When I first started this blog in 2006, our first child - Curious Boy had just been born.  It was a huge shift, and the ensuing years were filled with lots of change.  Finishing graduate school, getting a job, having two more children (Zen Girl and Her Purpleness).  Things have settled down in some ways - I started my own business on top of teaching, but there haven't been any major transitions in a while.

So.... what the hell happened?

Well, it turns out that life with three kids is busy.  I mean BUSY.  So much so that I just stopped making it a priority to write here.  I stopped to think about that the other day, and I realized how much that bothered me.

This blog started as a place for me to chronicle my adventures in parenting, but it quickly became a place for me to work through different ideas, explore and sound off on a whole range of topics.  I felt that the image of   "The Philosopher Dad" was one that suited me will.

Writing this blog was something that forced me to think, at least from time to time about parenting (n particular and how I was living my life in general - even if those things didn't show up in posts.  It seems that when I stopped writing, I also stopped thinking about those things.  Funny that.

The world moves fast - and my children are growing up faster than I imagined possible.  Yes, it's a cliché (because it's true).  Curious Boy is in first grade, and Zen Girl is in kindergarten.  They amaze me and challenge me in new ways every day.  If I don't stop and think about what is happening and how I'm doing from time to time, I'll simply...  well, I don't know.

No one can be a perfect parent or spouse, but I'd at least like to take the time to think about the things I'm doing and the mistakes I'm making.

Oh yeah, I'm still pissed as hell about how people don't understand science and how shitty and out-of-date the school system is, so hopefully I'll have a chance to sound off on those things too.

It's been a while...

It's really been a long time since I've been here, and in a lot of ways it's very good to be back. On a practical level my web marketing self was always angry that I abandoned a pretty valuable piece of web real estate. On a deeper level, this blog was my first home online, and since Curious Boy started kindergarten this year, I find that I have a lot to think about that belongs on this site.

What I've been up to...

It's been a veeeeerrrryyy long time since I've posted anything to this blog, and to my surprise, I now have more subscribers to the RSS feed than ever before!  I've been busy, just not here.  Since my last post, we've had a third Philosopher Kid, moved, and I've gone into business for myself.  I'm still blogging and tweeting, so if you want to keep up with my busy online life, you can find me at:

Contexta Internet Solutions - SEO and social media consulting, as well as web design and project management.

michaellautman.com 

My Posterous - The easiest way to follow everything I do online.  All of my posts from here have been moved there as well.

This is the last post here.  It's been fun.  Thanks.

Updates

Well, this site has been quiet, but I've been pretty busy.  We moved in July and kid 3 came in early August.  Aside from parenting, the thing keeping me busiest is my new website dedicated to families with milk and soy protein intolerance (MSPI).  All three of our kids have or had it, and there are very few resources out there.  I tried building a wiki, but I used a public hosted service and I didn't put in the time.... so now I've built http://milkintolerance.org as a resource for families like ours.  If you or anyone you know has kids with MSPI, please send them along. 

More regular philosopherdad updates are on their way too.

Magic Ingredient In Breast Milk Protects Babies' Intestines

Researchers Queen Mary, University of London have discovered that an ingredient in human breast milk protects and repairs the delicate intestines of newborn babies.

The ingredient called pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor, or PSTI, is found at its highest levels in colostrum - the milk produced in the first few days after birth.

The lining of a newborn's gut is particularly vulnerable to damage as it has never been exposed to food or drink. The new study highlights the importance of breastfeeding in the first few days after the birth.

Read more (ScienceDaily)

This Week in Science

1. Growing Years Cut Short For Toddlers From Poor Families

Continuous poverty during toddler years can curb the height of children by the time they reach kindergarten, even in industrialized countries, according to new research from the Université de Montréal. Regardless of hereditary factors such as maternal height and education level, according to the finding published in the Journal of Epidemiology Community Health, children from poor families are more likely to be shorter than their peers.

N Z Ehounoux, M-V Zunzunegui, L Séguin, B Nikiema, and L Gauvin. Duration of lack of money for basic needs and growth delay in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development birth cohort. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 2009; 63 (1): 45 DOI: 10.1136/jech.2007.072157


2. Breastfeeding May Prevent Breast Cancer

 Dr. Michael Lisanti and colleagues at Thomas Jefferson University found that extended lactation protects again mammary tumor development.

Sotgia F, Casimiro MC, Bonuccelli G, Liu M, Menezes DW, Er O, Daumer KM, Mercier I, Witkiewicz AK, Minetti C, Capozza F, Gormley M, Quong AA, Rui H, Frank PG, Milliman JN, Knudsen ES, Zhou J, Wang C, Pestell RG, Lisanti MP. Loss of Caveolin-3 Induces a Lactogenic Microenvironment that is Protective Against Mammary Tumor Formation. Am J Pathol, 2009, 174: 613-629

3. School-based Physical Activity Has Benefits Even If It Doesn't Help Lose Weight

School-based health and exercise programs have positive outcomes despite having little effect on children's weight or the amount of exercise they do outside of school, say Cochrane Researchers who carried out a systematic review of studies on physical activity programs in schools.

Dobbins M, De Corby K, Robeson P, Husson H, Tirilis D. School-based physical activity programs for promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents aged 6-18. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2009, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD007651 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007651

 

More BPA Bad News

A new study released in Environmental Health Perspectives shows that , in vitro, bisphenol A can interfere with several chemotherapy drugs. 

Read more at Tree Hugger or download the study here