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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

Dave McKenna

Kindergarten students sit and listen to their teacher in a classroom.

Minor Dilemmas

Should I Hold My Kid Back From School  For A Year?

Alex Sujong Laughlin

An apartment building where all the windows are blacked out except for two.

Life Lessons

How Do I Avoid Becoming A Doomsday Prepper?

Justin Ellis

Two nine-year-old boys ride their bikes side by side on the sidewalk

Should I Be Worried That My Kid Hasn’t Found A Best Friend?

Ray Ratto

1950s FATHER LYING ON A SOFA WITH NEWSPAPER OVER HIS HEAD WHILE SON IS STANDING OVER HIM WITH BAT BALL AND BASEBALL GLOVE (Photo by D. Corson/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

How Can I Be A Good Parent If I’m Conflict-Avoidant?

Albert Burneko

What Do I Do About My Fragile Kid?

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Boris Karloff sits next to a child's bed, and the little girl in the bed seems to be shouting at him. He looks distressed.

“No Dada!” How Do You Deal With A Toddler Who Clearly Prefers The Other Parent?

A child plays alone in a soccer goal on a grassy field

Will My Only Child Be A Weirdo?

A little boy walks among the tombstones at Arlington National Cemetary in Washington D.C.

How Do I Talk To My Kid About Death?

A man carries his child sideways in his arms as he walks up a road

Is It Even Possible To Discipline A Two-Year-Old?

Jae Towle Vieira [they/them] works as a producer for Normal Gossip. Their fiction has been published in The Normal School, New England Review, Carve Magazine, Passages North, Fairy Tale Review, and elsewhere.

Jae Towle Vieira

Podcasts

The Haunting, The Psychic, And The Stepmom

Giri Nathan

A dad sits in the grass at a park with his shirt off listening to music on headphones and reading the paper while his baby sleeps next to him

What’s Going To Happen To The Rest Of My Life After I Become A Parent?

Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

Drew Magary

A father and son buy fireworks at a stand

Is It Possible To Teach My Kid How To Manage Risk?

A pregnant woman sitting on the couch typing on her laptop

What Will Happen To My Ambition After Children?

Billy Haisley

Am I The Asshole For Judging The Screen Time Habits Of Other People’s Kids?

Father and daughter. Oil on canvas, around 1550.

What If Your Kid Tells Dirty Dirty Lies?

JT Snow pulls three-year-old Darren Baker out of harm's way at homeplate.

How Do I Direct My Kid To The Stuff They’ll Enjoy And Be Good At?

King Charles III , with his son, Prince William, and grandsons George and Louis, standing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

What Is A Grandparent Actually Good For?

A young boy in his little league uniform stands with his hat over his chest next to his father and uncle as they sing the national anthem before a little league game.

How Do You Deal With A Kid Who Wants To Quit Their Job?

A father with twins sits on a swing in a playground while a another child swings alone nearby.

How Do I Talk About Parenting If My Baby Has Been Pretty Chill So Far?

A little boy, wearing a diaper and a top hat, poses in front of a New Year's calendar at a hospital in New York City, United States, on December 22, 1949.

How Do I Manage My Newborn’s Life If Planning Things Stresses Me Out?

Two boys with fishing poles and cans of worms walk along a rural gravel road.

How Can I Resolve Conflicts Between My Younger Kid And His Older Brother?

A little girl sits on the lap of the easter bunny and looks skeptical

Is It Wrong To Use The Fear Of A Vengeful Easter Bunny To Get My Kid To Eat?

A black and white photo of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz walking from a plane on the tarmac with their children. The black and white Minor Dilemmas logo sits in the middle of the photo

Should I Take My Two-Year-Old To A Soccer Match Abroad, Or Can I Leave Him At Home?

The College Trip

A group of British football-playing dads in the 1980s, wearing their uniforms and holding their infant children while posing for a picture. Includes the "minor dilemmas" logo of a black outline of a crawling baby