Whatever you might think about the idea of legalizing marijuana use for adults — California voters will decide next Tuesday whether or not to do just that — you probably don’t approve of giving pot to children, especially pre-teens. If you’re a parent who doesn’t want their kids trying weed until they reach adulthood (or something close to it, anyway), you might want to be extra careful about checking their treat bags when they get home from trick-or-treating tonight.
Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
Halloween Highs From More Than Sugar
Sunday, October 31st, 2010Beer Cans Bad For Babies
Friday, October 29th, 2010
I’ve long been one of those snobs who simply won’t drink beer that comes in a can. Heck, in many cases, I won’t even call it beer. It turns out, now, that quality and taste of the beer is just one reason to avoid beer in cans. According to a study of Chinese factory workers, drinking beer (or, for that matter, soda) from cans will do more than reduce your chances of getting laid — it affects your ability to make anything happen if you do.
Talking To Kids — Does It Work?
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
It seems that radio stations play the “talk to your kids about drugs” ads almost as much as they do music these days. Aside from the fact that they aren’t music, that’s not a bad thing. After all, I don’t think anyone would argue that parents shouldn’t talk to their kids about drugs or that doing so would lead to increased abuse. Mind you, it’s certainly not foolproof prevention, but it also certainly can’t hurt. So why is it that parents don’t feel the same way about sex?
Is Your Child Real?
Friday, October 8th, 2010
When you look at your kids, do you ever wonder whether or not they’re real? Are they real children or just elaborate fakes, cheap imitations of the real thing, shadows of that which they pretend to be? That’s the question Cathy Lynn Grossman, writing in USA Today’s Faith and Reason section, posed regarding children conceived via in vitro fertilisation. Her query was prompted by the news that the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to Robert Edwards, the British scientist who pioneered the process in 1977. “Do you think,” she asks, “a baby conceived in [a] test tube is still a child in the eyes of God?”
Walk To School Day
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
Did you know that today is International Walk to School day (at least, here in the US)? I did. I was made painfully aware of it because my kids’ school makes a big deal out of it and my kids begged me to walk the three-and-a-half miles from our house to their school. Given that they’re only six and eight years old and that I’d have the two-year-old in tow as well, it wasn’t going to happen. There was no way I was going to leave the house an hour or more early just so I could listen to them whining about being tired for the last three miles of the trip. But, as it turns out, we did participate in Walk to School day.
Homemade Egg McMuffins and Other Turbo Breakfasts
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
It’s no secret: Mornings are not my strong suit. As the family cook, I’m responsible for meals, including breakfast, which means, if it were solely up to me, breakfast would be relegated to special occasions only in favor of a few minutes’ more sleep. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for the kids), I am not the chief executive and am under orders to provide the kids with a reasonably healthy breakfast each morning before school. So here are some of the ways I get food into my kids in the morning when we’re in a hurry.
Job Description for Parents
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
So what if, instead of being something you do because you want to or because you have kids, parenting was something you did for a living? What if it were your career, something you trained for and then looked for just the right situation? You’d have to read job listings, check the online websites, network with friends and colleagues. You’d have to go through a lot of job postings to find the one that was just right for you. But what exactly would that position look like? How would the job description read? Perhaps it would look something like this: (more…)
Autism Causes Whooping Cough
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Whooping cough is at the top of its five-year cycle and, according to Mike Sicilia of the California Department of Health, is “on track to surpass our 50-year high.” So why is a disease that can be fatal to infants on the rise, especially since we have a vaccination for it? That’s an excellent and important question and some doctors think they have the answer. Furthermore, I happen to agree with them.
How Creepy is Breastmilk?
Monday, June 28th, 2010
There has been quite the campaign to promote breastfeeding as the best option for newborns and I fully support it. My wife breastfed all three of our children for more than a year each — no small feat for a woman working fulltime or more and certainly more than most American mothers do. On the other hand, I certainly understand when a woman — for whatever reason — is unable to breastfeed. Certainly, “Breast is Best” but that’s not always possible. But what about when a woman is perfectly capable of breastfeeding but chooses not to?
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