Coming soon!

A newsletter for parents of kids who sometimes act like assholes.

Hello there! I’m excited to announce the birth of my newsletter (which so far has been much easier than the births of my two children), Is My Kid the Asshole?*

Here, I’ll answer your questions** about raising kids — more specifically, why they sometimes act like jerks and what you can do about it. All of my advice is science-based, drawn from the research on child development. The newsletter is free; I only ask that if you like it, you tell your friends about it so that they can subscribe, too.

You may be wondering why you should listen to my thoughts on child-rearing. Do I know what I’m doing all the time as a parent? Hahahaha! Nope. In fact, I don’t think there’s any such thing as a perfect parent, or a parent who knows how to handle every child or every situation. I don’t even think there’s “one right way” to parent (and please, I beg you, ignore the people who say there is). But I do think that there are some common situations that parents face that can be at least partially explained and helped by diving into the research.

I have a unique toolset and background: I’m a science journalist, and I’ve been writing about the science of raising children for nearly a decade. I started writing Slate’s science-based parenting advice column, “The Kids,” back in 2012, and now I contribute regularly to The New York Times’ parenting section. I am also a contributing editor at Scientific American magazine, I have won a handful of journalism awards, and I teach in NYU’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. I have often put my research skills to use to address my own parenting questions, and what I’ve learned has helped me connect with, understand and help my kids (and my husband and me!) in all kinds of situations. But yes, of course, for the record, my kids sometimes still act like assholes, and, honestly, I sometimes act like an asshole too (but I try my best, I really do).

One of the reasons I’ve started this newsletter is because I have a book coming out in July 2021 called How To Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes: Science-Based Strategies for Better Parenting—from Tots to Teens (which you can pre-order on Indiebound, Amazon, or from your favorite local bookstore). For the book, I interviewed dozens of researchers and read hundreds of studies, and as a result, I now have a pretty good idea of where to look, and whom to ask, to get answers to all kinds of parenting questions. I figured I’d put my new knowledge to use here.

Thanks, and again: welcome!

* I am indebted to dear friend and fellow writer Virginia Sole-Smith for coming up with this newsletter’s name and concept. You should check out Virginia’s excellent newsletter Burnt Toast, about feminism, body image, food and parenting, as well as her wonderful book, The Eating Instinct.

** If you have a parenting question you’d like addressed here, please email me at melindawmoyer at gmail dot com with the subject line “Is my kid the asshole?”.

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