The best foods for growing very young brains

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Good evening child wranglers,

When I was a child, I really bristled when my mother, who had four children by the time she was 30, would play some trick on us and excuse it by saying "Well, you have to get your fun out of them somehow." Now the shoe is definitively on the other foot. The best things I have done to my children for fun are (a) persuade them that everyone needs to press the little silver recline button on the airplane chair to help it take off (which they did until they were in double digits) and (b) not correct my son's pronunciation of the soda as "Popsi" and profess bewilderment as to why dining establishments never carried it. It turns out I'm not alone. In a marvelous Twitter thread this week sparked by Nicole Cliffe, I learned that some genius parents had told their children there was only one McDonalds in the world (near Cape Cod), that there were two types of lobsters—the blue ones you make friends with and the red ones you eat and that some incredibly selective thieves had stolen the voice box of their Bugs Bunny doll and sewn it back up. I forgive you, mom.

I'm at belinda.luscombe@time.com or @luscombeland on Twitter. Feel free to follow me, but not necessarily my parenting philosophy.

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roundup

How do you raise a prodigy? There are books and articles and podcasts galore on how to maximize your child's potential. I get sent perhaps three new parenting books a week. It makes sense, because raising kids is the kind of job we don't want to fail at. But in this wonderful essay Adam Gopnik argues that we're probably thinking about it all wrong. "Nothing works in child rearing because everything works. If kids are happy and absorbed, in the flow, that's all we can ask of them, in Berlin or in Brooklyn. Nothing works in the long run, but the mistake lies in thinking that the long run is the one that counts." The New Yorker

This woman was held captive for 18 years by her parents. Here's her advice on how to make sure it doesn't happen to other kids. TIME

Wow, this parent is not sugarcoating anything. Her presentation of those first post-baby days is unvarnished but bracing. A good read if you've forgotten what it's like to have just had a baby. TIME

Nope, it's not just you. Parents are spending more time parenting each kid, according to a new analysis. "The time that parents spend just caring for the basic physical needs of their own kids has risen by nearly 50% on a per-child basis," in the last 60 years. No wonder you need a nap. IFS

Generally I'm opposed to advice that purports to tell you the 5 best foods for your toddlers health or the 8 things you must do to get your kid into that school everyone wants to go to. Kids are different. They need a variety of things. There is no formula. Their needs are simple and yet infinitely complex. Having established that, here's a story on what you should feed you baby for brain health. TIME

In the ongoing debate about whether ADHD is a real condition or a way modern society medicates normal inattention, I'm in the BOTH camp. Attention disorders exist but are overdiagnosed. Some child development experts are beginning to suggest that there may be a link between above average inattention and sleep. Child Mind Institute

I used to have a theory that there are two types of people, those who are really good at spontaneity and those who are good planners. But I'm beginning to wonder if there are actually are two different types of people: good planners and bad planners. If, like me, you're more of the "spontaneous" variety, you might find a use for this incredibly well-organized woman's practical method for planning out her life so she could be a mother and a successful businesswoman. You'll need a roll of paper. Yes, she's that organized. Motto.

PFFT: Parenting from Famous Types

Halle Berry, actress and mom of two,

"You don't ever balance it completely. It's a constant struggle of a little more time there, a little more time here, and feeling a little bit guilty all the time."

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