The best in parenting news and blogs from around the Web.
We offer the following as a public service announcement to teens, reminding them of the importance of logging out of their Facebook accounts when they're not using their computers. Failure to log out can invite your parents to humiliate you in front of all of your virtual friends, by posting a status update, as one kid's dad did, which read:
"To all of Chris' friends: This is his father. My son carelessly left his account logged in [sic] so I decided to snoop around. Upon reading my son's personal information, I would like to clear a few things up. My son is not a "gangsta," he will not "beat a ho's ass" and he will most certainly not "roll a fatty wit his boyz." So for all of those who think he is some hard ass thug, think again...he is Chris _____[redacted], a 15 year old kid that was afraid of the dark untill he was 12 and cried at the end of Marley and Me."
Do you think this dad's status update was funny or did it show bad parental judgment to make fun of his son online?
Maternity leave a racket?! Oh no, you didn't... Radio host Mike Gallagher once said, "Megyn's (Megyn Kelly, Fox News host) still on maternity leave, isn't she? Boy, what a racket that is." Megyn, and moms everywhere, didn't take too kindly to that remark. She recently had Mike on her show, and, after reading the transcript, we think it's safe to say she was the victor in their on-air sparring session. After schooling him in the basics of the Family Medical Leave Act, all he was able to muster was the following weak defense: "OK. Let me give you an explanation. I was drinking that day." But Megyn, on a roll, didn't stop there. She treated Mike, and viewers everywhere, to standing-ovation-worthy lines such as "the United States is the only country in the advanced world that doesn't require paid maternity leave," and "If anything, the United States is in the dark ages when it comes to maternity leave."
Mmm, this amniotic fluid tastes like carrot, with a slight minty aftertaste. New research shows that babies' food preferences are formed even before birth. Researchers gave some expectant moms a garlic capsule, and gave others a sugar capsule, to see if those scents passed down into the amniotic fluid. Sample of the amniotic fluids were then taken and a panel of people were asked to smell the, umm, offerings. Sniff tests came back positive -- the garlic eaters were easily identified. Other tests have shown that kids whose moms ate particular foods, either while pregnant or breast-feeding, later showed preferences for those same foods. "Since mothers tend to feed their children what they eat themselves, it is nature's way of introducing babies to the foods and flavors that they are likely to encounter in their family and their culture," one of the researchers said.
News of the economy will make you cry. This will make you smile. For reasons unknown, these two little cutie pies think it's hilarious to be squirted with a water bottle. Cats everywhere are shaking their heads in horror and disgust at the thought of all the water bottle hijinx going on in that household.
Breast isn't always best. Like when mom's a meth addict, for instance. Then, breastfeeding's actually a really bad idea. One mom, who breastfed her 6-week-old son while high on meth, is now being charged with child abuse, involuntary manslaughter, and second degree murder after her contaminated milk killed the newborn. There are no words.
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 www.18years2life.com.