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NEW YORK, April 24 (UPI) -- Having babies go without diapers most of the time may be the latest rage in parts of New York City, but it's raising eyebrows among some, mothers say. Read More

Let the iPad babysit your children and they could end up addicted before they even hit elementary school, experts warn. Read More

It’s hard to know what type of parents we are going to be before we become them. We all have ideas in our heads of what we certainly won’t do, or what we definitely want to try and do!  For instance, I had some crazy notion that I was going to be a disciplinarian. I clearly had no idea how hard it was going to be to say “no” to the request for an extra chocolate chip cookie when those sweet little faces look up at me through big gorgeous eyes and say, “Please mama!” We may even find ourselves saying things that our parents did or that we heard at some point, such as, “No, you can’t have ice cream again tonight. You had some yesterday.” And then I wonder to myself why on earth can’t they have ice cream two nights in a row! Read More

Would you have enjoyed visits to your grandparents' house more if they'd spent a hundred grand to get you there?  A recent Wall Street Journal article, "The ultimate play room . . . at Grandma's house," says that some grandparents are redecorating and even remodeling certain areas of their homes to entice their grandkids over.
Some shop on their own and some hire designers to create rooms full of things like electronics, trampolines, pingpong tables, personalized tents, whimsical furniture and even cosmetics. One designer said her clients spend from $40,000 to $100,000 to get the right kid-friendly vibe. Read More

The news from Boston has taken over the national attention span today. If you have kids, they’re likely hearing about it—maybe seeing it, too.  As a parent, then, how do you acknowledge the news without scaring the heck out of your child? It’s not easy, says Hal Runkel, a licensed marriage and family therapist and author of Screamfree Parenting: The Revolutionary Approach to Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool. “In a way this event is a smorgasbord of candy for the worst parts of ourselves. We let our anxiety make us want more.” Read More

Sure we see stories of teachers who abuse children, or use questionable means of discipline in the classroom (duct tape seems to be a recurring theme), but most of them are pretty amazing.

Every day they are entrusted to care for and teach our kids. After a few hours alone with my own two children, I find it mindboggling that they can handle 20 or more for an entire day. Not only that, they have to deal with their parents too -- which sometimes may be even more challenging.

I'm sure there are many types of annoying parents they deal with (I wonder which I might be?) but among the worst have to be the finger pointers. You know, those who blame anyone and everyone besides themselves when something goes wrong. Here are seven things parents like to blame on teachers when -- in most cases -- they really should be blaming themselves.

READ MORE: http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/153387/7_things_parents_blame_on

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Babies start off with a clean slate, so what you choose for your little one reveals more about your personality than theirs. Read More

In today’s edition of what-the-eff news, some British schools have banned childhood best friends. The students have been discouraged from pairing off in primary schools in Kingston, South West London, and Surrey, to spare the children the emotional pain of breaking up. Read More

Men are worse than toddlers when it comes to eating fruit and vegetables, according to a new poll of mums.The survey, for Savse vegetable smoothies, reveals that pre-school children are consuming an average of 12 different types of fruit and vegetables a week compared to men who eat half this amount.  In fact the analysis showed that the average man ate only 1.2 portions of fruit or veg a day. Read More