Trolls are supposed to live under bridges. Or in fetid forest dens. They are supposed to be freaks, squat and bug-eyed—tolerated only because they happen to have spectacularly vivid, comb-able hair. Trolls are not supposed to be privileged trust-fund recipients who share a flashy two-story beach house and zip around scoring Ecstasy in their collectible […]

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Here, we have a $92 prefabricated eco-lemonade stand. Made of premium recycled cardboard. What a marvelous, crucial invention. Only a reckless parent would let his child attempt entrepreneurship spontaneously, by herself—possibly suffering injury or embarrassment while improvising a lemonade stand out of, say, a folding card table. Babygadget.com, who ardently recommends this product, has this […]

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Kids of America, beware! The New York Times has just given your parents the okay to ruin your lives. Op-ed writer/sadist David Brooks, summarizing recent research into the genesis of genius, dismisses Mozart’s innate talent and credits his dad, Mr. Mozart Sr., for whipping the lame young composer into a superhuman: What Mozart had, we […]

» Continue reading "Newsflash: Mozart was average, just practiced a lot!"

After my recent encounter with oddly spacious play-dwellings, I began to wonder if the market for such necessities had burst. Could Liliput Play Homes and other purveyors of perfect-child mansions still be doing brisk business, when sales of adult-sized—and even millionaire-sized—homes have plummeted? I’m guessing the answer is no, judging from these desperate-sounding ads I […]

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More on the “who’s to blame—parents or teachers?” debate. This from Dr. Melissa Clouthier, a chiropractor who blogs “with children literally sitting on my head”: Slow parenting might be a new trend, though I’m dubious. Aggressive, strung-out parenting seems to be the norm. Kids have their extra-curricular activities and then they come home…where they are […]

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