A week or two ago, Sasha would not go to bed. For most 2.5-year-olds, this would be pretty normal. But Sasha had always actually been pretty compliant. Sure, she’d fight us on brushing her teeth and insist on being read five different books (including an Elmo coloring book with no discernable story), but eventually she’d …
Author Archives: Matt
The Preschooler With the Dragon Tattoo: Or, Life in a Swedish Day Care
From the depths of the New York Daily News comes this heartwarming story about a Stockholm preschool that has done away with both traditional fairy tales and gendered pronouns: At the “Egalia” preschool, staff avoid using words like “him” or “her” and address the 33 kids as “friends” rather than girls and boys. From the …
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Okay, Maybe I Don’t Totally Hate ‘Dora’
Not long ago, I wrote a little about how much I hate “Dora the Explorer,” which was becoming Sasha’s favorite TV show. As I said back in May: Backpack, backpack. Backpack, backpack. Backpack, backpack. Backpack, backpack. Backpack, backpack. Backpack, backpack. Backpack, backpack. But recently, I’ve learned that “Dora” has its uses. Namely, when trying to get …
Adam Gopnik Can Draw. I Can’t.
So, in this week’s New Yorker, Adam Gopnik learns how to draw. An art-historian by training, he bumps into a neo-realist (or “traditionalist realist revivalist” or something) artist at a dinner party and starts studying the basic art of drawing with him. At first, it does not go too well: Why was I unable to …