When Nomi and I were first approached by Brookline Patch to write a parenting column, it seemed to us an obvious fit. We were new parents, surrounded by many other new parents in town, and we fell into a few demographics that were either already well represented in our world or growing. Our experiences as parents could help illuminate this part of our culture and maybe serve as helpful advice to others, and so we eagerly became members of the Patch team. The one issue that concerned us, though, was privacy. When Nomi was pregnant, we had made a point of not talking about her pregnancy on our …

As we sit here in the first days of 2013, we can't help but think about where we were at the beginning of 2012 and what has happened in the past year. Last year at this time, Muffin and Squeaker were not quite two-and-a-half years old. They were going to a playgroup in Brighton, and they were learning how to socialize with kids other than each other. It wasn't the easiest thing for them to learn; while most kids their age have just started to learn about collaborative play, Muffin and Squeaker had learned about playing together at an early age. The issue was convincing them that they could …

A week ago today, twenty children, all just a little older than the two of you, were murdered in their school classrooms. Mass shootings like these often feel remote to us, as in the past they have tended to take place far away. But last week’s shootings, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, happened only one state over. As we write these words to you, the news is filled with reports of the children’s funerals, debates about the society we live in, questions about gun control and mental illness – all the things that typically happen after a mass shooting. It’s a script…

In one of his short stories, writer Spider Robinson, known for his Callahan’s Bar science-fiction stories, has a character make an observation about our connection to our family. “Everybody's got roots in the past,” Robinson's character notes, “but they's all got roots in the future, too.” I thought about Robinson’s observation last month during Brookline Town Meeting. I’ve been an elected member of Town Meeting for over a decade. Most of what we do is relatively straightforward. For example, we pass the budget every May, after the Selectmen, Advisory Committee, and town departments have …

Mid-November is an odd time for activities. It's no longer really apple-picking season; the leaves have mostly fallen so leaf peeping is not a viable activity; and the weather is getting less predictable. Darkness comes early, and the colder weather often precludes extended outdoor activities. And sometimes you don't want to travel particularly far away for amusement. This past Sunday, we didn't have any specific plans for the day. We had some tentative plans to get together with an out-of-town friend, but when those fell through, we weren't sure how to spend the day. Michael thought it might…

My grandmother, Clara Baker (known as Clara Baker Cohen after she got married), grew up in Somerville. She attended junior high and high school with Harry Ellis Dickson and convinced him to follow her to the New England Conservatory. Years later, she toured the country with a violin trio, while Dickson joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conducted the Boston Pops. Dickson also became father-in-law to Governor Michael Dukakis, who as we all know, was the Democratic presidential candidate in 1988. I thought of my grandmother last week as the election was approaching, because I recalled my …

Last school year, when Muffin and Squeaker were two years old, we enrolled them in a playgroup that comprised six two-year-olds. While they loved the playgroup, many mornings Muffin would resist getting ready to go, as she wanted to stay home with our beloved babysitter and didn't want to be separated from her. However, as soon as she arrived at the playgroup, Muffin threw herself wholeheartedly into the activities, sometimes not even waiting to say goodbye before plunging in. She and Squeaker both thrived in the playgroup, making friends that she still asks about now that they are no longer …

Before Nomi and I had children of our own, we knew from visiting friends of ours who were already parents that children lead to clutter.  Now, Nomi and I are used to having some clutter around, but in general we manage to control it somewhat. Our general rule is a pile for everything, and everything in its pile. Muffin and Squeaker don’t have a good sense yet of how to control their clutter in the same way. Part of playing with their toys or reading their books seems to be figuring out how to fill every square centimeter of the floor with stuff. I wouldn’t mind so much if I didn’t have to …

Every Sunday is a challenge for our family. As we’ve mentioned before, the days of us lazily spending our Sundays at home, perhaps vegging out in front of the television, are long gone. We have a responsibility now, to Muffin and Squeaker, to give them a stimulating Sunday every week. This past Sunday, we were trying to decide what to do for the day to amuse them. One of the families with whom we have had a number of play dates this summer said they were not available because they were attending Brookline Day at Larz Anderson Park. We hadn't been thinking of going, due to us not having a car …

  When Muffin and Squeaker first started walking around the apartment, I instituted a strict rule: no kids in the kitchen. This was primarily a safety precaution. While we had worked to childproof the majority of the house as much as possible, it was virtually impossible to make the kitchen child-friendly. By design, the kitchen contains very sharp knives, appliances that get very hot, and drawers that, while attractive to small kids, contain items that are not meant for unskilled hands.  This rule carried through, with some violations, until the girls were almost two and a half. During this …

Believe it or not, The Brookline Parent has reached a major milestone today, our fiftieth column. In its honor, we’ve decided to take a look back at some of the topics we’ve covered over the past fifty columns and contemplate the column’s place in the world. Or, as some of my friends might say, it’s time for a clip show. Ahem. A little less than two years ago, Brookline Patch approached Nomi and me about writing this column. We were relatively new parents, with our daughters a little over a year old. You might think that we wouldn’t have time to take on another commitment, but we jumped at …

I can’t remember a time when I did not know about Superman. I was introduced to comic books and comic book superheroes at a very young age, and to this day I still have my entire comic book collection, which numbers in the thousands. (Nomi is very understanding.) Naturally, I wanted Muffin and Squeaker to develop my love of superheroes. I thought I might buy them some superhero comic books, casually leave them scattered around, and let them discover the comics “on their own.” But as babies and early toddlers, Muffin and Squeaker’s first impulse was to rip pages out of books. I didn’t want …

With the recent death of Dr. Sally Ride, I have been thinking a lot about what science education was like for me as a kid and what it might be like for Muffin and Squeaker as they grow up. Muffin and Squeaker have been interested in how the world works from as early as they could ask questions. As the girls have gotten older and more mature in their understanding, Michael and I have started giving more sophisticated answers to their questions. And now they have reached a point at which we can ask them what they think the answers might be. This often means that instead of answering the same …

“Truck.” It seems strange to me today, but according to what my parents told me when I was in my teens, “truck” was my very first word. Apparently, I was quite fond of a toy truck my parents had gotten me, and I played with it quite a lot. So, not surprisingly, “truck” ended up being my first word. After all, it was one of the most prevalent objects in my tiny universe. I saw this sort of thing replicate itself last year when Squeaker and then Muffin spoke their first words. We fed them each a sliced banana every day, and when it came time for them to speak, “banana” was their first word. It …

Since September, Muffin and Squeaker have been in a playgroup for two-year-olds that they have adored. But with the end of the month of June came the end of playgroup for them. And this year, their first week without playgroup coincided with our babysitter's annual week-long camping trip with her family, which left us with two girls eager for fun and excitement but no distinct plan.  We started off the week on a high note. This year, for the first time, instead of celebrating the girls' birthday with our adult friends, we invited about fifteen of the girls' friends from the six-and-under set…

A while back in The Brookline Parent, I noted that a common theme of some of my columns seemed to be that of sleep and not getting enough of it. At first, I felt a little self-conscious about this realization, but when I mentioned to someone that I had written five columns on sleep, her response was, “Only five?” I took that as a good sign; obviously, this is a topic that can be plumbed over and over again for fresh insights. Or revisited simply because, yet again, I’m exhausted. Why am I so tired? Let us cast our minds back to last weekend. On Friday, Muffin was cranky and in the afternoon …

When Muffin and Squeaker were infants, people often commented on one specific feature--their hair. They were born with full heads of hair, and almost everyone who commented assured us that the hair they were born with would fall out. "It won't last," they said. "Infant hair never stays." As the girls got taller, their hair got longer. The infant hair, in fact, never did fall out, and, rather quickly, each girl's hair began to resemble Michael's or mine. Muffin's slightly wavy, lightweight hair resembled Michael's from when he was younger. Squeaker's thick, curly-bordering-on-frizzy hair was …

When Muffin and Squeaker were born, Nomi and I were delighted that they were twins. Yes, those first few months were rough, especially when it came to getting enough sleep. (Nomi noted the frustration of having one baby fall asleep while the other one keeps you awake for hours.) But having twin girls means that for their entire childhood, Muffin and Squeaker will have a constant playmate in their lives—each other. Both Nomi and I have siblings, and we always intended to have more than one child. We felt that it was important for any child of ours not to be alone. Personally, I always wanted …

Ever since Muffin was about a year and a half old, her favorite word has been "why." She wants to know why things are the way they are. This desire to know extends to almost everything in her universe. Questions she has asked include, "Why does rain fall?" (prompting a brief explanation of the water cycle from Michael); "Why does Mommy have to go to work?" (prompting a short explanation of what parents do during the day); and "Why is it breakfast time?" (prompting a terse response regarding scheduling and having to get to playgroup on time). Squeaker, on the other hand, wants to know how …

With the girls approaching their third birthday, we thought we were done with teething, but apparently we were wrong. Two of Squeaker’s back molars have just began erupting, causing her great pain. Nomi and I have been easing her through the teething process with children’s ibuprofen, chocolate pudding, and two small plastic icepack teething toys shaped like a cat and a dog that we got during their original round of teething. Squeaker’s recent teething pain got me thinking about the troubles we’ve had getting the kids to care for their teeth properly. Dental hygiene is something of an …