Catbırd

Things worth noticing.

Observations, stories, and ideas about childhood, the modern world, and raising kids who know how to participate in it.

Painting of two wild ponies grazing in the Assateague marsh at sunset, pines along the horizon and clouds reflected in the water.
Travel Read

Wild and Free: Assateague Island

There is always something waiting just beyond what you noticed last time.
KEVA Planks product profile: introduced 2001 by Ken Scheel, made by Doren Toy Company in Bridgewater, Virginia, from North American maple. Gravity only, no connectors or fasteners, open-ended building, best ages 5 and up. Every plank is identical; the only thing that changes is the builder.
Product Profile Read

KEVA Planks

Hundreds of identical pieces of maple, no instructions, and a toy that grows without changing.
Header photograph to come.
Home Read

Stop Managing Everything

Maybe the question isn't whether children can help more. Maybe it's whether we're willing to let capability look inefficient while it's being built.
Header photograph to come.
Ideas Read

Why Kids Need More to Own

Ownership isn't about having more. It's about becoming the person who notices, prepares, improves, and cares for something over time.
Gouache graphic titled Autoplay, what it takes away: a navy brushstroke labeled one thing ends, a marigold brushstroke labeled the next begins, and a small dotted gap between them marked the moment that disappears.
Modern World Read

The Invisible Design of Autoplay

Continuing no longer requires a choice. Stopping does.
Watercolor painting of three airport escalators rising toward the gates beneath blue wayfinding signs for Gates 8-11, Food/Beverage, Restrooms, and the Elevator.
Travel Read

Airports and Escalators

Children are constantly learning things that adults have forgotten they ever learned.