Babble

Every night at bedtime I pick out four or five books to read to Jackson before he falls asleep. He has approximately 40,000 books so it's easy to keep it fresh for the people. I normally choose something old, like a Golden Book; something TV-based, like a Scooby Doo mystery; a Calvin and Hobbes anthology; and something ...

Oh, hi! Sorry I haven't been around much, but all my time has been sucked into that black hole of a Web site: Webkinz. If you have a child between the ages of six and nine your life, like mine, is potentially worth nothing more than how much KinzCash you can earn to help your child to feed and furnish the lavish rooms of his or her fluffy ...

On our first night of vacation in New York City we walked to Cafe Loup for a nice dinner. We'd last been there six years ago, when Jackson was still residing, rent-free, inside of me. We weren't too sure how out-of-the-womb and ambulatory Jackson would do in a grown-up restaurant, as we never go out when we're home in California, so we made him a ...

We're taking Jackson on his first trip to New York and as usual I've done no advance preparation. I know that children are allowed to live in New York City, and that during the winter months they're sequestered in large brick buildings called ''schools,'' but what happens to them in the summer months? Do you just hand them a wrench, point to the ...

Apparently it's my destiny to fly through parenthood by the seat of my pants. Ooh, there's a surprise. I've never once made a plan that stuck, or visualized a glorious future for myself-in-five-years and watched it blossom into fragrant completion. I just make it up as I go along, but Jackson's birthday this year took the cake. Cake! Ha ha! The ...