This story, about a study purporting to trace the evolutionary roots of altruism and cooperation, was eye-opening– and darn cute. According to the study, the average 18-month-old’s seemingly innate desire to help actually signals pretty sophisticated brain development. Over and over, whether Warneken dropped clothespins or knocked over his books, each of 24 toddlers offered […] Continue reading →

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Ablington’s diary about the cult of Bumbo and Bugaboo inspired me to repost a very early MotherTalkers post, from back when we were writing for an audience of about four. 🙂 Since then, the topic has become quite trendy– there was even a Salon story about a growing baby luxury backlash. What say […] Continue reading →

I never envisioned myself as a mother. As a child, I had zero interest in dolls. I prefered to read or watch TV, and when well-meaning relatives gave me Barbies, I ended up giving them punk-rock hairdos or throwing them in the air as high as I could. I distinctly recall one ending up in […] Continue reading →

The Winter Olympics aren’t my cup of tea, but I happened to be watching last night when Russian speed skater Svetlana Zhurova won the women’s 500-meter sprint. Girlfriend ZOOMED around that rink. Pretty impressive. What really grabbed my attention? The announcers mentioning that at age 34, she became the oldest woman to win a gold […] Continue reading →

…and yet, I am busy packing for another guilt trip. I’m the first to admit that I’m what you’d call an enthusiastic first-time parent. We were married more than four years before we even decided we wanted to have kids; once decided, it turns out it wasn’t that easy for me to get pregnant. So […] Continue reading →

So I’m half-watching The Today Show this morning as I get ready for work. Al Roker is out on the street, making small talk with the overeager fans who show up outside the studio hoping for their 15 seconds of fame. Al approaches a mom who is holding her baby boy. He is clutching a […] Continue reading →