The Philosopher Dad

You Might Be Your Own Biggest Weakness - And You Might Not Know It

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:30:00 +0000

Since I started teaching, I've tried to bike to work as often as I can. This means that for most of the fall, and a good chunk of the spring I cycle about 80 km per week. Not a huge amount for serious cyclists, but decent. Last...

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An Open Letter to David Pollock, Mayor of Beaconsfield

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:51:00 +0000

Every month, Beaconsfield circulates a newsletter called CONTACT that lets us citizens know about all the great stuff happening in our town - like eBooks (and French eBooks) from the library, swimming lessons, hazardous waste collection days...

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Don't be a fucking idiot. Vaccinate your kids.

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:51:00 +0000

There's a terrifying story on Stuff (see link) about a family in New Zealand who opted not to vaccinate their children and then watched their 7 year old suffer for three weeks and almost die from tetanus. If you know me or have read this blog...

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When Students Are Smarter Than Teachers

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:32:00 +0000

One of the big news stories around here this week is how Dawson College expelled a student for exposing a security flaw in the online course management software they use. The software, called Ominvox, is used in many CEGEPs (junior college) in...

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Teaching My Son to Love Justin Bieber

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:17:00 +0000

All of my kids love Justin Bieber - and would gladly tell anyone about it; at least until recently. Something sad - and certainly not uncommon - has happened to Curious Boy recently. At his last birthday party, the subject of JB came up....

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noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:31:00 +0000

When I first started this blog in 2006, our first child - Curious Boy had just been born. It was a huge shift, and the ensuing years were filled with lots of change. Finishing graduate school, getting a job, having two more children (Zen...

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It's been a while...

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:28:00 +0000

It's really been a long time since I've been here, and in a lot of ways it's very good to be back. On a practical level my web marketing self was always angry that I abandoned a pretty valuable piece of web real estate. On a deeper level, this...

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What I've been up to...

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:50:00 +0000

It's been a veeeeerrrryyy long time since I've posted anything to this blog, and to my surprise, I now have more subscribers to the RSS feed than ever before! I've been busy, just not here. Since my last post, we've had a third...

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Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:11:00 +0000

Well, this site has been quiet, but I've been pretty busy. We moved in July and kid 3 came in early August. Aside from parenting, the thing keeping me busiest is my new website dedicated to families with milk and soy protein intolerance...

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Magic Ingredient In Breast Milk Protects Babies' Intestines

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Researchers Queen Mary, University of London have discovered that an ingredient in human breast milk protects and repairs the delicate intestines of newborn babies. The ingredient called pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor, or PSTI, is found...

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This Week in Science

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 01:47:00 +0000

1. Growing Years Cut Short For Toddlers From Poor FamiliesContinuous poverty during toddler years can curb the height of children by the time they reach kindergarten, even in industrialized countries, according to new research from the Université de...

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More BPA Bad News

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:35:00 +0000

A new study released in Environmental Health Perspectives shows that , in vitro, bisphenol A can interfere with several chemotherapy drugs. Read more at Tree Hugger or download the study here

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New look. More Ads

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:05:00 +0000

Well, once again I'm trying to make a concerted effort to post more regularly. If you look around you will also see that I'm trying to make a bit of cash. I'd love to move to philosopherdad.com and maybe be able to spend more time blogging. So...

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Phthalates!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:49:00 +0000

We've been working on going phthalate-free in our home, ditching just about everything that has "fragrance". Pthalates are known hormone disruptors, and have been banned in children's toys in Canada and the US. The trouble is, phthalates are found...

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Halloween - Don't worry so much about letting kids go crazy on the candy

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:42:00 +0000

This year, Curious Boy will be almost 3 at Hallowwen. This means that he understands about going out trick-or-treating and he understands about candy. The common advice to parents is to mete out candy over an extended period of time, but some...

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Ken Robinson @ TED: Schools Kill Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:33:00 +0000

I know it's ironic that a teacher would post this. But there you go.

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Two months since the last post........jeez!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:42:00 +0000

All of a sudden it's mid-(end of) July, and it's been two months since my last post! How did that happen? On a personal note, things have been well. I've been enjoying my first real holiday in years. Zen Girl continues to live up to her name,...

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Healthy Diet for Humanity

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:48:00 +0000

This TED talk by NY Times food critic is fun and thought provoking. How do you and your family eat?

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MSPI - Food Reintroduction Update

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:30:00 +0000

Well, Zen Girl is almost 1. We had a GI appointment about two weeks ago, and the GI and dietitian both felt that the time had come to begin seeing if she had grown out of any of her intolerances. They suggested that the best way to do that is for...

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Child Welfare ensure boy Gets Chemo

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Sun, 11 May 2008 01:38:00 +0000

This is a real heartbreaker. Child welfare officials have taken temporary custody of an 11-year-old Ontario boy to ensure he undergoes chemotherapy after his father decided to take him off treatment for his aggressive form of leukemia. A father who...

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Children Most Vulnerable to Climate Change

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:05:00 +0000

Children are among the most vulnerable members of society. Natural and man-made disasters often affect children more than adults because they are unable to fend for themselves. This is doubly true in poor countries, where children often suffer...

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Hyperparenting: The Helicopter Parent and Carl Honore with a Stinger Missile

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:34:00 +0000

When we went to visit daycares before Curious Boy was born, many of them tried to impress us with their school-like settings and workbooks for 3 year olds. Now, I'm a big fan of letting kids be kids for as long as possible, and Philosopher Mom is a...

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MSPI Wiki: A new online resource

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:51:00 +0000

We've made an effort to document our struggle with MSPI, and to collect online resources and to give advice to people who have written to us. Hardly a week goes by without someone telling me how lost and scared they were when their child was...

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Health Canada will Recognize Bisphenol A as dangerous.

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:46:00 +0000

In the wake of Enivronmental Defence's report on BPA in baby bottles that was released in February (and commented on extensively, here too). In our house we've stopped using polycarbonate plastics, and Health Canada seems to be all set to agree...

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Parental Behaviour Affects Quality of Child's Sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lautman) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:10:00 +0000

A new study done at Montreal's Sacre Coeur Hospital and set to be published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine shows that parental behaviour can dramatically affect the way kids sleep. Parents also reported their behavior at...

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