Strollerderby

Hey! Where’s The ‘Derby?

editors — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:40:00 GMT

If you’re missing your daily dose of the mother of all parenting blogs, click on over here because we have moved!

Change all of your bookmarks, links and other fun things as we bring you better search and allow you to click back and forth between posts more easily. Yes, we’re relieved too. Check Strollerderby out at our new address, right here. And don’t worry, all the previous SD posts are still alive and well in the archives on the new sidebar. Thanks for reading! – April Peveteaux, Babble Blogs Editor

Crush of the Week: Imagination Movers

editors — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:00:00 GMT

As feedback to our 10 Most Crushworthy Children's Show Hosts, a Babble reader nominated this yummy foursome. We agree. Made up of Rich, Scott, Dave, and Smitty, these dudes look sexy even in cowboy hats, goggles, and strange blue auto-mechanic jumpsuits. Mmm. They're music to our ears and our eyes.

And for that, they are our Crush of the Week --Andrea Zimmerman

Photo: PBS

Kitchenista Meatless Mondays: Grilled Vegetables

KeriF — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:35:00 GMT

As much as I enjoy the hearty braises of winter, I get most inspired in the summer months, when I can throw a handful of fresh ingredients onto the grill and have a deliciously simple dinner in no time.

Grilled vegetables are a staple in our house (replaced by roasted vegetables when it gets too cold and dark at night to use the grill). The beauty of this recipe is that it isn't really a recipe at all, but merely guidelines to create your own version at home, using whatever vegetables you have on hand or that looked good at the farmer's market.

I like to serve the vegetables straight up, as a salad, but you can also pile them high on thick slices of grilled sourdough or fold into a steaming bowl of pasta. My kids, who are by no means terrific eaters, will make a meal of the latter, though more often than not they will leave the mushrooms and squash on their plates. That's okay with me. Some adults do that, too.

Grilled Vegetable Salad

Serves 4 to 6

3 portobello caps

1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into large planks

4 small tomatoes

2 small Vidalia onions, sliced 1/2-inch thick

1 bunch asparagus, woody ends removed

1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch planks

1 yellow squash, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch plans

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

Set grill to high heat. In a large bowl combine Portobello caps with 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange on the grill and cook until browned and softened, about 2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining vegetables, tossing each with 1 tablespoon oil and seasoning generously with salt and pepper. When all vegetables are cooked, set aside on a baking sheet to cool.

When cool enough to handle, cut vegetables into 2-inch pieces. Place in a large bowl and add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, and basil. Season with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Serve immediately.

Crush of the Week: Sean, the Sunny Side Up

editors — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:00:00 GMT

As feedback for our Ten Most Crushworthy Children's Show Hosts, a Babble Reader confessed, "I nurse a smoldering crush on him and his Western shirts." We can see why. Along with his chicken puppet side-kick, Chica, Sean sings and styles his way through the Sunshine Barn, leaving us swooning with desire.

And for that, he is our Crush of the Week --Andrea Zimmerman

Photo: Sprout Online

'Camplessness' and Other Hidden Summer Dangers

KeriF — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:30:00 GMT

Over at MedPie, Barbara Locke, MD has a list of five very sensible dangers to look out for this summer. She even offers a cutesy rhyme to help you remember--

Don't mow the lawn 'till you're sixteen,

Be careful not to trampoline,

Avoid the family dog and such

And don't fall out of windows much.

--since I'm always forgetting to keep my kids from falling out of windows.

But let's be honest. These aren't the real summer health hazards. You know the ones I mean, the dangers that keep you awake at night, long after your kids have passed out on their beds, sticky with sweat and ice pops.

Here are the real horrors of summer:

Sunburn Syndrome: The horrible guilt you feel when you forget to drench your child in sunscreen and s/he comes home from camp an unsightly shade of pink, which only darkens through the dinner hour until your child is writhing in pain and the only thing that will comfort him/her is four hours of unsupervised television. Exacerbated by the "caring" camp counselor who calls after dinner to remind you to apply sunscreen in the morning since it isn't her (goddamn) job.

Camplessness: Those hidden weeks between school and camp and then between camp and school when your child simply has nothing to do, because camp directors and school directors can't seem to get their act together to make sure the kids are occupied every single week because, really, what are we supposed to do with them all day?

Viking Phobia: The fear that if you turn on the oven your brain might actually melt, so you let all your "good food" rules slip by the wayside while your kids frolic in the fridge and eat cold hot dogs, ice cream, and Uncrustables for dinner every night.

Polar Disorder: Feeling so hot and drained in your home that you drag your kids anywhere there's air conditioning--movie theaters, shopping malls, doctor's offices (they could be sick, right?)...

Bedtime Dysfunction: The inability to resist your kids' whines of, "We can't go to bed, it's still light outside!" Side effects include falling asleep while waiting for the sun to set, leaving the kids to wreak havoc until they pass out near midnight. This invariably results in having to wake them minutes before the camp bus arrives, leaving no time to put on sunscreen before they leave...

Got any hidden summer dangers of your own? Leave them in the comments below!

What Do Your Kids Think About?

KeriF — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:01:00 GMT

Sometimes I'll catch my three-year-old son staring off into space, looking so pensive I just have to ask him, "Ronan, what are you thinking about?"

He'll turn to me and say, "Gooky poopy head!"

So much for deep thoughts.

But I do wonder what my kids think about. My efforts at conversation with them are mostly thwarted--How was school? Fine. What did you dream about? I don't remember. I don't think they quite grasp the concept of thinking or dreaming yet.

I'm not the only one who wonders what's going on in my kids' heads. Peter Hartlaub over at The Poop, The San Francisco Chronicle's baby blog, often wonders the same thing (about his own kids, of course). He cleverly estimates the percentage of each day his kids spend thinking about various things and asks readers to do the same.

So here's my best guess for my 3-year-old:

Pirates 47%

His penis 29%

His brother's penis 2% (mostly at bedtime when they fight over who gets to flush the toilet)

Gum 8%

I need a Band-Aid! 14%

And 4 1/2-year-old Declan:

Writing his name in bubble letters 23%

Pirates 21%

Can I have dessert? 35%

Hoping "We'll see" really means "Yes" in response to, "Can we watch a show?" 21%

Of course, 1-year-old (today!) Molly is easy:

Food! 50%

Mama! 48%

Dada! 2%

Share your own kids' deep thoughts in the comments below!

Is Candy Medicine the New Candy Cigarette?

JeanneSager — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:06:00 GMT

Remember candy cigarettes? So much fun pretending to be so bad? I haven't seen them on store shelves for years, so I've got to assume marketers saw the danger of hooking kids with candy. But I wonder: is the new trend toward diguising kids medicines as gummy candies really any better?

The gelatinous blobs have sold like hotcakes to parents who have struggled to make their children swallow the traditional pediatrician-prescribed multi-vitamin. The fight to take your fiber pill becomes a non-entity when you're promising them, "you can have a gummy this morning!"

And here's where I'm going to play the grinch. I'm not going to argue they're easier to serve up, but should we really teach our kids that medicines are like candy?

Like those sweet slim ciggies before them, the gummy meds are parading something potentially dangerous in a candy form. Even "good for you" medicines like vitamins, which can reach toxic levels when overconsumed. Even those fiber treats, meant to keep your kids from getting blocked up, can cause the exact opposite when they get hold of the bottle of sweets and go to town.

So let's weigh this out - toxic possible overdose versus a morning fight. Which are you going to pick?

Image: MyCalorieCounter

One School, 19 Sets of Twins

JeanneSager — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:27:00 GMT

They're seeing double at Armstrong Elementary School in Garland, Texas. And double. And double.

The small Texas school has just five hundred thirty-nine students - and thirty-eight of them are twins. There are nine sets in the second grade alone.

It's surely a sign of the trend toward twins - spurred on by fertility interventions. These days, one out of every thirty-three kids is a twin (compared to one in eighty back in the day). In 2004, there were more than one hundred thirty two thousand twin births recorded in the U.S. - more than any year prior (that was the latest year data is available on, no word on whether it's risen in the past five years).

There's no question there are more of them, but I'd hazard a guess they're more spread out too. And they're bringing more attention. Perhaps because because the hot button fertility drug issue (hello Octomom) make these parents an easy mark? The years have also been marked by advancements in medical technologies that keep twin pregnancies going and keep premie duos alive.

And perhaps I'm the anomaly that proves the rule, but I never thought twins were rare. I grew up in the eighties in an even smaller school than Armstrong (there were thirty-four kids in my graduating class). And there was one set of twins in my class, plus half of a set of a twins (his brother failed a year and ended up behind us). My next door neighbors had identical twin boys, I have a set of twin uncles (born in the sixties) plus a set of twin cousins. None of these kids were born with fertility interventions.

Twins make up seven percent of the population at Armstrong. But they made up eight percent of the population in my third grade class.

Did you know a lot of twins growing up or are you meeting your first multiples as parents?

Image: MSNBC

Where Every Day Is Take Your Child to Work Day

KeriF — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:05:00 GMT

I can't decide if this is pure genius or a complete rip-off...

A San Francisco company is offering work-at-home parents a place to work with childcare built right in. Cubes and Crayons offers workers office space with onsite childcare. There's everything you need for the professional office: conference rooms, Wi-Fi, photo copier, even a kitchen where you can get all the water cooler chatter you miss working from home. Meanwhile, your kids are happily occupied in a swank childcare center, complete with tricycles, a slide, a play kitchen, and stage, and cared for by an attentive staff (ratio is one staff member per three children). Sounds perfect, right?

But you pay for perfection: drop-in rates are $16/hour plus a yearly membership fee that starts at $435. That includes the workspace and child care.

There's another place to go for free Internet, printing capabilities, and a kitchen. It's called your home. And if you can find a reliable sitter in your neighborhood, it may cost far less to have someone watch your kid in your own home. Especially if you have more than one kid.

It's true that working at home can be a lonely, solitary existence. But most of the people I know who work from home don't make a ton of money. For us, Cubes and Crayons is a luxury we can't afford.

But for some, it might be just the ticket. Especially on an as-needed basis, when the sitter calls out sick or you have a last-minute meeting to get to; you can leave the kids behind if you have business elsewhere.

Would you use this service if it was in your neighborhood?

Morning News - It's All Bill Clinton's Fault

Brett Singer — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:00:00 GMT

One current theme I've heard leaking out of the GOP Hive Mind lately is the idea that the Obama Administration needs to stop blaming the Bush Administration for, well, anything. For example: "I think people will be blaming George Bush until they die. We are almost halfway through the 1st year of Obama’s Presidency and they are still blaming the last administration for EVERYTHING. I think the blaming needs to stop and people need to start taking responsibility for their destinies."

Here's a little item from Business Week about the failures of the auto industry: "The Clinton Administration, as many before it, simply could not figure out how to force the Japanese to open their auto market, so in 1995 after a bout of highly publicized negotiations, it declared victory, even in the obvious face of failure. And the Clinton Administration was also unable to address the absence of a national health-care system. These two failures were huge, seen in retrospect."

So. Let's review. The Obama Administration and/or all Democrats need to stop blaming the Bush Administration because, you know, c'mon. It's been MONTHS since Obama took office. But blaming the Clinton Administration, which has been out of office for NINE YEARS, makes perfect sense. Yes, these articles are from two different sources. But the idea that nothing a former President did has any effect on our current situation is just silly. Thus endeth the opinion portion of Morning News.

Malls are in trouble, and therefore stocks in mall companies may not be a good buy right now, according to the Motley Fool (me, I know nothing about finance). To me, the problem with malls was always the excessive amount of useless stores. "I Can't Believe They Put A Clock In It!" That sort of thing. These are not stores that will survive in weak economic times. OK, that's opinion as well.

Funny item from Buzzfeed -- Ferris Bueller's best friend's house is up for sale. The house, located at 370 Beech Street in Highland Park, Illinois, can be yours for a mere $2,300,000. Four bedrooms, four baths, and the coolest garage ever to appear in a classic 1980's film. ("When Cameron was in Egypt land... Let my Cameron go...")

Dopey iPhone app of the day -- ShakeIt, which attempts to simulate the shaking that people used to do with Polaroids. As a commenter on Wired puts it: "That seems silly. Got any apps to add pops and hisses to my MP3 files?"

And also from Wired, news of a new Wii accessory that will monitor your heart rate while you get your Wii on. The Wii Vitality Sensor attaches to your WiiMote and will do more than just tell you your BPMs, according to Nintendo. “It intends to have you see the information relating to the inner world of your body, achieve greater relaxation." Or it could tell my son that he's waaay too into the game he's playing and needs to take a little break.

Morning News - GOP Calls Sotomayor Racist

Do You Leave Your Kids Alone in the Car?

13 Year Old Alfie Definitely Not A Dad

Katie Roiphe Doesn't Like You Or Your Kids

Dad Charges Daughter With Grand Theft Auto

Breaking News: Brazilian Custody Case Suspended

SunnyChanel — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:54:00 GMT

The saga continues. The man who was to be reunited with his son after years of waiting and litigation will have to, sadly, wait longer. David Goldman was to regain custody of his nine-year-old son on Wednesday – a judgment issued by a Federal judge. But a Brazilian supreme court has suspended the court order due to an emergency request filed a small political party. They made the claim that the whole scenario had turned into a political matter. Due to this injunction, the Brazilian court must now go convene for a full trial - which could take days or even months. (For a synopsis of the saga check out Brett’s post here.)

According to the AP:

“The Progressive Party argued that the boy should not be returned to the United States in such an "abrupt manner." It said he should stay in Brazil because he has been living in the country for five years and would be stripped of his current family environment of "happiness, love and comprehension," the supreme court statement said.

The party also said the boy could suffer psychological damage because of the order to immediately put him in the care of his biological father, and that the outcome of the case reflected an interest in "prioritizing international relations over the fundamental rights of a Brazilian native" boy, the supreme court statement said."

I can’t imagine being in Goldman’s shoes. Being so close to getting your son back and yet delayed once again. What would you do if you were in his shoes?

Source

Blogger Defends Kate Gosselin -- and So Do I

Amy Kuras — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:30:00 GMT

I’ll admit to only having watched maybe ten minutes total of “Jon and Kate Plus 8” ever. I have issues with people who abuse fertility treatment (you don’t end up with sextuplets if you and/or your doctor are doing what you’re supposed to) and then parade their kids around and accept a bunch of free goodies. And these two were apparently chasing the gravy train from the minute the doctor said “There’s six in there.” In other words, I have no respect for them and think they are exploiting their kids for their own personal gain.

That said, the vitriol directed toward Kate Gosselin with this latest controversy is quite surprising to me. The general line seems to be “Of course he cheated on her because all she ever does is bitch at him –she’s soooo meeeaaannn.”

I’m sorry, people – have you seen Jon Gosselin and the way he talks to her? He seems like a wussy little passive-aggressive jerk, and I’ll tell you what, if I was married to that guy, I’d be a bitch on wheels too. I mean, he’s all but admitted to cheating on her with some 23-year-old, and one of things he’s said to have done is wander uninvited into a college girl party and hit on 19-year-olds. He’s, what, 40ish? What normal adult male, married or single, thinks that’s remotely appropriate and uncreepy?

Blogger Lisa Daily over on HuffPo said nearly as much on her own take on the show, She also made a good point – Jon hasn’t worked since before the sextuplets were born. He says it’s because his employer didn’t want to pay the insurance premiums for six babies; his former employer says it’s because he spent more time trolling for freebies than actually working. They’ve been pretty much supporting themselves solely on income from the show and the attendant book deals.

Daily writes, “A friend of mine has five children, and she runs a pretty tight ship. I think Kate is probably the way she is because if she doesn't take charge, no one else will.

If my husband seemed incapable, or unwilling to provide for our family, I'd do whatever I needed to do to make that happen. Even if it made me look like a bitch on national TV.”

I hardly think Kate’s a hero – they are both essentially famewhores who are selling out their kids and I hate to think what life in that family is going to be like once the cameras are off and the gravy train has stopped a’comin’. But there’s a nasty little antifeminist undercurrent in the “blame the woman” tone of much of the discussion I have read, and think we need to examine why Kate’s being painted as the monster in all this.

Vote on Jon and Kate's Divorce Goes Too Far

New American Girl Doll Shares Name With Fugitive

Brett Singer — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:00:00 GMT

You've heard about the new American Girl doll. Rebecca Rubin. Nice name.

But it turns out there's another Rebecca Rubin out there. She's a fugitive.

Not just any fugitive. One of the FBI's most wanted fugitives. An eco-terrorist, if you will.

The real-life Rebecca J. Rubin was part of a group called the Earth Liberation Front. Perpetuators of "the biggest act of eco-terrorism in U.S. history," according to some. Here is a video report of one of their more notorious acts:

So why pick the same name as a suspected terrorist? (What's next? Barbie Bin Laden? The New York Times quotes American Girl spokesperson Julie Parks as saying that, “Rebecca was one of the most popular names for Jewish girls in 1905, when Rebecca [the doll] would have been born. When researching last names, Rubin was on a list of a handful of other names that would have been appropriate for a Russian-Jewish family but, honestly, Rubin rose to the top because we liked the alliteration and knew that girls could easily pronounce it.” (As opposed to one of those really Jewy names, like Schlemielowitz.)

To be fair, "the company originally applied to register the name [Rebecca Rubin] with the United States trademark office in 2004," according to the Times. Suspected eco-terrorist Rebecca Rubin was indicted by a grand jury in 2006. Still, maybe the next time American Girl is about to launch a new doll, they might want to Google the name. Just in case.

Source: New York Times

Image: FBI (first time that's ever been an image source for me)

Morning News - GOP Calls Sotomayor Racist

Do You Leave Your Kids Alone in the Car?

13 Year Old Alfie Definitely Not A Dad

Katie Roiphe Doesn't Like You Or Your Kids

Dad Charges Daughter With Grand Theft Auto

Octomom to Kate: Don't You Judge Me

Madeline Holler — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:34:00 GMT

It's a battle of the super-breeders! The LA Times is reporting that Nadya Suleman (aka: Octomom) wants Kate Gosselin, star of TLC's "Jon & Kate + 8," to stop judging her.

Suleman's comments come after a recent episode of "Dr. Phil." Gosselin, the mother of five-year-old sextuplets and two older children, said that Suleman would have a difficult time raising her 14 children without a husband or money. She was responding to a question about Suleman's situation.

Here's what Suleman had to say in response:

"Do I have to watch it? She reminds me of my mother," said Suleman, a resident of La Habra, in an interview with Radar Online released this morning. "I have moved past my mistakes. She has her own issues. ... She needs to stop being so judgmental and stop pulling at straws for attention." ...

Suleman said in the video interview that Gosselin should focus on her own life. "My children are extremely healthy, strong and happy. Don't you have, like, a lot of issues in your life? A lot of marital problems?" she told Radar.

Ouch!

Incidentally, Suleman signed on for her own reality show. But producers want you to know it's different. Ocotomom herself will be holding the camera much of the time. Oh, that can't be good. That can't be good.

'Jon & Kate' Under Investigation

Blogger Defends Kate!

Image: LA Times

Photo Contest Is Back!

editors — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:05:00 GMT

At long last you have another excuse to show us cute pictures of your kids over on the Babble Playground. In honor of the day we celebrate all things Pops, we want to see your best pictures of Dad and the Kid. Head over to the Playground, sign yourself up and you’ll be entered to win a Jeep Liberty Limited Urban Terrain Stroller with all the fixin’s! We’re giving away three of those bad boys so your chances are good. Well, better than most months. Enter today. – April Peveteaux

Got a Sick Child? Go Online

JeanneSager — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:31:00 GMT

When I first read that more parents are going online after their kids get sick, I had thoughts of hundreds of graduates of Google University picking fights with the med. school grads trying to take care of their kids.

Good news: that's not what this story is about.

Not that parents can't find some good quality health information online. But there's enough fearmongering and misinformation online to make you never trust an MD again.

But a recent post over at the U.S. News and World Report parenting blog by Nancy Shute pointed to a phenomena that's been widely used, and yet widely overlooked: the online patient support group. Especially important for parents who don't want to leave their kids' hospital bedsides or have little time for nighttime support group meetings (and no money for a sitter when it's all going to the medical bills), online support groups offer not only a (virtual) shoulder to cry on but a go-to source for navigating the net full of all that fearmongering and misinformation.

They've read most of it and dissected it already. Plus, they've been where you are right now, and they can help you get to where they are. As Shute points out, they've also got a stake in finding the answers you want. Your doctors may be fantastic and incredibly intelligent, but they simply don't have the same kind of time to devote to your incessant quest for knowledge.

And online, we very often can find it - and in ways that we couldn't in our hometowns. Where there might be 100 kids with food allergies at your kid's elementary school, there are hundreds of thousands of parents dealing with them over at Kids With Food Allergies. Where only one in four thousand kids is born with cystic fibrosis across the entire U.S., hundreds of their moms and dads are blogging at CysticFibrosis.com.

Of course, you can't trust it all - read any blog (even Strollerderby), and there's a tendency for parents to post medical advice (here they leave it in comments), and for other parents to say, "oh, that's interesting, I didn't know that, I'll have to do that." Where people are quicker to discount the spoken word, a possible loon in an in-the-flesh support group, something about seeing the words written on a computer screen makes parents (people in general really) more trusting.

Would you prefer an in-the-flesh support group or are you all about online?

Image: OETSG

Do You Leave Your Kids Alone in the Car?

KeriF — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:02:00 GMT

When my oldest son was a baby, I sometimes stopped at Blockbuster with him in the car. If he was sleeping, I would use the automatic car starter (a Hanukkah present from years past) to start the car, turn on the heat, then lock the doors (keys in hand). With baby Declan tucked safely inside, I was free to browse the New Releases, unencumbered by my offspring.

What the hell was I thinking?

My sister and I have argued about this before: I am a reformed leaver of kids in the car, she a proud leaver of kids in the car. She doesn't actually do it often, but she is a vocal proponent of it--under the right circumstances.

My sister's also a devoted poker player, but not even she would do what this Pennsylvania woman did.

Police say that 26-year-old Naomi Bryant left her two children in the car for two hours so she could gamble. That's right, Naomi left her 6- and 8-year-old daughters in the car while she went into the casino, from 7:37am to 9:30am last Thursday. What, you thought kids were in school at that time on a weekday?

For the record, my sister insists that she would only leave her kids in the car (with the doors locked and windows up, natch) if the car was within her sight at all times and the weather fairly temperate--not too hot or too cold inside the car. She's not too particular about where she does it, though; she's okay with it at the bank (when you really need to deposit your paycheck) or at Starbucks (when you really need a double latte).

But not at the casino. As for Naomi Bryant, she's been charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of children.

Do you ever leave your kids alone in the car?

Excerpt: Free-Range Kids

editors — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Today on Babble.com.

"Excerpt: Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry."

by Lenore Skenazy.

What to do when judgmental moms attack.

Read it here.

Rob Riggle Helps Out The Knocked Up and Naughty

SunnyChanel — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Right between ‘pediatrician’ and ‘bottles – glass vs. plastic’ on her to-do list, a pregnant lady has a more naughty task written in her notepad…’sex’. Thing is this pregnant lady just happens to be single. So what is a girl who’s feeling randy to do?

Enlist the help of Rob Riggle of course. In a Funny or Die sketch, the female protagonist tries to get it on with the old Daily Show correspondent, but instead is fraught with flatulence, painful positions, the need for frequent urination and more. A hilarious bit is when going in for a bikini wax, the salon staffer tries to convince her to get her hair down there sculpted into a pacifier...classy!

You can check out the skit - Casual Sex Episode Three - right here.

Please, Pixar, No Princesses

Amy Kuras — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:01:00 GMT

So Pixar’s latest, “Up” seems to be a big hit, earning rave reviews and scoring big at the box office.

But it prompted Linda Holmes, blogger for NPR’s pop culture blog Monkey See, to write a heartfelt open letter to Pixar.

“This is not an angry letter. It is especially not an angry letter about Up, which I adored,” she begins. “I could have sat in the theater and watched it two more times in a row….
So I'm not complaining; I'm asking. I'm asking because I think so highly of you.

Please make a movie about a girl who is not a princess.”

She points out that Pixar is making some of the best movies around right now, and that while they have very strong female characters, none of them are in the fact the protagonist, the person whose story it is. I didn’t realize this until I read her lovely and sweet blog, but wow, she’s right.

Holmes calls on Pixar to remember those “little girls with Band-Aids on their knees” who don’t see themselves on screen all that much. She want girls to have a great movie like “Up” that features someone they can dress up had for Halloween.

I agree. I have one of those little girls with Band Aids on her knees (and pretty much everywhere else a kid can fall over) and while she’s newly in love with the Disney Princesses and everything pink, purple or sparkly, she’s also a fearless little adventurer.

Holmes ends her piece with: “I'm just saying, keep them in mind, those girls in Band-Aids, because they want to see themselves on screen doing death-defying stunts, too.”

I hope sometime soon, the phenomenally talented people at Pixar take her up on it. Not just for my girl, but for my son, too.

They Say: TV Impairs Kids' Speech

Madeline Holler — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:34:00 GMT

Here's one for the No Need to Panic files: TV impairs speech development.

A new study shows that for every hour a child spends in front of the television, parents speak 770 fewer words. That's both when the parents are watching the show with the child and when they've just plopped the kid in front of the set to take a shower. Also, when the TV is just on in the background.

So why shouldn't we panic?

Earlier studies show that babies who watch a lot of TV catch up to their more sanctimonious peers by 16 months.

Results of this study appear in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Researchers looked at 329 children, ages 2 months to 4 years, whom they rigged up with digital recorders one day per month for an average of six months. The number of words heard and spoken were counted. Analysts compared the number of words exchanged while the TV was one against the number while the TV was off. On average, adults speak more than 900 words per hour when the TV is off.

Good information and probably not all that surprising, considering most people's experiences when, let's say at a party, the TV goes on. All eyes turn to the plasma screen.

One of the lead researchers, Dimitri Christakis of the Seattle Children's Research Institute, said while this doesn't exactly show that TV is harmful, it also shows it's not helpful, which is one reason the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against TV for kids younger than 2.

Commenting on the study, Victor Strasburger, a professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico, leaves us with this guilt-inducing advice:

"We need to avoid parking babies in front of screens," Strasburger says. "Parents need to realize they need to be the primary entertainment for their babies. Parents are movie stars when their kids are babies. It doesn't last long."

Sure. But sometimes, super star Mom or Dad needs to take five in the Green Room, you know?

They Say: Formula Not Necessarily Fattening. But!

Oldest Mum Gives Son a Young Name

They Say: We Don't Know How the Hell to Treat Pregnant Women

Police Discover Girl Raised by Dogs

Sonogram Cufflinks for Father's Day ... or a Pro-Life March

Photo: futureofchildren.princeton.edu

Creepy Old Japanese Pregnant Dolls (with Attached Creepy Fetus Dolls!)

Cole Gamble — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Apparently used to teach 19th century Japanese midwives, these pregnant dolls not only included placenta and stretch marks, but also interchangeable fetuses of different stages. At least, I hope that's what they were used for. It's kind of weird for a novelty item.

Crocheted Doll Gives Birth

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What's the Difference Between a Palestinian Kid and an Israeli One?

JeanneSager — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:26:00 GMT

If you're looking for some trick answer here, I'm sorry to disappoint.

A simple but brilliant advertising campaign about tolerance in the Middle East sporting a nearly identical set of kids actually depicts two kids who share no blood. They've never even met.

But the Israeli girl looks an awful lot like the Palestinian boy beside her in the project put together by Belgian artist Olivier Suter as part of his series of "Enemies" advertisements. Meant to help people celebrate their differences, the project began in Belgium, where Suter asked people to compare a French and Flemish speaker. But it's a bit more poignant in the Middle East for obvious reasons (hello Gaza, West Bank, bombs . . . ).

Using kids is a genius move for equally obvious reasons. It's hard to look at the pictures and not think about allowing their fresh faces to make up for centuries of mistakes, about letting them just be kids. Or maybe that's just me. If you're dead set on destroying the "other kind," these pictures probably won't have much affect. But for those good souls have simply gotten caught up in the fervor of the crowd, the face of a child (or two children who look like one) may be just what it takes.

The kids, by the way, are named Hadas Maor (that's the Israeli girl) and Adam Shurati, who was a little upset to learn people thought he looked like a girl (come on, he's a little boy, he's allowed to bristle at this one). Adam's mom had his hair cut to help Suter with matching the kids. She thought the project was brilliant, as did Hadas' dad, a supporter of a "two-state" system that would allow for the peaceful co-existence of Palestinians and Israelis in the region.

Image: Haaretz

Parenting Without Fear

editors — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Today on Babble:

"Parenting Without Fear"

by Lenore Skenazy.

Our kids are safer than ever. So why are we still afraid?

Read it here.

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to the 'Spellbound' Kids?

Jen Chaney — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:28:00 GMT

The Scripps National Spelling Bee crowned Kavya Shivashankar its new champion last week. All the media attention on the Kansas girl who clinched a victory by correctly spelling the word "Laodicean" may have reminded some observers of the 2002 documentary "Spellbound," which followed the often intense competition between several smart young wordsmiths during the 1999 bee.

Since 10 years have passed since that sharply captured showdown in Washington, D.C.'s took place, it's only natural to wonder what has happened to some of the key kids who starred in "Spellbound." Allow me to attempt to provide a few answers A-S-A-P. (That spells, um, ASAP.)

While filmmaker Jeffrey Blitz introduced us to several kids in "Spellbound," eight children played more prominent roles. Here's the rundown on what all of them are doing now, based on info I could readily track down via the World Wide Web.

Neil Kadakia went on to attend the University of California, Berkeley, enrolling as a freshman at the ripe age of 16. The sparse public information found on his Facebook page indicates that he graduated from Berkeley in 2007, but it's unclear exactly what he's doing now. (Got some intel? Please share it below in the comments.)

Emily Stagg attended Carleton College in Minnesota and, according to her Facebook page, is currently a grad student at Yale. Back in 2006, she wrote this essay for the New York Times, in which she argued that some modifications to the bee's traditional format could benefit its participants.

Ashley White has perhaps the most compelling post-"Spellbound" story. The D.C. native got pregnant and had a child at the age of 18, but managed to work part-time jobs while earning an undergraduate degree at Howard University and raising her daughter. As of last year, according to this Washington Post story, Ashley was planning to get a master's degree in social work and was even looking farther down the road at a Ph.D.

April DeGideo, whose doting, adorable mother was one of my favorite people in "Spellbound," earned a degree in journalism in 2007, according to Wikipedia. If this LinkedIn page is accurate, she currently works at Progressive Business Publications in Philadelphia.

Harry Altman, a kid who possessed an unparalleled talent for making bizarre faces, went on to major in math and computer science at the University of Chicago. He appears to be pursuing graduate studies at the University of Michigan and currently has 419 friends on Facebook.

Angela Arenivar has made her love of the Spanish language a focus of her life. Her Linked In page says she earned a B.A. in Spanish at Texas A&M University, and is following that with a master's in Spanish from the University of New Mexico, where she also acts as a teaching assistant.

Nupur Lala, who won the "Spellbound" bee, went on to attend the University of Michigan, graduating in 2007. Wikipedia says she is now a technical assistant in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT.

And lastly, the saddest of the "Spellbound" stories. Ted Brigham, a Missouri native, died in 2007 while pursuing medical school in Kansas City. It's unclear what the cause of death was, but it's certainly clear that he left this world much too soon.