what DO kids need?

via Kottke, this post on the Magical Childhood blog offers some valuable insights that may challenge people's (mine, maybe not yours) instincts.

I'm on this carousel of perspective about being a parent (still no baby here...counting down the days); I go from thinking "I'm gonna be a great dad and the wife is going to be a great mom" to thinking "I'm going to screw this up seven different ways a day."  It's occurring to me now that those two positions may not be mutually exclusive.

I joked with some friends at a recent dinner party (all of them experienced parents already) that our plan was to not try to be good parents, since that's what most people do; we're just going to go another way.  It was a joke, but I wonder if there may not be some value in not trying too hard.  My bias is going to be a helicopter parent, a neurotic micro-manager, an overly protective bubble-boy sort of dad, and I know that I have to work against that bias.

So let's just put it out there, now, in writing, that my goal is going to be:

• feed him
• clothe him
• protect him from wild animals
• read to him regularly
• ....?

and now, apropos of nothing (unless they are "wild animals"):