Hi, Dr. Smith! Thanks for taking my call. Yes, everything is still going fine with the pregnancy. I just remembered that you said I should reach out to you if I ever had any questions, and I actually do have a few that I just thought of recently. Do you have a minute? Great!
So, for starters, I Googled “expected cost of college 2040” yesterday and passed out immediately after hitting Search. Is there anything I should do about that?
How should I plan to balance my desire to take and share as many photos of my child as possible with my awareness that social media seems to be having an over-all destructive influence on society?
I don’t like beef stew. So, if my kid likes beef stew, how do I deal with that?
When I was fifteen, I got really into the Rolling Stones and confidently stated that “Exile on Main Street” was my favorite album of theirs, but in retrospect, it seems pretty clear that I only said this because “Exile on Main Street” is the Rolling Stones album that music critics usually say is their best one, and now that I’m older and more secure in my own opinions, I think it’s safe to say that I actually like “Beggars Banquet” and “Some Girls” better. So, when my child turns fifteen and says that “Exile on Main Street” is his favorite Rolling Stones album, is it better for me to explain to him right then that he doesn’t have to say this just because it’s what music critics usually say, or do I just let him figure that out on his own?
How do I make sure nothing bad happens? To my child, I mean. But I guess also in general, if you happen to have that information as well.
Would you mind just telling me that college will be free in 2040? I was never actually able to bring myself to look at the search results, and it would be pretty gratifying to spend at least a few days blissfully assuming that college will cost nothing in 2040.
What is the best way to explain Robert Downey, Jr., to my child? And how big of a role should “Iron Man 2” play in this explanation?
I was taking the Metro-North back to New York City after going home for Easter about nine years ago, and a dad and his young son sat down next to me, and his son was screaming and crying, and after about thirty minutes of this, I asked the dad if his son might want a piece of my Easter candy, and the dad said sure, so I gave him a chocolate egg, and his son ate it and instantly calmed down, and the rest of the train ride was very peaceful and enjoyable. How do I make sure that every interaction I have with my own child is equally successful?
Raising a child now is objectively harder than it was when my parents were raising me, right? Can you please put that in writing and send it to them? I’ll give you their address.
What are the best ways to let the people my child and I pass on the street know that I am very eager for them to give me at least five pieces of contradictory and unsolicited parenting advice?
Hey, was that dad on the train being wildly irresponsible by letting his kid literally accept candy from a stranger? Because I guess it does seem wildly irresponsible if you think about it like that, but it also totally worked.
Anyway, that’s about everything for now. So, any thoughts?
