Thoughts

Buying Is Easy, Attention Is Hard

I’ve been buying a lot of toys for my kids lately. I’m aware that too many toys can negatively affect children, yet I still find myself buying more. Sometimes, I buy toys because they’re interesting to me, or I use them as bribes or rewards for good behavior. Other times, I hope that toys will keep them occupied so I can get some time to myself. And sometimes, I just give in to their demands because I’m out of willpower.

Thoughts

Lessons after 6 years of fatherhood

It is kind of unreal that my first child was born more than 6 years ago. These last 6 years have changed me so much, here are some of the biggest lesson that I learned: Parenting is easy if it is your top priority. The hard part is trying to do everything else. Parenting is hard even if that is you top priority. You will be tired a lot. Sleep is extremely important.

Thoughts

Parenting Hack: What would your child do as a parent

It’s often challenging for a young child to articulate what they truly desire. Their whims may range from implausible wishes like going on vacation right after school to mere indifference with a shrug and an “I don’t know.” Instead of directly questioning what they want to do, engage them in a different way. Ask them to envision what they would do after school, on weekends, or for vacations when they are older and have their own children.

August 9, 2023

Reevaluating Daycare

I have sent my kids to daycare. At first, I didn’t think much about it. Everyone does it, and I always thought that daycares are good for kids because they will make kids tough and social. But that was before I knew better. After my first kid, I started to read more about child psychology and development. Psychology is not a very clear cut science; there are various contradictory studies. But one thing quickly became clear: humans are the only mammals that put their kids in the care of strangers, away from biological mothers.

July 23, 2023

Ask HN: What is the most memorable game you played? | Hacker News

Ask HN: What is the most memorable game you played? | Hacker News — Read on news.ycombinator.com/item

July 12, 2023

Proof You Can Do Hard Things – Nat Eliason’s Newsletter

An Essential Piece to Your Life Resume — Read on blog.nateliason.com/p/proof-you-can-do-hard-things

Thoughts

When do have kids

In my opinion, the best time to have kids is in your twenties, if one wants kids and is able to support them financially. This seems counterintuitive to conventional wisdom. But I say this as father who had his kids in late 40s. The main reason is that in my late 30s, my stamina and fitness level have deteriorated way faster than I imagined. Fitness was not my top priority before but it took really backseat after my first child.

Thoughts

Finding childcare through your employer

It is amazing how hard it is to find childcare. There are a lot of Facebook groups to find nannies and babysitters. We had been looking for babysitters there but there is high rate of people showing initial interest and then disappearing for a week. We cannot hire someone like that to watch our son. We decided we should signup with care.com or sittercity.com. However, my colleague reminded that our employer, IBM, has some sort of program to find childcare.