Parenting for Dummies: What Not to Do

Michael Chabon's essays on fatherhood, manhood paint him as quite a catch

(NEWSER) - Michael Chabon throws his voice into the widening pool of “daddy diaries” with Manhood for Amateurs, which offers “poignant meditations on manhood, fatherhood, and aspects of his own childhood.” The Pulitzer Prize-winning author emerges from the essays “as a prince among men,” writes Heller McAlpin for NPR. “Not only does he produce dazzling novels, he also cooks, cleans, markets, and gets his children to their appointments—and counts himself fortunate to be in a position to do so.” More»

(NEWSER) - Modern mothers spend more time with their children than those in the June Cleaver era, a new study concludes. Diaries compiled for the study show that, despite working more, today's moms spend less time on things like housework, leisure, and sleep to devote four more hours per week to interacting with their kids than moms did in 1965. More»

Jamie Lynne Grumet says it's 'not the way we breastfeed at home'

(NEWSER) - The brouhaha over Time magazine's breastfeeding-mom cover came as no surprise to the cover-mom herself: I "knew what we were getting into," Jamie Lynne Grumet tells the Today show. Grumet says she understands Time's decision to run the image, which doesn't represent "the way we breastfeed at home," which is "more of a nurturing, cradling situation." And it makes sense that people—including extended-nursing proponents—would be miffed by the picture, she says: It doesn't "show the nurturing side to attachment parenting." Meanwhile, she says her son Aram, almost 4, is "self-weaning" and she hopes to stop nursing in the coming year. More»

Bodies found at campground, handgun nearby

(NEWSER) - A mother and her three young daughters were found shot to death near a Missouri campground in what police believe was a triple murder-suicide. Each was killed by a single gunshot, and the weapon was found near the bodies, according to police. The four were not staying at the Bourbon campground, but the mother's vehicle was found nearby. They were identified as 37-year-old Christine Adewunmi, and daughters Lauren, 8, Samantha, 6, and Kate, 3. Christine's husband and the father of the girls reported them missing last week, according to KMOX-TV . "There was no indication of any problems," a neighbor told Fox2. More»

That makes men better parents, researchers believe

(NEWSER) - Who knew newborns could have such a significant physical impact on their dads' bodies? Scientists have discovered that fathers experience a significant reduction in their body's testosterone with the birth of a son or daughter. They believe it's Mother Nature's way of making men less interested in things like fighting and flirting, and more likely to be a nurturing parent and loyal spouse. Men with babies less than a month old showed the most significant reduction of testosterone, the study found. More»