Now that gay marriage has been legalized in New York, many are saying that (rumored) long-time partners Bert and Ernie should go ahead and make it official already. There's even an online petition with more than 3,600 signatures encouraging the pair to tie the knot. Over the years, Sesame Street creators have denied the roommates' homosexuality - or any kind of sexuality for that matter, saying, “They are not gay, they are not straight, they are puppets … they do not exist below the waist.” Clearly, it's their decision, but we can't help but note that Elmo would make a darling ring-bearer to Zoe's flower girl and Gordon certainly has the gravitas needed to officiate a wedding. Okay, if they don't get married, then somebody else on Sesame Street really should because we'd love to see the whole gang do the Chicken Dance.
Dance Dance Revolution! If World Breastfeeding Week and the big Latch On event constitute a revolution to encourage breastfeeding, then a Salt Lake City moms' group has just added the dance component necessary to any good revolution. Now this is a moms' group we'd like to join -- these gals organized a baby-wearing flash mob and gathered from seemingly nowhere in front of the city's main library. The only thing more fun than watching these moms with babes get down is watching the little girls with their dolls get in on the action. Power to the moms!
Toga! Toga! Toga! For a mom with toddlers, life can often feel like an endless frat party. One mom hilariously recounts some of the parallels she's noticed between the infamous college parties and raising small children. From the brightly-colored plastic cups on the floor in every room, to wondering exactly how and when the person in bed with you got there, she covers it all. In addition to the gems she's listed, we'd like to add the mutual love of table-dancing shared by both frat party attendees and three-year-olds.
Oh, it's 11:00 p.m. -- time for football practice. One Michigan high school, with a 90 percent Muslim population, has re-arranged summer practice schedules to accommodate the players' Ramadan observances. Since Muslims aren't allowed to break their fast before sundown during the holiday, the team's coach scheduled practices from 11:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., giving kids enough time to eat dinner before practice begins. The school's rival team, again, with a high Muslim population, also re-scheduled practices but for a slightly less-nocturnal 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. timeframe.
Want to protect young girls against HPV? Vaccinate the boys. For several years, it's been recommended that teenage girls get vaccinated for HPV, which affects more than half of sexually active Americans at some point. Now, health officials are also recommending that boys get vaccinated as well -- not just to prevent rare symptoms like genital warts and anal cancer, but also as a way to prevent them spreading the disease to girls.
Dana Macario is a TODAY Moms contributor and Seattle mom to two sleep-depriving toddlers. She is currently developing an alarm clock that will start an IV coffee drip 10 minutes prior to wake-up time. Once properly caffeinated, she also blogs at http://18years2life.blogspot.com/.