There are lots of things that kids have to figure out as they grow up, like the fact that a little boy will never qualify as a single lady!
Watch this poor kid get his bubble burst by his dad, as he realizes that Beyonce is no longer singing directly to him.
--via Tastefully Offensive
When your little ones start playing dress up, and find their way into your makeup, be honest with them about how silly they look or they might start painting their faces like clowns during adolescence.
I don't know if I would put a bag over my child's head, at least not without cutting a few eyeholes in the bag first!
Greg Taylor of Mandeville, Louisiana evacuated his family to escape Hurricane Isaac. His daughter Ashley joined him--but her stuffed animals did not. She did, however, give them prudent instructions about how to shelter in place safely.
Link | Photo: Greg Taylor
Every second of this video by YouTube user Brovadere is adorable. My favorite moment is at 0:15 when the girls hear the first few notes and give each other a knowing look.
-via Nag on the Lake
To
circumcise or not to circumcise, that is the question that many parents
of newborn baby boys have to ponder. Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics
have released a new policy endorsing circumcision:
"There is clear evidence that supports the health benefits of circumcision," said Susan Blank, who led the 14-member task force that formulated the new policy being published in the journal Pediatrics.
The statement, and accompanying technical report, marks the first revision of the organization's position since 1999, when the academy backed away from circumcision. At that time, the group, which represents about 60,000 pediatricians nationwide, concluded that there was no clear evidence for or against circumcising newborns. The group affirmed that position in 2005.
Since then, the popularity of circumcision in the United States has declined. Only about 56 percent of newborn males are circumcised.
The academy's task force spent seven years combing through the latest research, analyzing more than a thousand studies. Their conclusion?
For starters, Blank says, circumcision helps baby boys pretty much immediately.
"The health benefits of male circumcision include a drop in the risk of urinary tract infection in the first year of life by up to 90 percent," she says.
But there's a much bigger reason to do it, Blank said. Circumcised males are far less likely to get infected with a long list of sexually transmitted diseases.
"It drops the risk of heterosexual HIV acquisition by about 60 percent. It drops the risk of human papillomavirus [HPV], herpes virus and other infectious genital ulcers," she says.
Link (Photo: Shutterstock)
Lydia Ko of New Zealand is only 15, but she's already won a LPGA golf tournament. And it's not even her first! She also won a competition at the age of 14, becoming the youngest ever champion in that sport's history.
Currently the world's top-ranked female amateur golfer, Ko, 15, also became the tour's fifth-ever amateur champion -- its first since 1969.
The glove she wore during her final round will become part of the World Golf Hall of Fame's collection.
"I was most impressed with just her demeanor," fellow player Stacey Lewis told reporters in quotes carried by LPGA.com. Lewis is ranked second in the Women's World Golf Rankings.
"I mean you would have never known that it was the final round of an LPGA event. She played like she had been there before."
Link -via The Mary Sue | Image: CNN
The man who wrote Brave New World also wrote a children's book? Yes! I had no idea. Maria Popova provides a synopsis:
The Crows of Pearblossom tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Crow, whose eggs never hatch because the Rattlesnake living at the base of their tree keeps eating them. After the 297th eaten egg, the hopeful parents set out to kill the snake and enlist the help of their friend, Mr. Owl, who bakes mud into two stone eggs and paints them to resemble the Crows’ eggs. Upon eating them, the Rattlesnake is in so much pain that he beings to thrash about, tying himself in knots around the branches. Mrs. Crow goes merrily on to hatch “four families of 17 children each,” using the snake “as a clothesline on which to hang the little crows’ diapers.”
Gertrude Stein, Salman Rushdie and other surprising people also wrote children's books. Read about them at the link.
Link | Image: We Too Were Children, Mr. Barrie
Give a monster a box of cookies, and he'll eat cookies for two minutes. Teach a monster to make cookies, and he'll eat cookies every day for the rest of his life.
Big Bird's Busy Book, published in 1975, included the recipe for Cookie Monster's signature dish. You can read a transcription at the link.
Link -via That's Nerdalicious!
Parenting is a long period of anxiety punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Among those periods of anxiety is babyhood. "Is my child breathing right now?" is a question that keeps parents up at time at times.
YouTube user Gjoc31 found a helpful way of dealing with that fear. He rigged a system that shines lasers on the back of his baby's back. If the baby stops moving, the system triggers an alarm:
Unlike similar builds and products that rely on microphones or capacitive sensors, [Gjoci]‘s build uses the camera from a wiimote to triangulate points of light and detect motion.
The build started off with infrared LEDs, but the batteries were big and there is always the possibility of the baby swallowing electrical components. [Gjoci] finally hit upon the idea of using small 1mW laser diodes to project points of light. This worked beautifully, and since newborns don’t move much there’s no danger of shining a laser into a baby’s eye.
The rest of the build is just querying the camera every few milliseconds and seeing if the position of the reflections captured by the wiimote camera have changed. In two weeks of operation, [Gjoci] only had to respond to a few false alarms, and the hardware hasn’t crashed at all.
Link -via Geekosystem
It should go without saying that Jill of Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons is a culinary genius. But now she has really outdone herself. With pancakes, chocolate chips, marshmallows, eggs and grapes she has brought George and the Man with the Yellow Hat to the breakfast table.
I know--it's what you've always wanted, right? Wendy Molyneux of McSweeny's offers a lengthy thank you to those kind crusaders who let you know what you should be doing:
Oh, hello, person I have never met before! I am so glad you ran up to me on this street where I am walking with my baby. You did not scare me at all with your very loud voice and the way you grabbed my arm! In fact, I am super relieved because I have a series of questions about my baby that I hope you can answer, and I am going to ask them because I know you would never ever offer me unsolicited advice.
First of all, should he be sleeping, ever? If so, should it be at night? Should I keep him in a bassinet or crib or should I let him just sleep in the yard, or the toaster? And when he sleeps, should I just let him sleep as long as he wants, or should I wake him up every fifteen minutes or so for a “baby party” where I give him hard candies and play loud music? Being a new parent is confusing, and there aren’t any books or internets about it, that’s why I have to rely on kind strangers like you.
Yes, he IS crying, isn’t he? You are right. He’s probably hungry. Should I feed him? And if so, where do I put the food? His eyeball? His butt? What kinds of cuts of meat do babies like? Should I not give him hot peppers? How much salt is too much, and when can I expect him to use a knife? If he spits up, should I have him put to sleep? There are just so many things I need to know, and that is why I rely on total strangers like you who happen to be experts on child care.
Link -via Dear Wendy | Photo: Brandon Baunach
Older homes that have been added to, altered, and modernized over the years sometimes contain surprising empty spaces. Andrea's family discovered that as they worked on their home. A little space under the stairs became a secret playroom for a small child. As their family grew, more work was done, and more small spaces found, until they had four "secret rooms" not quite large enough to be called a room, but big enough for children to play in. See how it all came about, with pictures, at Happy Chaos. Link -via b3ta
How in the world did this happen? My beautiful little baby isn't a baby anymore. Starting today (dun...dun...dun) she is a full fledged First Grader. That's right, my oldest child started First Grade and I am not handling it well. In fact, I patently refuse to handle it gracefully.
In all honesty I should have been prepared for this day. My Father spent all of my childhood telling me that time was ticking by too quickly. The problem is, I just figured he was being melodramatic. To me childhood seemed to last an eternity. Surely, when I had kids it wouldn't feel that way. I know if my Dad were alive today he would find great humor in watching this all unfold. He loved to say I told you so.
Oh, I know I still have several more years of childhood to survive, but this really is the beginning of the end. My cuddly little toddler is gone. In her place is this beautiful and inquisitive child who wants desperately to get her ears pierced. This week First Grade, up next college and a nose ring.
My Father always said if you do your job right your kids will eventually fire you. I have accepted the fact that parenting doesn't come with good job security, but I really thought I would have plenty of time to figure out my next move. Now, as she enters First Grade, I know that I don't! The empty nest phase is coming. I am not going to lie, this thought panics me. What will my future hold? A small dog that I dress up and one of those strange dog strollers? Oh, I just don't want to think about it right now. I am pretty sure my husband doesn't want to think about that scenario either.
Don't get me wrong. The next adventure will be a wonderful one. I am sure First Grade and all the grades after will hold many amazing memories for my daughter and hopefully for me as well. I may not like change, but change is good. I just can't help but slightly grieve for the loss of her baby and toddler years. Time is wicked and it marches on while you aren't looking.
Today, as I do every first day of the school year, I took a picture of my gorgeous little girl all decked out with her new backpack. I will place that photo in her school years album. Maybe, just maybe, when she is all grownup and her little girl needs a show and tell for the letter "F" she will pull it out. "F" after all is for First Grade. I hope it will remind her to cherish every moment. Time is fleeting.
Now if you will excuse me, I am going to try to put on my brave Mommy face and pretend that I am not a mess. Good luck to all the anxious parents this week. Happy Back to School!
Had the Rebel Alliance a few more of these, it might have won the Battle of Hoth. YouTube user skylarsmith3 build this, the greatest snow sled in history. It's modeled after the T-47 Airspeeder from The Empire Strikes Back. At the link, you can watch a video of it going down a hill.
