It’s not often that a book about parenting will grace the cover of TIME magazine, but the storm of reaction to “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” by Amy Chua, the so-called Tiger Mom’s book is unprecedented.

I found my own reaction, as a “Kosher dad,” to be decidedly mixed. My Jewish background also prizes and values education, but we go about it slightly differently. Do we use the extreme punishments of Tiger Mom such as no play-dates, endless practice of either piano or violin, harsh criticism when a …

No one could ever accuse me of being too PC (politically correct). I’m always willing to also address the inherent differences between the sexes, in honest and frank ways. Not only do I hate Valentines Day, I hate using the word, “gender” in place of “sex” when referring to men and women. Sometimes I use “gender” just to avoid the letters I’m bound to receive from the PC police, but since I’m taking on Valentine’s Day, I might as well go for it all at once.
The reality …

Isn’t that one of the things we often say to ourselves, “I Hate When I Do That”? As a general rule, I dislike using the word “hate” as casually as it is generally used. I prefer to reserve “hate” for someone or something more serious; for instance, I hate the guy who shot all those innocent people in Arizona (his name should ever be forgotten). But, as the use of this phrase is so ubiquitous, I will make an exception and take this literary license this time and use …

Facebook made a minor change in how its interface worked, if that is even the right terminology. I went into a minor fit, immediately e-mailing a techie friend for help, in my momentary panic, because it seemed my Facebook “Wall” was gone! My friend was unavailable and after a little while of searching around on my profile and my “page,” I was able to figure it out and all was again well with the world.
I realized how my parents felt when they were trying to learn to …

I’m a baby-boomer. I’m a Yuppie. I’m a man. I’m a dad. I’m divorced. I’m re-married. I’m a writer. And, I’m sometimes a mess. It’s a confusing world, no doubt, and the evolution of technology in my lifetime has contributed to my confusion. Let’s consider what has occurred in the past half-century or so, since I was born.
When I was a child, media, and technology were pretty simple. Media meant the newspaper, three networks, and going to the movies. …

I wonder who remembers that famous quote from the 1967 movie, “Cool Hand Luke,” improper use of English and all (it should be “have” rather than “got”)? That quote brings to mind the problems most parents face in communicating with their children, especially as their children enter their teen years when all of a sudden things dramatically change. Many teens tend to think that their parents have all of a sudden become stupid, since most teens believe they have all of a sudden become experts in everything.
Being the …

We all have made New Year’s resolutions. Last year I wrote a different column about them in which I included both my own New Year’s resolutions and some wishes for others, the world, and myself. This year, rather than repeat another set of resolutions and wishes, I’m going to do a baseball scorecard, based on the results from last year. And, like last year, there will be no particular order, though unlike last year, I will have a score at the end.
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I find it hard to believe but this is my one hundredth “A Dad’s Point-of-View” column. How best to celebrate this milestone? I’d like to look back at the previous 99 and choose ten strong ideas among them and briefly share them with you, by giving the title of the column and a short summary of what may be the little pearl of wisdom that came out of the 800 plus words contained within it.
1. There’s No Such Thing as Quality Time.
I learned early …

With all the wonderful technology at our fingertips, one would think that keeping track of appointments and being on time would be easier than ever. I suspect that punctuality is largely going the way of shame and honesty, and becoming less ubiquitous, less obligatory. Texting that there’s traffic delaying one’s arrival is the new excuse for not leaving on time in the first place. Is this good? How does this affect our kids? And, like with the relative loss of shame and honesty, how will …

“If Not Now, When?” is a famous quote by Rabbi Hillel from about 2,000 years ago. If ever there was a timeless question this is it, especially as we enter the holiday season. It really applies to just about everything in our lives, but for the sake of staying “on point,” I am applying it to parenting.
Everyone remembers the classic Harry Chapin song, “The Cat’s in the Cradle,” which is about a dad who taught his son to be like himself–a too busy dad to make …