Listen to the Joystiq Podcast (because your ears can't read)

High School Secretary Changes Daughter's Grades Electronically

Posted Jul 2nd 2009 3:00PM by Bethany Sanders
Filed under: Teens & tweens, In the news

typing

A mom takes her daughter's grades into her own hands. Photo: Marja Flick-Buijs/sxc.hu

How do you know when you've become a little too entangled in your teen's life? Changing her grades to improve her class standing on a school computer is probably a red flag that you've crossed that line.

Caroline Maria McNeal, a high school secretary and mom of a 2008 graduating senior did just that. Not only did she tamper with daughter Brittney's test scores -- in one case, changing her SAT score from 1370 to 1730 (which is actually kind of clever because it could just be perceived as a typo except that she put the score in a week before any other students' scores were entered) -- she also changed other student's grades as well so that Brittney's class standing would be improved.

Bad move, mom.

Continue reading High School Secretary Changes Daughter's Grades Electronically

Don't Let Swine Flu Spoil Summer Camp

Posted Jul 2nd 2009 1:00PM by Amy Hatch
Filed under: Health & safety, In the news

Don't let swine flu stop you from sending your kids to camp this summer. Image: sxc.hu

Cases of swine flu may popping up at summer camps all over the country, but both medical experts and the American Camp Association say there's no reason to keep your child home this summer.

"It's important for parents to know it's safe to send their healthy child to camp. Camp is an extraordinary experience, providing friendship, leadership, and enrichment activities," says Peg Smith, chief executive office of the American Camp Association. "ACA-accredited camps have been monitoring the H1N1 situation since mid-April, and they are doing everything they can to provide a safe and healthy environment."

Indeed, camps like the Frost Valley Y.M.C.A camp in Claryville, NY are adding some new chores to their pre-camp checklist, such as wiping down doorknobs with bleach and preparing three negative-pressure isolation rooms to accommodate any campers who may fall ill.

"We think we're ahead of the curve, but who knows?" says Jerry Huncosky, chief executive officer of Frost Valley. "I think it's the 'who knows?' that we're preparing for."

New York City physician Dr. Erika Schwartz is medical director of Cinergy Health, and she says Frost Valley is doing exactly what it should to prepare for the swine flu -- and, she says, it is also what camps already know how to do.

Continue reading Don't Let Swine Flu Spoil Summer Camp

Nebraska Dad Who Abandoned Nine Children is Expecting Twins

Posted Jul 1st 2009 2:00PM by John Gill
Filed under: In the news, Single parenting


Gary Staton dropped off his 9 children last September under Nebraska's Safe Haven law. He still feels it was the right decision. Photo: Jeff Beiermann, The World-Herald

Safe Haven laws have been passed in all 50 states since 1999, as a way "for mothers in crisis to relinquish their babies to designated locations and keep them protected and provided with medical care until a permanent home is found."

37-year-old Gary Staton abandoned his nine children in September 2008, relinquishing them to the custody of his home state of Nebraska -- protected as a parent by the state's Safe Haven law. Now Staton, is expecting twins with his new girlfriend, Gail.

Staton abruptly became a single parent to his nine kids when his wife, RebelJane, died of a brain aneurysm in February 2007, not long after the last child's birth. The children, who ranged in age from 1 to 17 years of age, were dropped off at a hospital in Omaha when Staton determined that he could no longer care for them. The law has since been amended to only include children up to 30 days old.

Staton's two oldest children now live in Omaha, where they are finishing high school. The remaining seven kids live with RebelJane's aunt, who is in the process of adopting them.

Continue reading Nebraska Dad Who Abandoned Nine Children is Expecting Twins

Jenny Sanford Puts Her Kids First, the Governor Second

Posted Jun 30th 2009 4:00PM by Rachel Campos-Duffy
Filed under: Love & sex, Behaving badly, In the news

Over the weekend, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford confessed, in a rambling live statement to the press, that he has been having an affair with a woman in Argentina. Since her husband's bizarre press conference, the Governor's wife, Jenny, has single handedly changed the rulebook for scorned political wives. Gone is the humiliating moment of standing next to the philandering husband in a show of support, the stoned-face silence, the prerequisite week-long sequester in the family home, and the pathological enabling. Instead, Jenny Sanford is exemplifying dignity in the face of disaster, and is putting her children ahead of her husband's ambitions.

Mrs. Sanford's behavior -- including her refusal to cover for her husband when the press first came to their Sullivans Island summer house inquiring about the governor's whereabouts, and her absence as he has faced the press and calls for his resignation alone -- Mrs. Sanford has inspired a strong response from women across the country. "Team Jenny" merchandise, including mugs, bags and t-shirts with tango dancing silhouettes and the tagline, "Don't cry for me Argentina," is popping up everywhere. Clearly, Mrs. Sanford's behavior is meeting with approval from at least some voters -- and mothers.

Shortly after her husband's rambling, narcissistic press conference, the preppy mother of four boys delivered her own perfectly crafted and heartbreakingly maternal statement (no secret now about who the brain was in that outfit!). In it, she uses sacred scripture to remind her cheating husband of his ingratitude, saying, "sons are a gift from the Lord and children a reward from Him." She goes on to say, "I believe that the greatest legacy I will leave behind in this world is...the character of [my] children".

Jenny Sanford is a woman who understands exactly what is at stake, and who is not willing to risk "the potential damage to [her] children." When these things happen to families, especially very public families, we all worry about the children. In this case, however, we all somehow know that those boys are going to turn out all right – thanks to Team Jenny.

Parents Keep 2-Year-Old's Gender a Secret

Posted Jun 30th 2009 2:00PM by Sandy Maple
Filed under: Development, In the news, Environment

gender symbols

Swedish couple avoid stereotypes by refusing to reveal their child's gender. Photo: Dominik Gwarek/sxc.hu

With little babies, it is sometimes hard to tell if the child is a boy or a girl. In the absence of gender-specific clothing or a peek inside the diaper, most babies could pass for either sex. But as a child gets older, it becomes easier to tell the boys from the girls. In addition to clothing, clues can be found in developing facial features, hair styles and even toy preferences.

But even if you can't tell the gender of someone's child just by looking, you can always come out and ask the parents, right? Usually, yes. But in the case of a two-and-a-half-year-old Swedish child, the answer would be "none of your business."

Aside from the parents and few other people, nobody knows if the child they call Pop is a boy or a girl. Pop's parents subscribe to a feminist philosophy in which the idea of gender is an unnecessary and potentially harmful social construction. They believe that by keeping Pop's gender a secret from the world, their child will be allowed to grow up without preconceived notions of how he or she should be treated based on his or her gender.

Continue reading Parents Keep 2-Year-Old's Gender a Secret

Baby Born at 23 Weeks Doing Well Six Months Later

Posted Jun 29th 2009 8:00PM by Brett Singer
Filed under: Newborns, Pregnancy & birth, In the news


Jessica Hawkins was born at 23 weeks, weighing less than a pound and a half. Photo: Getty Images

Jessica Hawkins was born on December 29, 2008, after only 23 weeks in the womb. She weighed 1 pound, 7 ounces. For comparison, that's less than a Priority Mail package.

Now she is 6 months old and weighs in at 9 pounds, 11 ounces. That's still very small for her age -- some children are born at or close to that weight. But she is healthy and alive. She has passed all her vision and hearing screenings, and came home from the hospital without an oxygen tank, which is huge for very premature babies.

Her parents, Pete and Sam Hawkins, are overjoyed, of course, but their joy is even more poignant than that of most parents of preemies: Mrs. Hawkins has had five miscarriages; one occurred at 19 weeks, and one at 20 weeks, which is halfway through a typical pregnancy. She had also gone through two cycles of IVF and was told it was "very unlikely" she would have children. When baby Jessica was born at 23 weeks, doctors thought the mother had again miscarried, "but a scan showed [Jessica's] heart was beating."

Her parents were stunned. "We couldn't take our eyes off her and are still in disbelief every day that she's actually ours," says Sam Hawkins.

Bizarre Births

    Mom, Unaware She Was Pregnant, Has Surprise Baby -- on Christmas!
    She never felt kicking, didn't notice weight gain, and even kept menstruating!

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    buzzybee on sxc

    Baby Born on London Underground
    Upon exciting the train, this woman promptly went into labor.

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    Suserl on sxc

    Woman Gives Birth to Triplet Granddaughters
    This 56-year-old certainly went the extra mile for her family.

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    crashmattb on flickr

    IVF Used to Beat Breast Cancer Gene
    In a controversial procedure, this couple employed genetic screening to make sure breast cancer wouldn't be passed onto their offspring.

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    Ticketed on the Way to the Delivery Room
    They weren't only stopped and ticketed, the officer made the couple wait while he ticketed someone else.

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    woodsy on sxc

    Twins Born From Cancer Survivor's 13-Year-Old Sperm
    He froze his sperm while fighting cancer, so that one day he might be a father.

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    Woman Goes Into Labor During Obama's Acceptance Speech
    Six days past her due date, this mom-to-be really wanted to attend the President-elect's acceptance speech in Chicago.

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    Getty Images

    Woman Conceives Triplets While on the Pill
    The contraceptive didn't just fail, it really, really failed. But fortunately it was a pleasant surprise for the mom-to-be.

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    thesaint on sxc

    59-Year-Old Gives Birth to Triplets
    At an age when many women are preparing to be grandmothers, fertility treatment gave this woman three babies of her own.

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    biewoef on sxc

    Japan's Oldest Surrogate Mother Carries Her Own Grandchild
    At 61, this woman's age alone makes her story miraculous -- not to mention that she was giving birth to her granddaughter, and taking part in a procedure banned by the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology's.

    Read More

    jeinny on sxc

Continue reading Baby Born at 23 Weeks Doing Well Six Months Later

Kids Fast Friends After Tandem Heart Transplants

Posted Jun 29th 2009 2:00PM by Amy Hatch
Filed under: In the news, Weird but true


Two British kids who lived just two streets apart had heart transplants on the same day, in the same hospital. Photo: sxc.hu

Patrick Skinner, 3, and 14-month-old Ellen Walsh lived most of their lives less than a block apart, but it was a pure twist of fate that brought them together -- the two met only after being placed on Britain's heart-transplant list.

Devon and Kevin Skinner watched their son suffer from leukemia and chemotherapy that weakened his heart to the point where he collapsed in his mother's arms after heart failure. Stefanie and Ian Walsh knew that their daughter would face significant health challenges after pre-natal scans revealed that her arteries were arranged in the wrong position.

Despite the fact that they were nearly neighbors, it was the months of waiting for a heart transplant that brought the children -- and their parents -- together. "It was a terrible time but was made a little bit easier by having Stef and Ian there," says Patrick's mom, Devon Skinner.

Continue reading Kids Fast Friends After Tandem Heart Transplants

Michael Jackson May Not Be Kids' Biological Dad

Posted Jun 29th 2009 1:00PM by Amy Hatch
Filed under: Celeb parenting, Behaving badly, In the news

In the latest twist in the Michael Jackson saga, the King of Pop's second ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, has claimed that the late pop icon is not the biological father of her two children, Prince, 12, and Paris, 11, and that the marriage was a sham. She adds that she does not want custody of the kids, saying she is "no good" as a mother.

Jackson, 50, died June 25 after heart failure. It is not known who will take custody of Prince, Paris and a third child, Prince Michael II (Blanket), 6.

Michael Jackson

    Michael Jackson, center, wearing a traditional Arabic woman's veil and all-covering gown called an abaya, with his son, Prince Michael II, also veiled, as they walk in Bahrain in 2006.

    Hasan Jamali, AP

    Michael Jackson, center, is supported by his security personnel as he walks into the courthouse with his father Joe Jackson, right, after arriving late to Santa Barbara County Superior Court, on March 10, 2005.

    Kimberly White, Pool / AP

    Michael Jackson applauds his fans while on top of his car after his arraignment on child molestation charges in Santa Maria, California on January 16, 2003.

    Hector Mata, AFP / Getty Images

    Michael Jackson's booking photo and personal information shown in this copy of a release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department after Jackson was booked on child molestation charges in Santa Barbara, CA, on November 20, 2003.

    Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department / AP

    Michael Jackson holds his eight-month-old son Prince Michael II over the balcony of the Adlon Hotel in 2002 in Berlin, Germany. Jackson was in Berlin with his three children to accept a lifetime achievement award.

    Olaf Selchow, Getty Images

    Minders escort the veiled children of Michael Jackson as they visit the Berlin Zoo in November 2002.

    Sadek Hamaiel, Getty Images

    Michael Jackson holds an unidentified child as he stands in the window of his suite in the Adlon hotel in Berlin.

    Jockel Finck, AP

    A masked Jackson traveling in Berlin, Germany.

    Eric Richard, Getty Images

    Michael Jackson testifies during his civil trial in Santa Maria Superior Court on December 3, 2002 in Santa Maria, California.

    Jim Ruyman, Pool / Getty Images

    Michael Jackson testifies in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, on November 13, 2002 in Santa Maria, CA.

    Spencer Weiner, Pool / AP



"The Brisbane Times" re-caps the interview, which was originally published by the UK's "News Of The World." In it, Rowe allegedly reveals that she was artificially inseminated by an anonymous donor and treated like "a thoroughbred mare" during her pregnancy: "I was just the vessel. It wasn't Michael's sperm. I got paid for it, and I've moved on. I know I will never see my children again."

Prince and Paris, and half-brother Prince Michael II are reportedly living with their paternal grandmother, 79-year-old Katherine Jackson, who filed for custody in Los Angeles Superior Court this week. Their guardianship has yet to be officially decided, and it's likely that a long -- and messy -- court battle over their custody will ensue. One thing is certain, according to Rowe: Prince and Paris will not be living with her. She was never "cut out to be a mother," she says.

Continue reading Michael Jackson May Not Be Kids' Biological Dad

Michael Jackson's Children Face Uncertain Future

Posted Jun 26th 2009 11:00AM by Amy Hatch
Filed under: Celeb kids, In the news

As the world mourns the death of American pop icon Michael Jackson, everyone is wondering -- what will happen to his kids?

Michael Jackson

    Michael Jackson, center, wearing a traditional Arabic woman's veil and all-covering gown called an abaya, with his son, Prince Michael II, also veiled, as they walk in Bahrain in 2006.

    Hasan Jamali, AP

    Michael Jackson, center, is supported by his security personnel as he walks into the courthouse with his father Joe Jackson, right, after arriving late to Santa Barbara County Superior Court, on March 10, 2005.

    Kimberly White, Pool / AP

    Michael Jackson applauds his fans while on top of his car after his arraignment on child molestation charges in Santa Maria, California on January 16, 2003.

    Hector Mata, AFP / Getty Images

    Michael Jackson's booking photo and personal information shown in this copy of a release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department after Jackson was booked on child molestation charges in Santa Barbara, CA, on November 20, 2003.

    Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department / AP

    Michael Jackson holds his eight-month-old son Prince Michael II over the balcony of the Adlon Hotel in 2002 in Berlin, Germany. Jackson was in Berlin with his three children to accept a lifetime achievement award.

    Olaf Selchow, Getty Images

    Minders escort the veiled children of Michael Jackson as they visit the Berlin Zoo in November 2002.

    Sadek Hamaiel, Getty Images

    Michael Jackson holds an unidentified child as he stands in the window of his suite in the Adlon hotel in Berlin.

    Jockel Finck, AP

    A masked Jackson traveling in Berlin, Germany.

    Eric Richard, Getty Images

    Michael Jackson testifies during his civil trial in Santa Maria Superior Court on December 3, 2002 in Santa Maria, California.

    Jim Ruyman, Pool / Getty Images

    Michael Jackson testifies in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, on November 13, 2002 in Santa Maria, CA.

    Spencer Weiner, Pool / AP



Who will end up raising Michael Jackson's three children? No one is sure right now. The fate of Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and 6-year-old Prince Michaell II ("Blanket") may be decided in a courtroom. Debbie Rowe, mother to Prince and Paris, allegedly gave up her parental rights to the kids not once, but twice. Jackson never publicly acknowledged who Blanket's mother was, claiming that the child was conceived using a surrogate he never met "and my own sperm cells."

"If the [surrogate] mother did not relinquish her parental rights, she can seek custody," attorney Gloria Allred told the "New York Daily News" yesterday. "If he indicated in his will the person whom he wishes to serve as guardian, then the court will give great weight to his preference." But who Jackson might have named as guardian is still a mystery.

What's left of the singer's vast but dwindling fortune (reports say that Jackson was $500 million in debt at the time of his death) is certain to play a role in the legal battler over the children, and some sources close to the family said that ex-wife Rowe may take custody of all three kids, despite her earlier relinquishment of her rights.

What is certain is that there are three kids who woke up this morning without a father. No matter how flawed Jackson may have been, there were small people who depended on him, and whose world will never be the same again. The lavish lifestyle bestowed on them by their increasingly indebted dad has disappeared, and any stability they may have had along with it. Our hearts go out to the Jackson kids.

Sarah Jessica Parker Surrogate Gives Birth

Posted Jun 24th 2009 11:00AM by Amy Hatch
Filed under: Celeb parenting, In the news


Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker welcomed twin girls. Photo: Getty Images

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick announced the birth of their twin daughters Tuesday afternoon. The baby girls were delivered by a surrogate on Monday in an Ohio hospital.

Marion Loretta Elwell Broderick weighed in at 5 pounds 11 ounces, and Tabitha Hodge Broderick weighed 6 pounds. "The babies are doing beautifully and the entire family is over the moon," said publicist Simon Halls, in a statement released Tuesday. Halls also said that Hodge and Elwell are family names on Parker's side.

The girls were born at 3:58 p.m. at East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry, Ohio. The woman who carried Parker's and Broderick's twins has not been named.

Last month, the "Sex In The City" star told "Access Hollywood" that the surrogate mother's telephone number and computer had been hacked, and that woman had been threatened. Now, authorities are investigating two Ohio police chiefs after accusations that the men broke into the surrogate's home in Martins Ferry. The cops were allegedly looking for photographs or other information to sell to tabloids.

Parker, 44, and Broderick, 47, confirmed in April that they had hired a surrogate in order to have more children. They have one son already, James Wilkie, who is 6 years old, but were unable to conceive any other babies. Surrogacy is when a woman is implanted with a fertilized egg from genetic parents. A surrogate mother is not a genetic relative of the child she carries and gives birth to.

Now we want to see some pictures, Sarah Jessica -- and when will the girls be getting their first pair of Manolos?

Should California Pay Welfare Parents to Stay Home?

Posted Jun 23rd 2009 4:00PM by Rachel Campos-Duffy
Filed under: Money & work, In the news, Childcare, Education, Single parenting

Should the government pay those on welfare to stay home and care for their kids?

That's the question Los Angeles officials are asking as the number of unemployed rises and California deals with a budget crises that threatens to land the state in bankruptcy. Governor Schwarzenegger wants to eliminate Cal Works, the state's welfare to work program. LA County Supervisors prefer to make deep cuts and save the program. Their goal: Target the most expensive people.

Currently, California "Welfare to Work" recipients are required to find a job or participate in government funded training or school. While fulfilling the program requirements, the government also covers childcare costs of about $500 per child per month.

The only exception to the work and training requirement are welfare recipients with a child under the age of one. One of the easiest ways to save money is to expand the exemption to include those with a baby under two years of age and those with two or more children under age six. In other words, pay more people to stay home with their kids.

Seems like a good idea -- but how do other parents feel?

Continue reading Should California Pay Welfare Parents to Stay Home?

Parents Sue Makers of Baby Gender Predicting Kit

Posted Jun 23rd 2009 3:00PM by Bethany Sanders
Filed under: Pregnancy & birth, In the news


Parents are eager to know the gender of their unborn baby. Photo: doriana_s/sxc.hu

Gone are the days of yellow nurseries and gender-neutral onesies. Few of today's parents wait for birth to find out the gender of their baby, and some parents can't even wait until their 18-week ultrasound. Enter the Baby Gender Mentor Kit, just $25 -- plus $250 in testing fees -- and expecting parents can find out what color to paint the nursery at just five to eight weeks gestation.

But as six New York mothers learned, predicting a baby's gender isn't an exact science. The mothers are suing Acu-Gen Biolab -- makers of the Baby Gender Mentor Kit -- for refusing to refund their money after inaccurately predicting their babies' gender. They say Acu-Gen promised 99 percent accuracy and a 200 percent refund, but lived up to neither promise.

The damage, they say, goes far deeper than money. One couple split up after the boy they were expecting turned out to be a girl. Others had nurseries, toys and clothing in all the wrong colors. "You may get somebody that laughs it off, like, 'Okay, we're having a boy named George and now it will be Georgina,'" lawyer Barry Gainey tells the Daily News. "For others, it can be a lot to go through."

Continue reading Parents Sue Makers of Baby Gender Predicting Kit

Summer Reading - Should 'Part-Time Indian' be Banned?

Posted Jun 23rd 2009 2:00PM by Bethany Sanders
Filed under: In the news, Education

Some Chicago parents think this book should be banned. Image: fallsapart.com

When I was 13, I spent my summer rereading V.C. Andrews books -- they weren't great literature, more like junk food for the brain, so to speak. So it always surprises me when someone wants to ban good, quality literature from a summer reading list. But it seems like every summer, there's at least one book on the list that gets everyone talking.

This summer it's Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," a National Book Award winner. It's the story of Junior, a young teen living on the Spokane Indian reservation, as he makes the move to an all-white high school and into adolescence. The "New York Times" described the book as "a gem" and said it may be Alexie's "best work yet." "Working in the voice of a 14-year-old forces Alexie to strip everything down to action and emotion, so that reading becomes more like listening to your smart, funny best friend recount his day while waiting after school for a ride home."

But not everyone agrees.

Parents -- a handful, really -- in a suburban Chicago school district raised concerns about "Part-Time Indian" at a recent board meeting; they claimed that the subject matter of the book wasn't appropriate for kids just entering high school. Jennifer Andersen -- who pre-read the book before her son -- is one parent who objected to the book. "I began reading, and I started to cross out sections that I didn't want him to read," she tells the Chicago Tribune. "Soon I thought, 'Wait, this is not appropriate; he is not reading this.' "

Andersen and other parents took issue with the book's strong language and sexual content. "I can't imagine anyone finding this book appropriate for a 13- or 14-year-old," says Andersen. "I have not met a single parent who is not shocked by this. This is not appropriate for our community."

Andersen, who has a teaching degree herself, claims not to be promoting censorship in asking that the book be removed from the school. But she does not want her 14-year-old son reading it. "How can we look past the vulgarity?" she asked.

Banned Books

    Ban the dictionary? That's what one Alaska school district did. Specifically, school board members objected to the American Heritage dictonary's inclusion of vulgar words and slang.

    Amazon.com

    John Steinbeck's classic tale of families fleeing the Dust Bowl was banned in Oklahoma and Kansas. The irony, of course, is that the novel's protagonists, the Joad family, are fleeing their farm in Oklahoma for a better life.

    Amazon.com

    Not even Shakespeare is immune from banning: "The Merchant of Venice" was tossed out of schools because of the Bard's portrayal of Shylock the Jew.

    Amazon.com

    Harper Lee's only novel is a classic summer read -- except when it's banned. Schools and libraries have objected to the novel for a number of reasons, including the story's discussion of rape and incest.

    Amazon.com

    Mark Twain's language -- particularly his use of a racist slur to describe a black slave -- has had teachers and parents up in arms about "Huckleberry Finn" for decades.

    Amazon.com

    William Golding may have won a Nobel Prize for Literature, but that didn't stop the Toronto School Board from banning "Lord of the Flies" in all of it's schools. Their specific complaint: The novel's racist language.

    Amazon.com

Continue reading Summer Reading - Should 'Part-Time Indian' be Banned?

Breast is Best for College

Posted Jun 23rd 2009 1:00PM by Bev Sklar
Filed under: Eating & nutrition, In the news


A dose of good grades? Photo: littleREDelf/Flickr

You nursed your first-born three months then fled to the bottle. A more experienced mommy the second time around, you happily nursed your second-born for over a year, feeling bittersweet when you announced last call at The Breast Bar and went 100 percent sippy cups. Other than the first angel costing more thanks to pricey formula, will formula or breast milk make a difference in your kids' college plans?

Beyond nutritional perfection, one new sibling study says breast may be best for higher grades and college. After researching 126 children from 59 families to compare infant siblings who were breast-fed versus bottle-fed, results revealed Mommy's milk is associated with substantial increases in high school grade point average and the probability of attending college.

Oh great. I apologize to my first-born son. But before mommy guilt sets in, remember this: The operative word here is associated -- researchers acknowledge this study has not delivered a definitive causal link. Yet it's hard to ignore sibling data. Babies were raised by the same milk-mom, in likely the same home.

I loved breastfeeding, but admit I was better in the mommy dairy barn the second time around. Yet my youngest, who breast-fed nearly twice as long as the oldest, was a veritable breast-latch-monkey capable of feeding from nearly any angle. She also seemed to crave breastfeeding more intensely. But perhaps I simply let her breastfeed longer because I knew she was likely my last.

Does anyone have a personal testimonial on their children's breast versus bottle academic performance? Do share.

'Wife' School - Would You Send Your Daughter?

Posted Jun 19th 2009 6:00PM by Bethany Sanders
Filed under: Teens & tweens, In the news

mad men

Make Over Camp for your little Betty Draper. Photo: blogs.amctv.com

We have a handful of etiquette-related rules at our house, like these, for example:

  • No feet where you eat.
  • Say please and thank you.
  • When someone gives you a gift, send a thank-you card.
  • Be the kind of guest who gets invited back.

We also have a couple that I never thought -- pre-parenthood -- I'd ever have to say out loud, like the most recent: We wear underwear every day.

As parents, we created these rules to help our girls become civilized human beings who will hopefully know how to make their way in the world, but according concert pianist Wonny Song, civilized isn't enough -- at least not for girls.

Song, co-director of a music and fine arts camp in Montreal, was so impressed by the manners of a friend's teenage daughter at a dinner party that he has started a new summer program called Make Over Camp.

The goal of the two week class, which is geared to girls ages 10 to 14, is to teach things like table manners, posture, conversation, fashion and make up and hostessing skills. "We see a lot of young ladies who can benefit from a makeover program," says camp co-creator Angela Chan. "They need to develop their presence."

Continue reading 'Wife' School - Would You Send Your Daughter?

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