One non-helicopter, non-Tiger mom’s search for a well-fitting label ends; neighbours call the police after a couple lets their kids walk alone; and Dax Shepard shares the mayhem of becoming a parent via major abdominal surgery.
By Sonia Verma
I'll Get That For You, Luv
Tiger moms, I have a nail cutter right here for those little claws. Helicopter parents, can you please hover a little to the left? You're blocking the sunshine on my kid's chosen path to school. Free-range parents? Just keep on running, and we'll get along just fiiiine. Today's Parent writer Emma Waverman's search to describe her own style of parenting ends with the joyful discovery of Snowplow Parenting, wherein parents clear every potential obstacle out of the kids' way to help them achieve it all.
While We're Talking Labels
A Maryland couple is being investigated for neglect after allowing their kids, ages 10 and 6, to walk home from the park unsupervised. An observer called the police, who brought the children home. After that, Child Protective Services has called and visited the family repeatedly, asked to investigate their home, and interviewed the children at school.
Kids See People, Not Labels
The only person who takes a 4-year-old's assertion that she is a girl seriously—she was born a boy and has a male name—is her twin sister. "For her, the definition of gender, the politics of it, and the way some people may look askance don’t matter. When someone recently referred to her twin as her brother, she quite forcefully yelled, “That’s my sister!” Her twin is who she says she is," writes Winifred Curran for the New York Times.
"Put Her Back Together Correctly!"
Three weeks after Kristen Bell gave birth to their daughter, Dax Shepard hilariously shares his take on labour and C-sections with Ellen. Watch the clip, but be warned that laughing can hurt your incision site.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMD-ebeJa-s#t=134 width:400 autoplay:0]Amber Alerts Come To Facebook
In a nice turnaround from parental shaming and duck-faced selfies, Facebook is using its powers for good. When a child goes missing, the social network will send AMBER alerts to U.S. users. "In Canada, many provincial Amber Alert systems already have Facebook pages that send alerts to users who "like" or subscribe to their page," the CBC reports.
