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• Attack of the Strippers

  During a children's golf tournament in Broomfield, Colorado, the children were exposed to -- and I hope you are sitting down as you read this -- strippers. That's right. They actually saw women who dance and take their clothes off while men throw money at them. Were the women naked? No. Were they -- again, stay seated, this is a bombshell that could shake you to the very core of your being -- scantily clad? Yes, dear reader, they were. Undies. According to CBSNews.com, the children wanted to know why "the men joining the strippers had water guns and why the women wore only their underwear." (That must have been a fun conversation.) Evelyn Koch, the manager of the golf course, apologized for... Read More... Posted Jul 04 2008, 10:00 AM by Brett Singer with | with no comments Filed under: children, kids, news, parents, sports, charity, breast cancer, CBS, golf, strippers, Brett Singer, morality, moral majority, broomfield colorado

• No presents for this kid - just donations

  More nice news – an 11-year-old in Greensboro, North Carolina told her friends not to bring presents to her birthday party. Instead, she asked them to bring canned goods that she will donate to a local food pantry. This isn't the first time Audrey Mangum decided to forgo gifts... Read More... Posted Jul 02 2008, 11:00 AM by Brett Singer with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: kids, news, parents, presents, gifts, parties, girls, birthday parties, North Carolina, charity, boys, values, birthdays, good news, party, birthday, Brett Singer, greensboro, canned goods, present, Audrey Mangum, food pantry, gift, nice news

• Best of FameCrawler: Week of June 27th

  Billie Piper's Topless Role The Sexualization of Miley Cyrus Ben And Jen Together For Better Or Worse Worst-Dressed Bellies? Top 5 Maternity Wear Mistakes Of Spring/Summer 2008 Tim McGraw and the Wife Beaters Scott Kalitta Killed In Drag Racing Crash Robert Downey, Jr., and Son: What's Wrong with This Picture? Matthew McConaughey Is Ready To Rumble Guess Who's Moving Across The Pond? Jamie Lynn's Delivery Room Drama! Tori Spelling Baby Photos!! Posted Jun 27 2008, 04:00 PM by Whit Honea with | with no comments Filed under: children, kids, celebrity, Ben Affleck, fashion, birth, Sex, parents, Babble, divorce, dads, england, video, paparazzi, strollerderby, maternity, moms, Her Bad Mother, Trix, tori spelling, boobs, Batman, Race, UK, jennifer garner, summer, delivery, Tim McGraw, photos, whit honea, best of famecrawler, london, miley cyrus, belly, mistakes, jamie lynn spears, famous, teen, stars, fight, harassment, breast, spring, feeding, killed, sassy smith, split, sweatpantsmom, Iron Man, topless, picture, post-baby, robert downey, jr., karen sugarpants, worst-dressed, dark knight, baby pictures, surfer, indio, fan, matthew mcconaughey, coyote ugly, billie piper, scott kalitta, crash, wife beater, clip, dead, drag

• Leashes to Crib Tents: 5 Ways to Keep Toddlers Out of Trouble

  The first time I toured the neighborhood with my 13 month old twins on leashes, I looked around shamefully, worried I'd be judged a horrible mother.  Truthfully, it was our first mommy-daughters walk that didn't evoke pure mama panic.  The harnesses kept them safe from their curiosity about traffic, and the taste of rocks, and the neighborhood pit bull. It was a revelation! Despite the excuse multiples provide parents, we've used similar methods of restraint to keep our singleton toddler safe and our sanity in tact.  Here are 5 favorites:   Read More... Posted Jun 27 2008, 01:16 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 13 comment(s) Filed under: kids, toddler, parents, parents of multiples, safety first, safe toddlers, toddler in traffic, child harness, child restraints, tired mama

• Free MP3! Renee and Jeremy: It's a Big World

  Renee and Jeremy are pretty lo-fi for kids' musicians -- and that's a wonderful thing.  On their gentle, lovely album It's a Big World, they don't try for broad appeal by throwing in hokey country songs and unconvincing hip-hop ballads. Instead, they stick to their own sound: harmonized acoustic ballads reminiscent of Low, or perhaps a mythical Aimee Mann/Nick Drake duet. If you didn't know it was a children's album, you'd probably like it anyway. After the jump, a free download of the title track, and an animated YouTube video to share with the kids. - Gwynne Watkins Read More... Posted Jun 27 2008, 10:38 AM by editors with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: kids, music, children's music, babble mix tape, free mp3, low, music video, renee and jeremy, it's a big world, nick drake

• Christie Brinkley's Ex Paid Off His 18-year-old mistress

  Adding to the mud being slung at Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook's divorce trial is this little tidbit: Cook paid Diana Bianchi $300,000 in exchange for a promise to not sue him for sexual harassment, and also to "spare his kids…the pain of learning tawdry details of the affair," according to the New York Post. Or as they put it, Tryst Teen Cashes In. When a guy is in his 40's, and a girl is 18, and they have an affair, I tend to put the blame... Read More... Posted Jun 24 2008, 12:05 PM by Brett Singer with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, Celebrities, celebrity, news, divorce, law, gossip, legal, Brett Singer, Diana Bianchi, hamptons, christie brinkley, peter cook

• They say: Drinking with your kids makes them less drunk

  Now we've all gotten drunk. Fall down, sloppy, mess-making drunk. My first bad drinking experience involved vodka, straight up, in a garage during a thunderstorm. It ended badly. I had a couple of others, but not too many that included me puking my guts out. But it happens. According to this article from Time magazine, it might happen less if you drink with your kids. Read More... Posted Jun 24 2008, 09:30 AM by Brett Singer with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: kids, drinking, alcohol, behavior, college, Time Magazine, babble talk, alcoholism, Bad Parent, Brett Singer, drunk, they say, binge drinking, permissive, essay

• The Great Lemonade Stand Robbery

  So, like, taking candy from a baby. That's generally considered a bad thing, right? How about stealing from a lemonade stand? Steven Tryon from Terre Haute, Indiana, did just that. Read More... Posted Jun 22 2008, 01:30 PM by Brett Singer with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: kids, news, parents, felony, crime, jail, police, cash, wtf, indiana, lemonade, theft, robbery, cops, Brett Singer, Steven Tryon, terre haute, Fred Erskine, Farrington Grove, ind, Dominique Morefield

• Britney might want some of these: Huggies Thong

  Someone commenting on the High Heels for Newborns story over on Shine mentioned an SNL skit called "Thong Huggies." So I looked. And I found! Enjoy.   Read More... Posted Jun 12 2008, 11:00 AM by Brett Singer with | with no comments Filed under: children, kids, baby, babies, video, humor, SNL, Brett Singer, thong, fake ads, clips, fake products, huggies

• Hi, my name's Lego. What's yours?

  Apparently Americans don't have a monopoly on weird names for their children. A Swedish couple actually went to court in order to name their son after the little toy bricks. According to Wired.com: "In Sweden, parents are prohibited from giving their offspring legal names that are deemed offensive, unsuitable or inappropriate. This policy also bans couples from picking names that might one day embarrass their young." No way could a name like Lego open a kid up for teasing, playground beatings, being pelted with small, interlocking plastic bricks… Read More... Posted Jun 11 2008, 09:00 AM by Brett Singer with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, news, parents, girls, boys, sweden, names, Brett Singer, lego, swedes, bad names, dopey parents, pilot inspektor

• They Say: Our Kids Are Anxious

  Ready for this week's sobering data? The average kid today is more anxious than a 1950's kid who is also a psychiatric patient.          Read More... Posted Jun 10 2008, 03:30 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, kids, divorce, studies, homework, anxiety, they say

• They Say: Limit Kids Screen Time

  What's great about "advice" is that, in trying to be many things to many people, it often comes out sounding unintentionally dopey. From About.com's singleparents site (I guess kids in two-parent families can watch as much TV as they want to?) comes these tidbits: Read More... Posted Jun 10 2008, 10:00 AM by Brett Singer with | with 11 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, television, entertainment, video games, tv, Xbox, Nintendo, Wii, advice, computer, ps2, Brett Singer, they say, psone, playstation, couch potato, gameboy, ps3, screens, screen gazing, videogame, bedroom, ps1, ds

• Fear of plastic + timing = big bucks

  Interesting article over on Forbes.com about the BornFree people. Turns out they not only make the bottles, they help make sure that people know how dangerous the BPA-filled versions are. Apparently, when BornFree began back in 2006, very few people cared about BPA. So what does a dadpreneur (that's a dad entepreneur – see how dumb it sounds?) do? Make sure that everyone knows how bad plastic is. According to Forbes, BornFree's President Ron Vigdor "sometimes exaggerates when comparing bisphenol A-free bottles to polycarbonate versions. 'One is with arsenic, one without. Which one would you like to buy?'" So what's wrong with that? Read More... Posted Jun 08 2008, 10:30 AM by Brett Singer with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, health, baby, mother, business, babies, mothers, mompreneurs, infants, nursing, breast milk, breast feeding, bottles, formula, BPA, Bisphenol-A, plastic, feeding, milk, Brett Singer, Bisphenol free, Bisphenol-A free, born free, Bisphenol, forbes, entepreneurs, bornfree, bpa free

• Kids Open Lemonade Stand to Pay for Cat Surgery

  When life hands you a lemon cat, make lemonade. A couple of kids in Utah are seeking to do little something more with their summer than play in the flesh-melting chlorinated public pool. They’ve opened a lemonade stand with a simple sign, “Buy a drink, help my cat.”...     Read More... Posted Jun 06 2008, 10:00 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: kids, Utah, summer, surgery, cat, lemonade stand, swimming pools, offbeat, veternarian

• Healthy Eating Leads Children to Porn

  We try to do the best for our best for our kids. Make them brush their teeth, look both ways before crossing the street. But are we trying too hard to protect our kids? Could these well intentioned acts actually have a negative effect? Perhaps, as some parents are learning encouraging their children to eat healthy is leading the kids to pornography. To be specific, it leads them to, and I quote, “Hot Gay Bareback” porn… Read More... Posted Jun 04 2008, 09:30 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: kids, health, gay, porn, new zealand, naughty, xxx, hard core

• Horrific Trauma For Children. Waaaa.

  Remember yesterday, when there was mostly news of death and tragedy? And we all wept in our hands and considered getting really drunk to dull the despair of the Derby? I bet you'd really like it if I posted about something light and happy and funny right about now to take away the pain. Well, okay, you are Princess Buttercup and I'm the Dread Pirate Roberts/Westley. "Life is pain, your highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." Because there's a trauma I just can't ignore here. Perhaps you know about... Read More... Posted Jun 04 2008, 09:31 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: kids, tragedy, death, childhood, trauma, zoos, goat, foundation, june, princess bride, awareness

• Wandering 2-Year-Old Struck by Car; No Parents Nearby

  In our attempts to bring you only the happiest news today, we have this from the heart of Napa Valley's Wine Country. A 2-year-old girl who was wandering alone outside her family's apartment at 5 in the morning was struck by a car and left for dead. But the weird part isn't that the girl was last seen two blocks from her home at an ungodly early hour. Two witnesses apparantly saw her tottering about and did nothing.   Read More... Posted Jun 03 2008, 04:56 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: kids, news, cars, accidents, girl struck by car

• FEMA Trailers Making Children Very Sick

  Tens of thousands of children may face a lifetime of health problems due to living in FEMA trailers in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Formaldehyde, a cancer-causing substance, has been found in FEMA trailers at levels five times what is considered safe.           Months after Katrina I remember... Read More... Posted Jun 03 2008, 11:31 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, health, Cancer, tragedy, new orleans, asthma, hurricane katrina, FEMA, sick, formaldehyde

• Immigrant Gay Folks Face New Challenges

  Following the recent Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage, it's clear that some things are gonna change around here. (For starters, you may want to book that popular wedding venue extra early.) But Sandip Roy points out that for some immigrant gay people, a whole new situation has opened up. In some cultures, being... Read More... Posted Jun 02 2008, 05:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: kids, California, Salon, Supreme Court, gay marriage, immigrant, wedding, single, mate

• 'Sex and the City': Top 5 Parenting and Relationship Moments

  Sex and the City started way back in 1998 to examine the (fictional and more monied and sexed up) lives of single women in the big city.  And millions watched and learned.  Today gaggles of women fans, dressed in Manolo Blahnik knock-offs will be teetering to cinemas with their gal pals wearing huge faux flowers and talking about their lives before... ...kids, husbands, limited clothing budgets and comfortable shoes... In celebration, here are 5 of SATC's top parenting and relationship moments:   Read More... Posted May 30 2008, 12:01 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with no comments Filed under: kids, Motherhood, mamas, wives, sarah jessica parker, sex and the city, life after kids, aidan shaw, sex and the city top motherhood moments, parenting and relationship moments, sex and the single girl, husbands, mr. big, life before kids, stylish women, voge, kristin davis, manolo blahnik, expensive clothes, kim cattrall, sexy mamas

• Book of the Week: Dudley the Daydreamer

  It’s odd when a children’s book is adult-relatable. Kid lit usually takes you to another world, frequently animal, with the express goal of teaching your little ones valuable life lessons. But Dudley the Daydreamer by Anders Brundin, illustrated by Joanna Rubin Dranger and translated by Frank Perry is a little more sophisticated than your favorite mouse. When we join Dudley in his ordinary world we get a load of adult drudgery: getting rained on at the bus stop, burning sausages, writing supplementary draft reports . . . Read More... Posted May 30 2008, 10:43 AM by editors with | with no comments Filed under: kids, maisy, children's literature, teddy bears, sweden, dreams, book of the week, Dudley the Daydreamer, Joanna Rubin Dranger, Walter Mitty, Anders Brundin

• Drug Your Kids

  Rare is the parent who hasn't slapped a band-aid on a nonexistent boo-boo so that the crying would stop. But how far will you go to appease a kid with a minor -- or nonexistent -- complaint?   Read More... Posted May 29 2008, 03:00 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: kids, drugs, experts, NYT, placebo, Obecalp

• Gasp! Childhood Obesity Not Exploding

  Hey, remember how a little while back we were told childhood obesity was a horrific epidemic ravaging the land? And then every thirty seconds or so a study and accompanying news story would appear, saying that juice or distant mothers or text messaging was one of the causes? (Side note: News outlets almost always use one of maybe three pictures of overweight kids for these stories. I do hope those kids are getting royalties or something.) It seemed like you almost couldn't go a week without at least one "such-and-such is contributing to the fattening of our youth" story appearing somewhere. Well, now there's more news in the kid and weight front. Apparently... Read More... Posted May 27 2008, 07:10 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: kids, food, health, research study, racism, nutrition, childhood obesity, diet, overweight, weight, experts, activity, sedentary, poor, disparities, economic

• Cooking With Kids

  Once upon a time, the cookbooks aimed at kids involved silly themes or pitifully easy recipes or cloyingly sweet desserts. Or all three. Now, however, a change is moving in.   Read More... Posted May 21 2008, 01:30 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: kids, cooking, NYT, empanadas, Mollie Katzen, soups

• The Food Nazi: Restaurant Puts Ban On Children

  As heinous as you may say it is, you have to admit you’ve thought about it before: a restaurant where no kids are allowed. Of course, no restaurateur would ever dare to exercise such blatant discrimination, would they? Craig Geraud, owner of the Red Thai Room, would. Recently Mr. Geraud instituted a new policy, no children under the age of six allowed…   Read More... Posted May 20 2008, 11:30 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, parents, eating, dining, restaurant, ban, nazi, forgetting sarah marshall

• Angelina Jolie Tattoos Her Kids' Birthplaces

  A friend of mine whose daughters are named after some awful pretty flowers has, as a tribute, the exact same awful pretty flowers tattooed across her back and shoulders. I am so insanely jealous of her it hurts, because I wish my shoulders looked that pretty. But now I've found something even cooler, and I also find myself thinking something I never thought before: Angelina Jolie kind of rocks. According to this article -- thanks Jez! -- the mom of four has the geo-cache coordinates of her children tattooed on her shoulder.   Read More... Posted May 16 2008, 11:27 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: kids, angelina jolie, tattoo, geo-cache

• Babble Film Review - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

  There's something a little off about these Narnia movies. Anyone who loved the books as a kid remembers how real Narnia seemed: It encompassed both the magical wonder of childhood and the frightening unknowns of the adult world. So why does the cinematic Narnia feel so flat and lifeless? Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful, filmed in Slovenia, where I suddenly have the urge to relocate. But between the uninspired child actors and the unrealistic-looking CG characters, the Narnia of Prince Caspian has little more weight than a cartoon. Our child heroes alternate giggling and furrowing their brows, without any sense that they're coming of age, or even that their actions have consequences. The formidable figure of Aslan the Lion has been reduced to an affable animal pal, like Mickey Mouse with a propensity for self-sacrifice. Read More... Posted May 16 2008, 09:09 AM by editors with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: kids, Movies, films, film, reviews, Babble Review, Prince Caspian, chronicles of narnia, review, film review, children's

• Snap, Crackle, Pop

  My guru Dr. Parker never shies away from a controversy. He's explored the alleged link between autism and vaccines, which is always good for a bucketful of outrage. Now he's taken on another topic that has already stirred up vocal opponents from both sides.   Read More... Posted May 15 2008, 12:30 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: kids, controversy, Dr. Parker, placebo, cure, chiropractic

• Babble Ethics: Let Your Kids Get Hurt

  I'm trying to make this a little less self-promotional than it will probably sound, sorry, but I've received a ridiculous number of heated emails from crazy concerned people about a series of pictures I took showing my 2-year-old daughter in the midst of a fall. It seemed like the perfect topic for another round of Babble Ethics, even if I come off like an unfeeling moron, which never, ever happens. "Why didn't you stop taking photos and help her?!" screamed one person. "You should be ashamed of yourself!" barked another. Read More... Posted May 13 2008, 01:28 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 18 comment(s) Filed under: kids, learning, Hurt, dad, falls, pain, sadness, Babble ethics, I swear she loves me

• Having Kids Ruins Marriage

  Marriage, as many studies have shown, go a long way to increasing a person's happiness and longevity.  Just as long as you don't have kids. This recent study finds that people who have children experience a significant unhappiness in their marriage during the child rearing years. Children actually do make couples happier—before they arrive. Pregnant or planning for pregnancy couples get an upswing in  happiness, but that tanks once junior arrives on the scene. Married couples, should their unions survive the unholy process of childrearing, go back to being totally blissful once the kids leave the house. When is happiness at it's lowest point?... Read More... Posted May 13 2008, 09:00 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: kids, birth, marriage, Harvard, study, singles, empty nest, child rearing, adolescence, unhappy, Ruin