“My child must succeed! I will give her every opportunity to succeed! She will learn to write tricky words like ‘constitution’ in a lovely, calligraphic hand, but her vocabulary will never include ‘failure’!” It was such modest claims that inspired me to satirize competitive parenting in The Perfect Baby Handbook. Now, it turns out, that […]

» Continue reading "Perfect babies, perfect parents, and FAILure"

In the middle of the most recessive recession in decades, you’d think attendance at private schools might dip a bit. Nope, reports the Economist in a semi-horrifying story that makes you want to drown someone. In fact, even more parents are scrambling for the right to pay surreal, bankruptcy-inducing amounts: Compared with last year, applications […]

» Continue reading "Why insanely costly private schools could (but don’t) charge even more"

A perfect baby name predestines success without giving off the stench of banality. At least, that was my theory when I began researching The Perfect Baby Handbook. But I needed proof. Luckily, I stumbled upon “Baby Name Report Card: Beneficial and Harmful Baby Names,” a qualitative analysis based on large-scale surveys conducted over 10 years […]

» Continue reading "Which baby names ensure success? Ask Dr. Mehrabian!"