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Defector

Albert Burneko

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

Minor Dilemmas

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

Ray Ratto

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?

<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p>Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19</p>


Chris Thompson

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?

<p>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 <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

Life Lessons

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

Can I Tell Another Parent That I Despise One Of My Kid’s Peers?

Justin Ellis

A silhouette of a baby with Minor Dilemmas written over it

Rejoice, Tired Parents! Defector Will Raise Your Children Now

<p>Jae Towle Vieira [they/them] works as a producer for Normal Gossip. Their fiction has been published in <i data-stringify-type="italic">The Normal School</i>, <i data-stringify-type="italic">New England Review, Carve Magazine, Passages North, Fairy Tale Review</i>, and elsewhere.</p>


Jae Towle Vieira

Arts And Culture

Here Is What Reading To My Child Has Done To My Brain

<div>Nate Jackson is a former NFL tight end and author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/slow-getting-up-a-story-of-nfl-survival-from-the-bottom-of-the-pile-nate-jackson/6430451?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpc-oBhCGARIsAH6ote9JzWMngZDpSjF2eoL1_JlyPm2QhDfkNgOzqvaB4n9ic0qqUNQ4iCwaAsasEALw_wcB"><em>Slow Getting Up</em></a>. He lives in Denver.</div>
<div></div>


Nate Jackson

Denver Broncos Training Camp at their training facility on July 29, 2008 in Englewood, Colorado.

I Played In The NFL. Should I Care If My Son Doesn’t Like Football?

San Antonio Spurs French forward-centre Victor Wembanyama (C) reacts as he attends his event named "Hoop Gambit", a chess and basketball tournament that takes place in his birth town of Le Chesnay, south-west of Paris, on July 20, 2025.

Funbag

OK But What If The Billionaire Is A Cool Guy?

Restaurants are starting to use digital technology for self serving regarding the customer seeing their menu, ordering and paying their bill.

Fuck The iPad Ordering Kiosk

Normal Gossip logo with cartoon characters gossiping

Podcasts

The Champagne Socialist And The Espresso Martini Capitalist

Kelsey McKinney

Swole Woman Casey Johnston Has Written A Swole Book

Anthony Edwards #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates with fans in the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Target Center on February 06, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Timberwolves defeated the Rockets 127-114. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

Notes From A Reborn NBA Fan

Let’s Remember Some Toys

Jamboroo

I Am The Passenger Now

Father cooking on barbecue with wife and daughters

I Have Given My Sons The Gift Of Fire

CLEVELAND - 1987: Defensive backs Hanford Dixon #29 and Frank Minnifield #31 of the Cleveland Browns draw plays in the dirt on the field before a game at Municipal Stadium circa 1987 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

A Well-Executed Day

Swimming pool , family , legs - stock photo

Dadfector

I Told My Kids I Peed In The Pool

A toy vendor is selling toys in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on February 28, 2024. (Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto)

The World Will Drown In Cheap Toys

Students at the University of Birmingham take part in their degree congregations as they graduate on July 14, 2009 in Birmingham, England. Over 5000 graduates will be donning their robes this week to collect their degrees from The University of Birmingham. A recent survey suggested that there are 48 graduates competing for every job.

Elder Wisdom

To My Daughter, The Graduate: This Is All Your Fault

Mother trying to make daughter (4-5) finish food at table. It's an old stock photo from the 1940s.

A Taxonomy Of Mom Sounds

Help! I’m Worried My Sons Will Turn Out To Be Total Assholes!

A mother marks her son's height on the door with a pencil, circa 1950. (Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

When Your Kids Are Kids Again

STOCKTON, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: A school bus carries children at sunrise on Bethel Island, one of the residential islands surrounded by levees that hold back the higher waters of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta on September 29, 2005 west of Stockton, California. Officials say that the dikes of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta are in worse shape than those that broke and flooded New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. There is a two-in-three chance that a catastrophic earthquake or storm in the next 50 years may damage the levees enough to cause the kind of destruction that engulfed New Orleans, according to experts. Such an event would affect the water supply that serves two-thirds of California and create a nightmare traffic jam on Highway 4, the two-lane road that would be the major evacuation route, if it is not damaged beyond usability. Approximately 1,600 miles of levees protect the delta's islands, which lie well below sea-level, and most were built more than 100 years ago. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

The Last Bus

BOULDER, COLORADO - APRIL 22: Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes watches as his team warms up prior to their spring game at Folsom Field on April 22, 2023 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

parenting