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Josie is the latest iteration of the Kid Trax Rideamals toys, and it (she? I’m having trouble not treating this like a living thing already) will be available beginning on October 1. Like Scout, a horse version released last year, Josie is a 12-volt electric ride-on that can accommodate kids ages three to seven (up to 70 lbs.), a little older and bigger than your average rolling horse. (There are also unicorn, dinosaur, and tiger Rideamals for toddlers....

“To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” he said, earning a big laugh from Nixon. Nixon’s racism is well-known, thanks to previously released tapes. But hearing Reagan — who still has an image as a folksy grandfather despite Iran-Contra, “welfare queen” scapegoating, ignoring the AIDS epidemic, supporting apartheid — use such language was jarring for many. It was particularly traumatic, as one might imagine, for his daughter, Patti Davis....

That same magic that lured the writer Edward Hoagland, then an 18-year-old freshman at Harvard, to hop aboard the circus train in the summer of 1951. The experiences he had on the road, dismembering a dead horse and sweeping the cougar cages, became the material for his 1956 debut novel Cat Man, which catapulted young Hoagland to literary stardom. Now 84, Hoagland– Ted to his friends — splits his time between Barton, VT and Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard....

Growing up in a household he’s described as “never relaxing or easy,” Reynolds didn’t have the closest of bonds with his own dad, James. The two reconciled before the elder Reynolds died in 2015, after battling Parkinson’s Disease for two decades. For the younger Reynolds, having daughters Inez, 2, and James, 4, with wife Blake Lively helped him resolve his issues by creating a family of his own. “You get to heal some of that stuff with your kids,” he told Fatherly....

September’s Harvest Moon is not like the others — and here’s everything you need to know. What is a Harvest Moon? According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Harvest Moon got its name because of how brightly it shines in the early evenings. The site explains that the moonlight generated from the Harvest Moon allows farmers extra time in the evening to harvest their summer-grown crops, hence the name “Harvest Moon....

The Problem: You’re (Extra) Busy Life is hectic. Work places incredible demands on us. It often keeps us out of the house and away from our partners for far too long. “Being busy with your own tasks can certainly keep a couple from having the time to connect sexually,” says Dr. Donna Oriowo, the founder of AnnodRight, an organization dedicated to sex therapy and sex education. The Solution: Sit Down and Work out a Schedule Fortunately, Oriowo says, there are a few easy ways bring sex back into your busy schedule....

READ MORE: The Fatherly Guide to Sleep 1. Gasping and Irregular Breathing The most common sleep disorder in kids is called sleep apnea, affecting between one and four percent of the pediatric population, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association. What’s more, some studies suggest that up to 25 percent of kids suffering from ADHD may also have sleep apnea. “This is characterized by snoring, pauses in breathing, or gasping during sleep,” says Lisa Meltzer, Ph....

Current public opinion holds that a father’s greatest role is to provide values to his children, followed by emotional support, discipline, and income support — a far cry from the traditional “breadwinner” rhetoric. As the role of what it means to not just be a father — but a good dad — evolves, reaching your potential and feeling fulfilled as a single father (while providing everything your children need), can feel overwhelming....

My two-year-old broke his arm the other day when he took a nasty fall on an outing. It happened super fast. It was bad enough feeling like a bad parent because he was injured, but it’s almost worse watching how much discomfort he’s in because he has a little cast on and isn’t great with his ability to control his body yet. Sometimes he kind of bangs the cast on a coffee table and screams....

Mike got what he deserved — loss of his Nintendo privileges and an inherited habit of punching holes in his own walls. Over the years, I learned that this wasn’t just a family tradition, and it wasn’t just walls. Lots of men, it seems, punch lots of things. My math teacher punched the overhead projector, my ex-boyfriend punched a book, and my colleague once took a swing at a tree....

For the study, researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand used a novel method to quantify the presence of marketing in our children’s lives — they strapped cameras to kids for a few days, then counted the number of marketing messages the cameras captured. Ninety children, aged 11-13, wore cameras for four days, Thursday-Sunday, that automatically captured images every seven seconds. The results were tallied, and researchers were shocked to find that kids were being bombarded with brands....

The change is so significant that, actually, the study suggests that each time the minimum wage raises by just a dollar (keep in mind the federal minimum wage is currently $7.25/hour), the infant mortality rate drops by 1.8 percent annually in big cities. That jump in the survivability rates of infants is extremely significant. It appears to mean that if a jump of, say, $8 to the minimum wage, up to around $15/hour were to happen (as Senate Democrats have put forward raising the minimum wage to that rate by 2025) that the infant mortality rate would drop significantly and could save thousands of infant lives from preventable deaths....

According to the latest data from the Natixis Global Retirement Index, 41 percent of people felt that they lacked the financial security to retirement, with 59 percent accepting the fact that they will have to work longer than anticipated before giving up the office life. If that wasn’t bad enough, 36 percent believe that they will never have enough money to retire. The pandemic, of course, has been a major setback for Americans’ retirement plans but most of these issues existed long before COVID....

RELATED: The Best New SUV for Every Kind of Dad Talelight’s essentially a 2-inch by 8-inch electronic billboard for your bumper that lets you change messages (“stickers”) using little more than a smartphone — no nail polish remover required. The high-res/lower-power LCD affixes using industrial-strength adhesive tape, connects to your car’s internal USB jack, and syncs to the Talelight app via Bluetooth. All of that is worth repeating, by the way, just so you’re fully informed....

“We’re also so grateful for the love and support of our friends and family, as well as our wonderful medical teams for everything they’ve done to help us in our decades-long journey to complete our family,” Duckworth said in a statement. In the birth announcement, Duckworth also took the time to show her continued support for families and parents. Since giving birth to her first child in 2014, Duckworth has become one of the biggest advocates for parents in the Congress....

Optimus Prime Voice Changer Helmet Target is offering 25-percent off an array of transformers toys across the board. And even though many of them are from The Last Knight (yuck), there are still some winners. Our favorite is the Optimus Prime Voice Changer Helmet, which features 21 sounds and phrases. Its on sale for $60. Buy Now $60 Intex Candy Zone Play Center This inflatable pool/slide combo looks like something hocked out of Candyland…in the best way possible....

The best parenting books of the last decade aren’t about how to be a better parent. More to the point, they are about how to back away from the fixation on perfect parenting that ironically leads to worse parenting. Instead, they are about the experience of being a parent through good times and bad. They are about parenting in the face of social, economic and political barriers. The best parenting books of the 2010s are books that teach and inspire parents and offer a path to making parenting easier, not just for individuals but for all of us....

Monster House (2006) Monster House might have its fair share of humor, thanks to co-writer Dan Harmon of Rick and Morty fame, but no amount of gags can neuter the animated film’s titular monster: a demonic, anthropomorphic mansion that gobbles kids up like candy. The three suburban kids at the heart of the film have their work cut out for them when no one else believes them about the neighborhood’s biggest evil threat....

The result was, to put it mildly, revolutionary. Not only did Kenner’s new collection create a paradigm shift in how toys were collected, but it changed the way toys were created and sold to kids. Before Star Wars, 12-inch dolls like GI Joe reigned supreme. Kenner was the first to sell 3.75-inch action figures and the first to create vehicles and expansive play sets to go with them. Recognizing they screwed up by passing on the franchise, it didn’t take long for other toy companies to follow Kenner’s lead: GI Joe shrunk to 3....

Generally speaking, the answer to that question is that they’re getting away with it by making a kid’s show so unimpeachably good that critics are loathe to attack its more adult elements for fear of looking ridiculous, puritanical, or — more likely — cartoonish. And right there is the major advantage that the people behind kid’s TV shows often have. They do something inherently absurd so they’re hard to criticize even when they’re actually up to something....