figurines, slim, long-haired and big-eyed, in venues such as a beauty shop and cupcake cafe. It has been met with decidedly mixed reactions.

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