DADWAGON

A quick and belated shot-out to DadWagon friend (and, when we are lucky, commenter) Nathan Hegedus, who currently has the “most liked” story on Slate, about The Happy Life of a Swedish Dad.

Why is it most liked? Because, at root, it’s about the superiority of the European safety net, a cherished trope among Slate-reading progressives (like us). It’s particularly needed these days because progressives seem to be getting their asses handed to them in each new vote and poll and failed cable HQ hijacking.

But seriously, it’s a good read, and shows just a bit of the forced insanity of trying to raise a kid in peace in the U.S. Plus, Nathan put up a picture of his kid, something most of us here at DadWagon haven’t done yet. Mainly, I guess, because we fear you, the People of the Internet.

Slate readers, on the other hand, wouldn’t hurt a fly. And besides, Sweden’s a little far away for convenient childstalking.

Well done, Mr. Hegedus.

Via Strollerderby today I learned that 41 American children died this summer because their parents forgot them in the car on a hot day. That’s a lot of absent-minded parents!

It reminded me of a story an older woman I used to work with told me about her first child. During her pregnancy, she and her husband used to enjoy taking walks together in the early evening. A turn or two around the block in Manhattan in late summer, what could be better, right? Eventually, the baby came, and in those first few blissful weeks of parenthood, the couple decided to take one of their walks. They got on their shoes, readied the infant’s pram (this was a while ago), took a few extra bibs, a bottle, whatever they thought they might need. Then they headed out.

Without the baby.

So I can see how this sort of thing might happen, I guess. The solution at Strollerderby was to require parents to install “forgotten children alarms” in cars, which could work, although it seems a bit draconian. It won’t completely solve the problem, of course, as the article noted that a full 18 percent of those 41 children were intentionally left in the car.

God bless America.

On Tuesday, Sasha tried to feed macaroni and cheese to a toy elephant. Then she took a plastic figurine into the bath. Clearly, this 21-month-old is learning how to treat inanimate objects as play partners, which means I have to face facts: She needs a doll of some kind, something she can identify with, name, and have accompany her through her daily life.

But what do we get? As an effete asshole, I don’t want her to get anything too commercial—no Barbie, no Bratz, no American Girl. Why not? Um, do I even need to explain? We’ve got enough Elmo problems without adding to them.

So, here are the requirements:

• Not overly corporate.
• Waterproof: It’s gotta be able to go in the bath without getting trashed.
• Not expensive: I expect us to lose this thing pretty quickly.
• Options: Clothes we can add/change.
• Not too goddamn annoying.

What do you think?