Browse by Tags

• Having Kids Ruins Marriage

  Marriage, as many studies have shown, go a long way to increasing a person's happiness and longevity.  Just as long as you don't have kids. This recent study finds that people who have children experience a significant unhappiness in their marriage during the child rearing years. Children actually do make couples happier—before they arrive. Pregnant or planning for pregnancy couples get an upswing in  happiness, but that tanks once junior arrives on the scene. Married couples, should their unions survive the unholy process of childrearing, go back to being totally blissful once the kids leave the house. When is happiness at it's lowest point?... Read More... Posted May 13 2008, 09:00 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: kids, birth, marriage, Harvard, study, singles, empty nest, child rearing, adolescence, unhappy, Ruin

• Son, perhaps you should consider a trade

  Not only is it impossible to get junior into that elite Kindergarten, once you do, the little rat won't be able to get into college. At least that's what the numbers are telling us this week. According to the Wall Street Journal, Harvard admitted 7.1% of students who applied this year, down from 8.9%...   Read More... Posted Apr 04 2008, 02:15 PM by Brett Singer with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: education, news, Harvard, stress, wall street journal, college, Dr. Phil, kindergarten, university, yale, college admissions, university of north texas, university of texas

• To Afford Tuition, Quit Your Job

  You those letters you get that tell you to starting to save now for the kids' college?  Here's a better idea: just quit your job. Brown has joined Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Stanford and will offer free tuition to students whose families earn less than $60,000 per year. One way they can afford this is to increase tuition by 3.9%, inching ever closer to the $50,000 mark for one year of tuition plus room and board (the New York Times says the amount is $47,740). As my lovely wife says, cool - we'll just quit our jobs when the kids graduate high school. Read More... Posted Feb 26 2008, 01:23 PM by Brett Singer with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: education, Harvard, college, brown, yale

• Screw Soccer--Can Your Kids Dance With the Fever?

  Oh, I'm sure sports are good and character-building and all, but let's face it: When Junior grows up, how many chances is he going to have to wow his fellow accountants at the office holiday party with his knee dribbling skills? Are your little angel's slugging skills going to help her show up fellow executives at the company outing to a local nightclub? Do you even have any funky moves yourself to bring it this holiday season, or are you relegated to photocopying parts of your party or wearing tinsel as a feather boa in order to impress your office mates? Go forth after the jump and learn. Read More... Posted Dec 11 2007, 06:08 PM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: sports, Harvard, videos, dancing, afterschool activities, disco, life skills

• Helicopter Parents Need to Chill

  Helicopter parents -- those over-worried people who believe their children require assistance with every little task --  are being advised to ease up.  There is plenty to be afraid of these days and it is understandable that a natural inclination to protect might easily become hovering. But what is the difference between proper protection and attending to the needs of your children and training stressed out Little Freaks of Capitalism?  I think it's time to re-institute healthy neglect -- leaving your children to their own devices.  A little more "Go outside and play!" and less "Would you like to build a radio transmitter with Daddy?" I think it is quite likely that children allowed the freedom to play with low-tech toys, relax and do nothing, and left free of the flashcards, language and dance lessons and sideline instructions from tight-lipped parents, might in the end find out that freedom and creativity are more satisfying than preschool at Harvard. Posted Jan 14 2007, 06:00 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: sex offenders, parents, capitalism, helicopter parents, protecting children, Harvard, low-tech toys