New directions and a contest: Or please HELP because I am incapable of being witty or pithy or creative in any meaninful way

Why do I post these things on Friday when probably no one will read the post for days, at best?  That's how things are working out this week, so I'm rolling with it. I'm actually on the first 3-day trip away from my kids WITH my husband (Gah!). We're in New York City celebrating our 10th year anniversary and I'm trying desperately not to imagine the second-by-second activities of our boys back home (left with their grandparents so what the HELL is my problem?!).

So, let me first tell you that the blog IS going to change. In a few meaningful ways, I think. Here's the plan, open COMPLETELY to suggestions and revisions as this thing develops.

1. The blog is going to go bigger and better (hopefully). We'll broaden the topics we cover to any developmental issues -- that means anything that you and I are concerned about when it comes to our kids' healthy (and not-so-healthy) development. Sleep will still be included, but just not the only focus. The topics we'll cover will really hit a large spectrum of issues that developmental psychologists and parents have been thinking about for decades and in some cases, centuries. Some of these topics include: discipline (across the ages spans), friendship relationships, language development, physical development, emotional "intelligence", empathy, aggression, bullying, daycare considerations, bilingual educations/upbringing, diet, potty training, attention problems (ADHD), cognitive milestones, the acquisition of mathematical concepts, kids' perceptions of all sorts of stuff (parents' arguments, emotion faces, teachers' behaviours, this list is HUGE), the function of crying, strategies to teach kids to have fun reading, doing math, playing word games, kids' abilities to understand rules, children's understanding of spatial relationships (think leggos and how children go from building one way to building in more sophisticated ways and why), and so on and so on. There's so much out there that there's no way I can put up an exhaustive list. What I can say is that this list can be as wide open as you'd like.

2. I'm going to be inviting a close friend and fellow developmental psychologists to join me in writing and keeping this blog up and running. She's a fabulous woman with an equally fabulous son and I'll make more "formal" introductions soon, but for now, you should know that her area of expertise are very different from mine. While mine are generally in the area of emotional and social development, hers are in the area of cognitive development. Cognitive development is a HUGE area that encompasses many of the topics I listed in #1 above, and much, much more. She'll explain it to you better soon, but her job here will be to deal with topics that are about how children learn to think in more and more complex ways, how developmentalists have learned to understand the child's mind, what research can tell us about how our children perceive space, time, language, etc. And all of these topics have huge implications for the education and well-being of our children.

3. The general approach will remain the same: Our posts will be largely backed up by good scientific research with a healthy does of "case studies" from our own parenting experience. 

4. We'll post much more regularly than I've been able to manage, with Q & As interspersed with research-based posts about one topic or another.

Now for the contest:  PLEASE help us figure out what to call this darned blog. I am at a loss and if we're going to put up a new banner and intro page that represents the changes we want to make, we'll need and actual NAME to call this new blog. Believe it or not, this has been the biggest challenge of putting up the new "look" of the blog. Any ideas? Something short but something that still accurately describes what we want to do here; something punny is fun, but not too cheesy is hard; something about kids, development, questions, answers, a community of parents, research... Gah! Like I said, I'm at a loss.

So, if you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments section. We'll randomly choose one of them to receive a free Bedtiming book. I'll keep the contest and comments open for one week and then do the random selection. So, notice, you don't get the free book for choosing the title we love best -- for that you will get my everlasting gratitude. So you can leave funny or silly titles as well and still be entered into the contest.

Now I'm off to enjoy my getaway! Thanks ahead of time for your help and I hope you'll continue visiting when the site has had its overhaul!

Comments

[L.]

This might be utterly stupid, but how about Child Timing? Maintains the emphasis on development and timing, and the links to your existing book, but describes a broader focus.

It doesn't have the same pun, though, so I don't know if it would sound more nonsensical to someone unfamiliar with your prior work. Myself, I think it has kind of a zen sound to it, but that might just be me :)

[Anon]

Here's my humble 2cents-worth: what about BabySteps? or KiddySteps?

[Anon]

PS: I can't wait for the new blog - it sounds fantastic! Have a great break.

[paola]

Child Taming? like they're wild animals or something.

Child of Mind?

Yeah, I'm pretty bad with titles too.

[z]

What about "The Art and Science of Parenting"

since you will be giving us a good scientific data with studies along with the artful tips that you and your friend have acquired along the way.

I too am very excited about the new blog.
Hope you enjoyed your time in NYC with hubby and Happy 10th Anniversary.

[z]

Okay should have googled before I suggested that... apparently there is already a blog with that title...

WIll keep thinking of some more.

[fahmi]

I kind of like the Child Timing, or even Kid Timing.The concept that it's not so much what you do, but when you do it, has really been resonating with me, first with Wonder Weeks, and now with Bed Timing. And keeping "Timing" is a bit of a throwback to the original name (sort of like how football teams wear old uniforms)

Corny, but my brain keeps suggesting Shining Time - with a nod to that TV show.

[Rhonda]

How about "Timing is everything"?

[Yona]

How about "ChildMinding"?
It's a tribute to the old name and has a bit of a double entendre: addressing the child's mind/brain development and our role as parents in nurturing and caring for those minds.
Can't wait for the new content...my obsession with sleep is waning.
Best of luck!!

[BanAnna]

I second 'Child of Mind'! love it.

'MamaLog' or 'MamaLogue' or 'Sh&ts and Giggles' (sorry, couldn't resist and I just can't seem to come up with anything that works)

[Isabela]

What GREAT ideas... Timing is Everything was going to be one of the possibilities for the book title, actually. I REALLY like Child of Mind. And Child Timing is great too because the timing issue is so huge.

Hmmm... a little more thought and we'll be on our way. This title is so important because it's what we'll be stuck with for a while, so I want to make sure it's fitting.

[Catherine C]

Here are some suggestions (some more catchier than others)
-Good timing
-Good times
-The best of times
-The "when-to" guide (just took this from the subtitle of your book)
-Evidence-based parenting (I like this one b/c a lot of blogs out there seem more anecdotal than anything else)
-One developmental step at a time
-One step at a time
-One small step for mom
-Little minds think alike
-Time to grow
-Mind over manners
-Mindful parenting

Another thought is to just keep the original blog title, which I like b/c it's linked to the book. And then people who google "bed timing" will not only be directed to the book but also the blog which provides an abundance of resources not included in the book.

[Karen]

I couldn't come up with anything good, but I really like the last suggestion...Mindful Parenting. Nice pun and will attract people because what parent doesn't want to be mindful?

[Isabela]

Hi all,
Thanks so much for all your GREAT suggestions. We loved almost all of them from one angle or another. We've gone with Child of Mind (with a more descriptive subtitle so people can actually find us). Mindful Parenting, BTW, was also a big one in the running but the title is taken already with several websites dedicated to "Mindfulness" (in terms of meditation) and the link with parenting (cool stuff, actually).

Rhonda -- your name came up from the "random number generator" (called Ruben, my son, who is obsessed with numbers; I asked him to pick any number between 1 and 12). If you see this comment, please email me with an address that I can send a free copy of Bed Timing to.

Thanks again, everyone!