De Facto Parents

Now children can have multiple legal parents without biology, adoption, or marriage.
By William C. Duncan

In his 1988 book Silent Revolution, Herbert Jacob described how one of the most significant changes to family law in the 20th century, no-fault divorce, began in California and spread through the states with very little public debate or controversy. This remarkable transformation was presented, and largely accepted, as routine policymaking in the domain of legal experts.

Similarly, a revolution in the legal understanding of parenthood seems to have quietly begun with little or no public debate or discussion. This dramatically transformative development is the statutory recognition of “de facto” parenthood — the notion that an unrelated individual (usually the unmarried partner of a biological parent, but potentially any adult) can be designated as the legal “parent” of a child by virtue of an agreement with a biological or adoptive parent, or even just a relationship with the child. In some cases, three or more people may be designated “parents” of the same child. While a handful of state courts have endorsed the idea in the context of disputes between same-sex couples jointly raising children, not until very recently has a legislature endorsed it.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzcwZjA0ODk2NzM2NzY4N2IyYTQwYmY1NGQ3NGUyODc

Parenting pathways

Carolyn Moynihan

If your parents were negative and harsh with you growing up, that’s theway you will be with your kids. And if they were positive andaffectionate, well, lucky for your kids. That’s the assumption behind apopular theory of parenting, but researchers who have done long-termstudies say it’s wrong. Read more...

All shall be poor

Barbara Kay

How today’s sexual narcissists insist on propagating their dreary values.

A hot new must-read book making the rounds is Frenchwoman Corinne Maier's No Kids: Forty Good Reasons Not To Have Children. Having read her embarrassingly superficial Maclean's interview and perused the jejune list of what constitutes "reasons" for Maier --kids cut into your "fun," kids are "conformists" --I'll pass on actually reading the book. Yet, because it would seem there was both money and celebrity to be gleaned from time Maier might otherwise have idly frittered away in an afternoon nap, I'm tempted to give the idea a whirl myself.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/all_shall_be_poor/

What the Experts Are Saying Now

The most recent research in child development. Among the findings: 4-year-olds lie once an hour.

By KAY HYMOWITZ
For more than a century American parents—ever more distanced from grandmothers and ­suspicious of tradition—have looked to social ­science to explain their children to them. Thus they have gobbled up books and articles by experts who ­periodically deliver the latest truths about ­child-rearing. Back in 1945, when Dr. Spock published his "Baby and Child Care," readers' devotion to expert opinion was so intense that he began his book with the reassuring words: "Trust yourself." Not that he ­believed it. The book was jammed with advice.

Now, in "NurtureShock," Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman survey the newest new findings about child development. Little in the book is all that shocking, but given our enthusiasm for turning tentative child ­research into settled policy, the studies that the ­authors discuss are of more than passing interest.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574371422231600220.html

Fathers aren't dispensable just yet

This story is a fascinating “take” on the differences between mothers and fathers, and possibly relevant to the debate over same sex parenting….

by Linda Geddes

YOU may be tempted to think men are becoming an optional extra in the mating game, but biochemical evidence in mice and people suggests that fathers may play a key role in the rearing of offspring. Previous studies have hinted at the importance of fathers in child-rearing. Some have shown that girls reach puberty younger, become sexually active earlier and are more likely to get pregnant in their teens if their father was absent when they were young. Others have suggested that the sons of absent fathers display lower intimacy and self-esteem.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327184.000-fathers-arent-dispensable-just-yet.html

Children are worth having

Barbara Lilley

Are people who have children selfish? Would the world be better off if more of us were childless?

In an August 3, 2009 Maclean's Magazine article, “No Kids, No Grief”, author Anne Kingston takes a look at what appears to be a growing and vocal section of society – people who have decided against having children.
The reasons for refusing to procreate seem to run along the lines of the following: it's better for the environment, children are expensive, having them means you have to give up some material things you'd rather not and my personal favourite, childless marriages are far happier.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/children_are_worth_having/

The Importance of Family Meals

by Rebecca Hagelin
How often does your family have dinner together?
That simple question often evokes an answer of, "Ummmmmm......"
What used to be the most basic of activities has become increasingly difficult to schedule in today's busy world. But bringing back the time-honored practice of "breaking bread" with your own family could be the single greatest step you take toward saving your family from all kinds of ills.
http://townhall.com/columnists/RebeccaHagelin/2009/07/08/the_importance_of_family_meals?page=full&comments=true

Child misery lit gives parents a bad rap

Carolyn Moynihan

My Sister’s Keeper, a movie that opens in the United States this Friday, brings to the big screen the pessimistic view of parenthood that has made writer Jodi Picoult enormously popular and rich. In this dark narrative a couple with a delinquent teenage son and a daughter who has an acute form of leukemia conceive a third child to serve as her bone-marrow donor.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/child_misery_lit_gives_parents_a_bad_rap/

Imaginary friends are natural

Carolyn Moynihan

Are children who have imaginary friends a little abnormal? Are theycompensating for a lack of real friends or for some internal malaise?Not at all, according to Australian researchers at La Trobe University.In fact, it seems to come naturally to the majority of children toinvent an invisible companion. What’s more, it gives them better socialskills than those who don’t.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/imaginary_friends_are_natural/

Fearless parenting

Mark Gregston

Fearful parents of teenagers today often believe that they'll avoid trouble by keeping their teenager always in their sight, by fixing their every problem, and by generally keeping them under their control. But I've learned that parents will gain more in the long run, and could avoid a season of teenage rebellion, by taking decisive steps to give up some of the control they have over their teen's daily life.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=551698

PTC: TV ratings system needs overhaul

Allie Martin - OneNewsNow -

The Parents Television Council (PTC) is calling for change and greater transparency in the TV ratings system.

The Federal Communications Commission is currently taking public comments in connection with the Child Safe Viewing Act. During that process, it is inviting comments on the current ratings system -- which it notes more than 80 percent of parents are familiar with, but most do not understand it. In response, the PTC has filed comments detailing how the TV ratings system is flawed.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=536804