Strollerderby : MomLogic

Eating Your Baby's Placenta

Cole Gamble — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Placentophagia is term for eating of the placenta, and you know if there's a name for it, it's a real deal. Animals, of course, do it al the time. Anyone whose cat had kitten can attest. Humans also engage in the pratice all over the world because it's said to stem postpartum depression and help to contract the uterus after the birth. Chrissy Schilling over at Momlogic details her own placenta feast with twin sister Kathy. From her post:

"The placenta is such an amazing organ in all its done for my baby that it didn't seem right to simply throw it away. My thought was "being the only organ that the human body makes that naturally exits the body, why not take advantage of it?"

Chrissy and Kathy got more than just one meal out of the six pound placenta. They served it over noodles and made sandwiches.

Chrissy even found the experience cathartic:

"By taking it in again, it was symbolic for me as a way to truly say "good-bye" to my 9-month pregnancy and "hello" to an exciting (albeit challenging) new chapter in my life.

See? Delicious, nutricious and life affirming. It's good to eat stuff that comes out of your body. Except poop. So, can I fix you up a nice egg and placenta scramble?

Photo: Kathy Schilling

More Good Stuff:

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Dumb Kiddy Product Makeovers

Disturbing Baby-Swinging PSA

Single Mom Sells Ad Space On Her Body on eBay

Brett Singer — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:30:00 GMT

One of the things I've always admired about myself (stay with me here) is my ability to work. Ever since I was 16, I've had a job of some sort. Part of that is my skill set -- being able to yak on the phone enabled me to have an embarrassing number of telemarketing jobs, for example -- and part of it is my willingness to find a job and do it, even if its not something I have any interest in. If you need money, you get a job. This isn't to say that this is easy, especially in the current economy. But my feeling was always that no job was beneath me.

My point here is not to toot my own horn. But I was thinking about my job experiences when I read this story on MomLogic about a single mom, BillieJean Irizarry, who tried to sell advertising on her body via eBay. In her mind, this was the best way to make money to support her family.

That can't be the best way to make money. It just can't. I find it hard to believe that there is nothing woman can do. This is someone who, in my opinion, wants to be famous. Now she's "the single mom who tried to sell ad space on her body." Whoo-hoo. Mission accomplished.

Proving my point (sort of) is this: BillieJean was asking $2000 but only got offers of $250. I guess that's a faster way to get $250 than working for minimum wage, but how often can you do that? She has accepted this, telling MomLogic "This idea isn't selling, so I am thinking of doing something else to make money." Oh! Great news. BUT... "I am not sure what it is at this moment, but stay tuned to my eBay page."

If you need money, get a real job. Sorry. Yes, there are circumstances -- living with her who have health problems and are unable to help her watch her three children. But there is absolutely no way that the only option available is eBay. Maybe if she were trying to sell her possessions online, that would be better. But that's it? That's your idea?

What do you think?

Source: MomLogic

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Women Switched at Birth Find Out 56 Years Later

Baby Asleep On Dad's Head

Brett Singer — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

This 12-second video is one of those things that I think only a parent could appreciate.

MomLogic says that the "best line ever uttered by a dad" is "I felt cold drool on my head." (I thought it was "WOW! THAT DIAPER SMELLS LIKE CHERNOBYL!")

I know that I used to feel that baby drool was gross. Until I experienced my own kids' drool. It's still a little gross, especially when it dries. But somehow, when it's drool that fell from the mouth of your very baby, it's not so bad.

Source: MomLogic

A Really Graphic Homebirth

10 Year Old Burned By Tanning Bed

Not Every Kid With a Mother Has a "Mommy"

Baby Snuggie

Brett Singer — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 03:00:00 GMT

Sweet Christmas.

You are probably familiar with the Snuggie. It's a blanket with sleeves. It sort of looks like a robe. Here's the ad if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

The Snuggie has been featured in The New York Times, more than once. It was recently embraced by conservatives such as Joe the Plumber and Tucker Carlson. (The sad thing is I don't know which one of those guys has a better career at the moment. But I digress.)

So what's an entrepreneur to do? Well, in the words of the great Homer Simpson, take an existing product and put a clock in it. Or, in the case of the Baby Snuggie, a second head.

OK, now let's be specific. This product is actually called the Peekaru, from a company called TogetherBe. And I think it came out before the Snuggie. Can't tell.

Also -- don't care. Because when I look at that photo, all I can think of is the alien fetus thing from 'Total Recall'. Kuato. Remember him? (I'm not posting a photo for fear of offending any delicate sensibilities. If you want to see Kuato, and see how right I am, click here. But don't say I didn't warn you.)

One more thing from TogetherBe's website. If you click on "Learn more about the Peekaru™ today!" you get this page.

Opening for baby! Or Kuato. Whatever works.

Would anyone buy this? I mean, it's only 80 dollars. OK, OK, $79.95. Plus tax. And shipping. And possibly YOUR IMMORTAL SOUL...

Source: MomLogic

Jimmy Kimmel And The Octomom

Baby Einstein Wants You To Feel Good About TV

Surrogate Agency Disappears With Potential Parents Cash

Open Letter To The Woman Who Pushed Me While I Was Picking Up My Kid

TV Is Neither Good Nor Bad For Babies (unless they see infomercials, then it's very, very harmful.)

Is the Sitter Just There to Watch the Kids?

JeanneSager — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:25:00 GMT

Have you ever asked the babysitter to do laundry? Wash your dishes? Take out the trash.

A fed up babysitter sounded off over at MomLogic this week, putting parents on notice she's paid to watch the kids . . . and only to watch the kids.

"Mary Poppins," says she's sick of moms bugging her about how to properly iron their little boy's shirt before a party, and she's not reaching their hands into that laundry basket and washing hubby's clothes.

She's got a point. She's not the maid. She's the sitter.

But is she a little bit wrong too? Is there ever a time when it's appropriate to ask the sitter to do chores around the house?

It's rare that sitters come to my house, but I can't say that I've ever asked one to do anything more than spend time with my daughter and keep her out of trouble. I try to prep the meals ahead of time, so they have only to throw some milk or juice in a cup at intervals throughout the day and unwrap the PB&J to put it on a plate. They're welcome to the food in the cabinet, but I'd prefer not to come home to a pile of dishes in my sink.

Beyond that, there isn't much I can imagine asking my sitters to do. I admit I am enamored with the one teenager my friend recommended, who spent part of the day in my daughter's room with her, empty each dresser drawer of clothing, folding everything and putting it back. I paid top dollar for her, but wowsa - I could FIND a pair of jammie pants and a jammie shirt that matched that night! You want her number now, don't you?

As a babysitter myself back in the day, I remember doing that type of thing - the unasked-for tidying. I clearly remember alighting from the bus with the little boy I watched every afternoon, heading inside to set him up at the table to do his homework then turning to the dishwasher. We had our adventures, but when we weren't tromping through the woods or reading in the living room, I felt like I had to keep myself busy.

There were limits. I would never have touched the parents' laundry; and if they'd asked I would have balked. Laundry is just too personal a job for someone who isn't being paid to do it, and for a teenaged babysitter to have to see the Dad's underwear there can be untold traumas!

But the kids' laundry is another issue. "Mary Poppins" says she won't iron the baby girl's socks as asked. She won't iron the kids' pajamas either because that's "stupid." I tend to agree with her on the order itself (but then again, I don't iron - that's what a spritz of water and a tumble in the dryer is for). But this is an issue that's related to the task at hand - it's part of taking care of the kids. Doesn't that make it part of her job?

What about picking up after the kids? She says she barely has time to get their dirty breakfast bowls in the sink because keeping up with three toddlers is hard. Yes, toddlers are hard to handle, but she picked babysitting. She told these parents she could handle the task. Now, apparently, she can't. So maybe the people she needs to go back the drawing board with the parents, and discuss what's expected and what she's comfortable doing. Or maybe she needs to find a new job, in a new career path.

I might not ask my babysitter to do much, but if she told me she flat out didn't think she had to do things that related directly to watch my kid, I'd be finding another sitter.

Image: MomLogic

"Pro-Choice Women Shouldn't Cry Over Miscarriages"

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:30:00 GMT

Just in case your day is going a little too smoothly, let me share an article that will make your blood boil—particularly if you are one of the numerous women who has suffered the pain of a miscarriage and also happens to believe in a woman’s right to choose.

A guest blogger named Gina over at Mom Logic has written a gem of offensive inanity called “Pro-Choice? Quit Crying Over Your Miscarriage!” Here’s how Gina characterizes the pro-choice women who “break down in hysterics” over a miscarriage: “It's a baby when they want it to be, it's a bundle of cells when they don't.”

This is such a shameless confusion of the issue that we need to put Gina’s thinking in perspective with an extreme—but real-life—example: do I believe that a 12-year-old rape victim should be forced to keep her baby? Absolutely not. Would I be heartbroken if I lost the baby I was carrying, whom I had carefully planned my life around for years? Absolutely. These are two entirely different issues. One has to do with my belief in the universal right to reproductive freedom, which is essential to ending the oppression of women; the other has to do with my personal feelings about motherhood.

Many women who would not choose to have an abortion themselves (except perhaps in extreme cases such as rape or incest) respect other women’s right to choose—as do many men, who will never face the decision of whether or not to have an abortion. That’s why it’s called pro-choice, not pro-abortion. By Gina’s line of thinking, no one who wants kids—male or female—should support a woman’s right to choose.

Gina also writes of pro-choice women who have the gall to want kids of their own: “Suddenly the monthly visitor that they were relieved to get when they were 20, now, at 32, plunges them into the depths of depression.” Well, Gina, this is a little something called “family planning”: making life choices that give both you and your future children the best chances for happiness and success—and therefore, bettering the world. How could anyone take issue with women who were responsible enough to avoid pregnancies when they were too young to care for a child? If it weren’t for unplanned pregnancies, there would be no need for abortion in the first place.

Gina claims that she “respects women’s right to choose.” If she truly is pro-choice—which, by her own definition, means believing that all babies are nothing more than “a conglomeration of microscopic cells” until they are out of the womb—then I sincerely hope she never gets pregnant. It’d be pretty difficult to avoid things like smoking and drinking if you have zero emotional attachment to your baby.

Photo: Flickr/Steve Rhodes

VIDEO: O'Reilly Upset About Two Year Old Bashing Bush

Brett Singer — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:30:00 GMT

I don't watch "The Factor", but apparently they do a regular segment called "Policing The Net." In this episode, Bill O'Reilly and Town Hall reporter Amanda Carpenter turn their sights on a MomLogic video called "Toddler Sad to See Bush Go Bye-Bye."

O'Reilly objects because he hates "to see little kids used like that…its wrong. There are people in this world who are so hateful that they'll use their children to punish people, the objects of their hatred."

Carpenter goes further, saying this is "another example of people using children for political purposes… who knows what this is going to do to her future? She doesn't know what she's saying… when she's 12, 13, 14, 15 and she wants to get a job, maybe this will be dug up." She seems shocked when she points out that the video was featured on the homepage of "a site for mothers!" She also seems miffed that MomLogic is owned by Telepictures, who produces "Ellen" and other syndicated TV programming.

As you may have guessed, I'm underwhelmed. I have mixed feelings about people putting their kids in videos like this, although not because of any damage to their future earnings potential. (I’m also not sure what kind of job Carpenter thinks children will be getting at age 12, especially one that requires a background check likely to turn up YouTube videos.) Ultimately, the video really isn't that bad, and parts of it are funny. (When the little girl holds up a photo of President Bema and kisses it, saying, "He's my boyfriend," it's pretty cute.) But "using children to punish people"? "Objects of their hatred"? This from a man who screamed at the son (Jeremy Glick) of someone who died on 9/11, actually saying, "I don't think your father would be approving of this." That's just one example, albeit a very famous one. So when he calls someone else "hateful", at best it's a pot-kettle thing.

As for Carpenter, is she aware that Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch, and that Murdoch also owns newspapers in Britain that regularly feature nude women? Not that I personally care, but attacking a company for a video on a website they happen to own is bizarre.

Of course, right after Carpenter attacks Saturday Night Live for making fun of Ann Coulter. This after Ann Coulter attacked single mothers. Even if you think SNL went too far with their Coulter parody (it seemed pretty tame to me), I'm thinking Coulter's statements are a fair target for ridicule.

The question of whether or not it's OK to put your kids in a web video is a fair one, I suppose. O'Reilly mentions Will Ferrell's "Landlord" [http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74/the-landlord-from-will-ferrell-and-adam-ghost-panther-mckay] video, which has a little girl saying words like "bitch" and has been viewed over 61 million times. (Wow. That's a big number.) Ultimately, I think it's up to parents to decide what they will or won't do with their kids on video (this is assuming that what they do is, you know, legal and safe and all that). So at best, O'Reilly and Carpenter's critique is misplaced. Personally, I think they're both kooks. But that's just me.

What do you think? Does the MomLogic video "cross a line"? Is O'Reilly right?

Source: FoxNews, MomLogic

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When Bugs Infest Your Child's Scalp

Madeline Holler — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:03:00 GMT

It's the call every parent dreads. Actually, it's one of the calls every parent dreads, but we're not going to think of things like car wrecks and "can you come down to the station and post bail."

The voice on the other end of the line goes something like this:

"Since you guys were over here playing yesterday -- and the girls were trying on lots of hats and playing with fake cell phones and taking turns rubbing their warm, moist scalps against the same surfaces -- I should tell you that we have lice."

This is the part where you, receiver of said phone call, start scratching your head (not out of confusion, but because it suddenly itches really bad) and wondering whether you could just get rid of the kids you have and start over with certified lice-free ones. Instead, you thank the caller, pretend like it's no big deal at all -- and sure! We'll get together again real soon! -- and start what will be a never-ending laundry cycle.

Now, my family was lucky enough to have been spared any actual bug or egg spottings. And that despite getting plenty of emails, calls and notices of lice going around the one daughter's preschool and the other's elementary school. Somehow, we've managed to dodge infestation.

Over at MomLogic, one family hasn't been so lucky.

Anybody have experience with chemical-rich lice shampoo and the tiny little silver comb? And does your head itch just reading this? Because mine did the entire time writing it.

Photo: MomLogic

Is a happy ending massage cheating?

Brett Singer — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:00:00 GMT

I always thought yes, but some of the writers at MomLogic think not.

"Guest blogger Gina" (I can't see any other authorial designation) says, "I don't consider it cheating -- and when he finally got his 'massage,' I was happy for him!"

A few years ago an unmarried friend told me that he had gotten a "full release" massage. (If you don't know what this means, let's just say that it's a massage where the masseuse goes below the belt, applying her hands to the man's "twig and berries.") He was unattached at the time, and therefore wasn't cheating on anyone. See, I thought, and he agreed, that if a guy in a relationship did this, it would be cheating.

In the interest of equal time, women can also get happy endings on the table. Leslie Adler from the Vuv Club (a blog) wrote that, "the Dreamy Diddle" is not cheating. Her reasoning? "You go to the gynecologist, right? And he or she doesn't even kiss you first and look at what you let them do to you."

Umm…

Obviously I've never had a gynecological exam. But those of you who have, correct me if I’m wrong but is it a pleasurable experience? Does what the doctor "do to you" include bringing you to orgasm?

As for whether or not it would be OK for her husband to go all the way, massage-wise, Leslie says, "Well, is it habitual? Is he forming an emotional attachment to 'Olga with the big forearms?' If no, I say give it a whirl (or a stroke or two in this case) and be sure to keep it to yourself so it's like 'Vegas.' What happens on the massage table stays there."

The guy in me wants to say, "YEAH! That's my kind of woman!" But I don't really feel that way. This kind of attitude isn't "cool" it's idiotic. If a person pays someone for sexual pleasure, that's paying for sex. Which is prostitution. It doesn't matter how that person gets you off, they got you off. Am I the crazy one here? And if a woman I was in a relationship with did this, I would be annoyed but also grossed out. "He put his fingers WHERE?"

Men, ladies, gay, straight, whatever your relationship configuration is: would you be comfortable with your significant other getting a full release massage? Would you encourage this behavior? Or are Gina and Leslie off their blogger rockers?

Source/Image: MomLogic

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The Anti-Day Care Contingent

Jen Chaney — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:02:00 GMT

Am I the only person who finds this post on MomLogic a little surprising? In it, the author writes about her decision to place her son into fulltime daycare and how that has provoked extremely negative and judgmental reactions from other moms.

"I would never send my kid to day care," one supposedly said. "Isn't that going to traumatize him?" asked another.

To which my response is: Whaaaaa? Where are these people living? The majority of moms and dads in this country work, and quite a few of them send their kids to daycare. Plus, studies show that children develop just as well, and in some cases even better, when they are enrolled in a daycare center. Given how common this is, it's hard for me to fathom how any one could possibly find it strange or misguided if another parent decides to go the daycare route.

So am I crazy, or are there people who a. are ignorant enough to think a daycare center will actually traumatize a kid and b. are rude enough to say this out loud to someone's face? Obviously every parent makes his or her own choices based on what he/she believes is best for the child. Will we ever reach a point where all of us accept those choices -- whether it's stay at home, get a nanny, sign up for daycare or some combination of these options -- and not judge each other for them?

Frankly, I thought most of us were already mature enough to have gotten there. Either I'm horribly mistaken or this MomLogic blogger is hanging out with the wrong crowd.

Image: Lilsugar.com

Autistic Kids Booted From Yearbook

Jen Chaney — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:02:00 GMT

First some kids voted an autistic boy out of their kindergarten class. Now a school in California has left autistic children out of its yearbook.

The parents of autistic twins have filed a complaint with the Placer County Board of Education because of the incident, in which the autistic/special needs students in multiple classrooms were omitted from the annual book. A county superintendent characterized it as an oversight. But it's hard to imagine how neglecting this many students could have been a complete accident.

Darla Granger, the mother who filed the complaint, tells MomLogic that she doesn't believe the school was trying to be cruel, but that the principal and others are not mindful enough about integrating the autistic kids with the rest of the students. As she puts it, "Negligence can be a form of intent if you don't care enough to fix it."

That's a valid point. Too bad it won't make those kids feel better about not seeing pictures of themselves, or their classmates, in that yearbook.

Image: MomLogic.com

How Not to Behave at a Birthday Party

Jen Chaney — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:32:00 GMT

This MomLogic blogger is way ticked at a mom and dad that came to her kid's birthday party. And frankly, it sounds like she has a right to be.

They repeatedly asked if the host was paying for parking or buying wristbands for the parents. Then they questioned who was supervising the children. And, as an exclamation point on the day, they changed a dirty diaper on top of a picnic table.

All of which certainly qualifies as rude. But does this make them, as the blogger contends, the rudest parents ever? I'm thinking no, only because there are ruder things that they could have done.

They could have:

--Asked the host if she would reimburse them for buying her kid a gift.

--Taken the birthday cake to another table, then started charging the guests for each slice.

--Spiked the Kool-Aid because they found the party "too boring, yo."

--Put trick candles on the cake, then forced the birthday girl to keep trying to blow them out until she breaks down into spasms of sobs.

Can you trump that? What's the rudest thing you've seen someone do at a birthday party?

Photo: MomLogic

Political Nanny: Mom Exclusive with Hillary Clinton

Madeline Holler — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:05:00 GMT

OK, this isn't quite MOMocrats level Q & A's, but kudos for getting an exclusive with a presidential candidate!

The website MomLogic held a panel discussion with Hillary Clinton over the weekend in North Carolina. There, the senator answered questions about motherhood and child-rearing and (here's where it gets kind of, um, diluted), wardrobe malfunctions, dinners at the White House and whether she's really in this race (will we be any closer after tonight?).

The videos are fairly short and it's always fun to hear how the famous think of parenting. It's broken up by topic, so you can skip to what you want to know.

Now, who is going to corner Clinton and get her take on stuff like torture, rendition, signing statements, executive privilege and the like? Aggressive teens are better left to social workers, not presidential candidates.

We're waiting!

Photo: momlogic.com

They Say: The Five-Second Rule is B.S.

Jen Chaney — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:33:00 GMT

I have based my life on certain principles. That hard work always pays off, in ways sometimes tangible and sometimes intangible. That you should treat others with the same respect you expect from them. And that as long as something has been on the floor for five seconds or less, it's not really dirty.

Now this article in the Sydney Morning Herald -- courtesy of MomLogic -- says that's not true, although in Australia, they call it the three-second rule. Apparently the Aussies don't have the patience (or low hygiene standards) to take things to the five-second level.

Anyhoo, whether you go by three seconds or five, it appears that some serious bacteria can grow on food that's fallen on the floor, even if it's only been there for a nanosecond. If you then proceed to hand that cracker or apple slice to your kid, well, you're just giving him a big 'ol heap of potential food poisoning.

Do you buy this? Or, like me, do you find that it violates every notion you hold dear?

Photo Credit: The Times and Democrat

Call in the Baby Bath Police

Jen Chaney — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:32:00 GMT

Are you raising dirty kids? Apparently Kristen, a guest blogger over at MomLogic, is not ashamed to admit that she is.

As she says in this post, she doesn't bathe her three-year-old son every day. "Sometimes I give him a bath and sometimes I don't," she writes. "Mostly I don't. After all he's not a car mechanic. He doesn't get that dirty. I do touch up work, wiping his face and hands throughout the day."

Kristen, I feel you. We don't bathe our son every day either. He's one. The kid doesn't sweat yet. Unless he's smeared bananas all over his face or had the Mother of All Poops -- or, as I like to call it, a Jon Spencer Ass Explosion -- then he gets a bath every other day, occasionally every two if things are impossibly hectic.

Is this poor hygiene? Are we raising kids who will grow up to be smelly, soap-averse adults? Or do you sometimes cut corners on the cleanliness thing, too?

Photo: MomLogic.com

Kids Suspended for Wearing Condoms to School

Karen Murphy — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:40:00 GMT

Yeah, I saw this headline and wondered just how many ways you can wear a condom in public without it being...well, you know.

So, would you have guessed that the condoms were decorating t-shirts? Me neither. Oh well. Slightly disappointing, that, but what's not in the least disappointing is the fact that two girls wore condom-decorated t-shirts to school in order to protest the wimpy abstinence-only sex-ed program at their middle school. Too bad the school took a dim view of the protest and sent the girls home.

Cheyenne Bird, 14, and Victoria Shoemaker, 15 were sent packing after they came to school packing condoms on shirts that proclaimed "Safe Sex or No Sex". I would be incredibly proud if my kid stages a protest (even an apparently futile one, like this one) like that, but MomLogic interviewed the moms of both girls and the moms weren't 100% supportive. I'm sure there's a bit more to the story and there's tons of emotions and moral values running rampant in such a discussion (not to mention the rampant hormones), and no parent likes hearing their kid was suspended from school, but...c'mon, what's a few condoms between friends, after all?

Photo: www.momlogic.com

Top Ten Reasons We Take Kids to the Doctor

Karen Murphy — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:25:00 GMT

Taking kids to the doctor is always such a judgment call. Is it just a cold? Will they get over it in a day or two? That sore throat, is it strep or just a sore throat? What about allergies? And what about alternative remedies? Which ones to use when and do they really work?

Those of us who have a $10 copay can take our kids in at will, risking only the accumulation of germs at the doctor's office (and the perpetuation of the out-of-control U.S. healthcare system, but that's another story), but in general, how do you know when to go and when to stay home? Here's a list I found on MomLogic of the top ten reasons kids visit the doctor:

1. Routine physical exam. Yay, this should be #1. Preventive care is the best care. Yay for you if this is you; nearly 23% of visits are routine health visits.

2. Ear infections. This is a toughie, though I'm inclined to administer garlic oil and something for the pain. I've read things that say that traditional medical treatment is no better, though some kids can develop chronic infections. A judgment call, for sure.

3. Common colds. I know, I know, when the kids are miserable we want to do something, but I think more education about what's-a-cold and what's-something-that-requires-medical-treatment would be helpful. I've been in the mommy business a long time and I still second guess myself.

4. Sore throat (non-strep). See #3, above. But...I know, you're wondering, "What if it's strep? How do you tell?" The answer: better education. See #1, above.

5. ADD. Wow. That's a LOT of visits for ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Is anybody else concerned about over-diagnosis here?

6. Asthma. You can't mess with asthma, and a kid's got to breathe, but I can't help but wonder what about our environment is making this more prevalent than it used to be.

7. Chronic sinusitis. Are they kidding? In kids? How did this get to be a problem?

8. Vaccine for bacterial disease. In other words, most standard vaccines. I would expect this to be on the list.

9. Strep throat. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't, and only a throat culture knows for sure.

10. Allergies, the hayfever kind. See #6, above; again, could this be environmental to a degree? When we were kids only a few has asthma or allergies, so what gives here?

So where to you fall on the continuum? What is likely to win your kid a trip to the doctor?

Photo: aroundtownkidsfrisco.com