ADHD kids may look as they are capable of crossing solo, but even if they’re stopping and looking both ways they don’t seem to be as adept at judging how much time they need to cross safely.

“In our study, the outcome of crossing the street was much worse for kids with ADHD than for their peers without ADHD,” the study’s lead author, Despina Stavrinos, an assistant professor in the department of medicine at the University of Alabama, told HealthDay News. “Kids with ADHD left much less time to spare to cross, and there were several close calls,” she said.

Results of the study, published online July 25, will appear in the August print issue of Pediatrics.

The researchers chose to look at street crossing because it requires a lot of quick information processing and executive decision making, both places where ADHD suffers tend to be lacking.  Parents of ADHD kids may need to put extra emphasis on helping their children learn to make this kind of basic, but dangerous, life decision carefully and cautiously.

Janis Winehouse, Amy’s mother, has admitted to The U.K. Daily Mail that she felt her daughter’s untimely death, “only a matter of time,” after spending the day with her just twenty four hours before the singer passed away.  It’s a parents worst nightmare, watching your child slip away, and Janis Winehouse is doing it on an international stage.

“She seemed out of it. But her passing so suddenly still hasn’t hit me,” she told The Mirror, another U.K. tabloid regarding her last day with her daughter.  She also shared that Amy said, ‘I love you mum’ at the end of their day together.

“They are the words I will always treasure,” Janis told the Mirror. “I’m glad I saw her when I did.”

Winehouse has taken a place in the so called “27 Club” – a long list of talented musicians who have succumbed to drug and alcohol problems in their twenty seventh year.  She’s in unfortunately good company on a list that includes Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones, Jim ­Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

As parents, this is a great moment to discuss drugs an alcohol with teens.  Answering any questions your teens might have about Winehouse, and what’s happened to her, should provide some openings to help them see how dangerous substance abuse can be.

As you can see in the video they are just skating along when they are frantically asked to help and they all spring into action.  They try breaking windows with their boards but to no avail.  Then one of them picks up what looks like a parking post and uses it as a battering ram, eventually breaking the window. 

The mom is able to secure her kids and cool them off.   She got really lucky that these kids were close by and they were able to do what they did. 

It’s nice to see some young people springing to action to help others.  They often get a bad rap for their behavior but this is one group that certainly did their good deed for the day.

Captain America

By all accounts, Captain America is earnest, straightforward and likable.  It knows what it is and it’s not trying to pretend to be anything fancier.  Scott sums up what he likes about the movie like this:

“…though there are plenty of the usual digital enhancements and overscaled effects, the pseudo-operatic grandiosity that has become a staple of the genre is mostly missing. Instead “Captain America,” like its unapologetically corny hero, is propelled by unpretentious and plucky ingenuity.”

Don’t expect, however, that Captain America will be the next innovation in action movies.  The Hollywood Reporter’s Kirk Honeycutt points out: “‘Captain America’ lacks the deft touch, appealing character interaction, and sophisticated storytelling skills of Marvel Comics’ ‘X-Men: First Class.’ And let’s not even bother to compare this to Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman’ series.”

And indeed, why would you even think to compare Captain America to Batman Begins?  Other than the fact that both of their heroes wear masks, they aren’t particularly related stories, or worlds. Enjoy Captain America for the simple, easy to digest fun it is, rather than wishing it was an Oscar worthy opus, and it seems sure to deliver on expectations.

Here we go again.  Rebecca Black, the tween whose vanity music video turned out so incredibly badly that it became a comedy internet phenomenon, has come back for more.  Her mother paid $4,000 for Friday to be released on ARK Music Factory vanity label.  When it hit the internet, it was dubbed, “the worst song ever” by critics and rewarded for its ridiculousness with 160,000 million hits on YouTube.

So is Black’s follow up awful enough to get the same kind of attention?  Not really.  Watching her new video, My Moment, mostly makes you feel sorry for the semi-talented song writer who wrote the song for her.  It’s catchy, but Black is a fourteen year old girl without a ton of training or natural charisma.  The video could have, and probably should have, been shot by one of her friends with a handheld.  If Black had gone out and made this video with her friends it would have been more fun, and probably had more energy and been more natural than this force fed production.  But as is, it feels a bit like watching a little girl playing dress up who doesn’t quite understand the game.

If nothing else, these videos are solid proof that you can’t artificially replicate the Justin Bieber effect – it happens or it doesn’t.  If you try to construct that “discovered on the internet” feeling, you end up with nothing but a joke.

It’s always nice to remember that teenagers are still teenagers, even when they’re famous pop stars.  Selena Gomez, TV, music and movie starlette and girlfriend to one of the most famous teen idols of the moment, Justin Bieber, proved it recently when she met had a fan girl moment over meeting Shia LaBoeuf backstage when both were visiting the same TV studio.

Apparently, dating a famous guy doesn’t mean you don’t have celebrity crushes of your own!  Eighteen year old Gomez was so flustered at meeting her celeb crush that she half ran away, excited and flustered just like you’d think your own teenage daughter would be if she randomly ran into Shia LaBoeuf and was caught off guard.  LaBoeuf very kindly followed her and gave her a hug, saying ”Hey, it’s nice to meet you, thanks for being so sweet to me.”

After getting her picture taken with LaBoeuf, Gomez allowed herself to have a full blown geek out, “Oh my gosh, he’s so handsome! I’m so embarrassed!” She also called her handlers out in a cute, joking way, ”You guys suck, you used my fans as bait! Now he thinks I’m crazy–tell him I’m sorry.”

I already liked Gomez a lot – she’s adorable, talented and seems to be a genuinely good kid.  This just makes me like her more!

You know what they say about bad bargains… sometimes they’re just not worth the money you save.  That seems to be what’s happening in Riverside California, where, in order to save $2 million dollars a year, a brand new school, Hillcrest High School, is being left empty.

California is in a serious budget crunch, there is no denying it.  And, unfortunately, like many places in this country California is willing to let school budgets be among the first to suffer from cut backs.

Wendell Tucker of the Alvord Unified School District told USA Today that the district’s $130 million operating budget had been cut by $25 million.

“When the California budget goes down and income in the state goes down, funding to K-through-12 education goes with it,” Tucker told USA Today. “We made a number of budget adjustments. Right now, we simply are out of adjustments, and it’s not feasible … to open this school.”

That’s a steep cut, for sure, but considering the fact that the district is being forced to shell out $1 million to keep the school buildings from deteriorating, wouldn’t it make sense to make an effort to dig up the other two and get some kids out of the over crowded high school that the new buildings were meant to relieve and at least be getting some bang for the city’s educational buck?  Kickstart.com has helped many an artist raise that kind of money – maybe it’s time to start a little grassroots fundraising for local schools.

According to Alvord school board member Ben Johnson, the decision not to open Hillcrest was a choice between laying people off and keeping the school closed. “Choosing between people losing jobs and opening the school site, I couldn’t in my mind justify one more person out of a job,” he said.

A tough dilemma for sure.  What do you think?  How should administrators facing these kind of choices prioritize their shrinking budgets?

So should parents in the U.S. be worried? Scarlet fever is a form of the Group A streptococcus. Almost 80% of people over the age of ten have antibodies to scarlet fever, whether they’ve had the disease or not.  That’s why young children are the ones for whom there is the most concern. In order to cause scarlet fever, rather than strep, the bacteria must also produce a certain toxin. It causes a skin reaction, leading to the characteristic bright red rash that gives the disease its name.  That rash, which turns skin red and bumpy, like sand paper, is one of the key symptoms of the disease.  Also high fevers, a bad sore throat and occasionally vomiting or belly pain.  A child suffering from scarlet fever may also have a bright, strawberry red tongue, potentially with white bumps, and skin on their fingers and toes may peel.  Knowing the symptoms is important as is prompt treatment.  Thankfully, traditional penicillin still seems to be working to treat the disease, even in some of its resistant varieties.

Ow! Mom! Brainfreeze!

It’s a familiar summer complaint.  Your kids are eating ice cream, somebody starts scarfing a little too fast and boom — their head suddenly feels like it’s about to explode.

So why does this happen?  What is it about cold stuff (sucking down half a slurpee in ten seconds or less will give you a raging headache too, so easily that the 7-Eleven corporation actually trademarked the term, “Brainfreeze” in 1994) that makes a person’s head hurt?  It’s a question any adult who is in close proximity to children, summer time and ice cream can expect to be asked.  So here’s the answer:

Blame your hard palete.  Otherwise known as the roof of your mouth.  When the cold substance of your choice touches the roof of your mouth it triggers the nerves up there to cool down.  They send a 911 cool down message to your brain and the brain constricts its blood vessels to chill the joint out.  When warm blood comes rushing back through those blood vessels, you get yourself a stabbing, migraine like headache for a minute or two.

The good news is, brainfreezes won’t kill you.  Even better, you can avoid getting them all together if you eat a little slower and don’t let your chilled beverage or treat touch the top of your mouth.  Of course, if you happen to be participating in a brainfreeze competition with your kids… then scarf away!

It’s already pretty tough going if you want to cling to your smoking habit these days, and the FDA is making it harder.  They’re adding graphic (read gross) warning images to cigarette packages.  Apparently, having come to the conclusion that American’s don’t actually read the already extensive warning labels that have been slapped on cigarettes, the FDA has switched to pictures.

One warning label shows a man smoking, the smoke escaping through a tracheotomy hole in his neck, and warns “Cigarettes are addictive.”  Another shows a mother, holding a baby while smoking.  It proclaims, Tobacco smoke can harm your children.” A third images depicts a distraught woman with the caption: “Warning: Smoking causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers.” A fourth picture shows a mouth with smoked-stained teeth and an open sore on the lower lip. “Cigarettes cause cancer,” the caption reads.

The labels will also all come with a phone number, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, so that smokers know where to go for help quitting.  By law, the labels must now appear on all cigarette packaging.  This is the first big change in cigarette packaging in the last twenty five years.

“President Obama is committed to protecting our nation’s children and the American people from the dangers of tobacco use. These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking and they will help,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a news release. “These labels will encourage smokers to quit, and prevent children from smoking. President Obama wants to make tobacco-related death and disease part of the nation’s past, and not our future.”

What do you think?  Are these new labels a good idea?

“Even though you may have found yourself with enough people to pay the tuition, you may find yourself with a very different population in your school than you want to have,” John Allman, head of school at Trinity, another elite private school told the Wall Street Journal. “We think it’s increasingly difficult for families across a socioeconomic spectrum to consider Trinity as a viable economic option.”

You don’t say.  With tuition rates all over the city climbing to join Riverdale’s record breaking number, especially when books and supplies are figured in to the mix, it seems like the goal of private high school, much less university, is far out of reach for most families.

Riverdale’s Head of School, admits to being concerned as well.  In an email, Dominic A.A. Randolph said he was “perturbed” by the climbing cost of education. But he added, “I also believe that our parents rightfully make it a priority for their children to have the opportunity of an amazing education and are willing to pay for that.”

I’m not sure it’s a question of willing, rather than able, but what do you think?  Are astronomically expensive schools like this worth the price?

While everyone should know about the dangers of backyard pools, it seems many parents are not including small portable pools in that category, not realizing that any amount of water in a pool can pose a drowning risk. “Because they’re relatively cheap, and they’re easy to assemble and disassemble, they’re really not on the radar screen,” says Dr. Gary Smith, senior author of study and a pediatric emergency physician.

The study, conducted at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, is the first to look specifically at drownings that occur in portable pools. Researchers reviewed information from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and found that 244 serious incidents involving children under 12 in portable pools were reported from 2001 to 2009, including 209 deaths and 35 near-drownings. These findings are in fact very similar to drowning rates in in-ground pools, showing that portable pools are no safer than bigger pools.

 Dr. Smith and his team found that 94% of reported incidents involved children under 5, and 73% were in the child’s own backyard. Disturbingly, only 43% of incidents were under parental supervision, indicating that in nearly 6 out of ten incidents the child had been left unattended in the pool. In the remaining cases, although parents were present, they had let their guard down momentarily, underestimating the risks.

Researchers focused on portable pools ranging from wading pools less than 18 inches deep to inflatable pools up to 4 feet deep: anything that is filled only temporarily and can easily be drained and put away. For small, temporary pools like these, safety measures such as fences, alarms and safety covers are not really possible. The critical requirement, as for any pool, is direct adult supervision. It is not enough for parents to be nearby; children should always be accompanied in the water and never out of arm’s reach. The study concludes that more consumer education and affordable protective devices are needed.

Drowning is the second-leading cause of injury death among young children. “I tell parents that drowning is quick, it’s silent and it’s final,” says Dr. Smith.

“I explained I wanted her to travel as an unaccompanied minor, she was 12 years old, she had Down syndrome and was very independent,” she told the Daily Mail.

The customer service agent she spoke to said problems had occurred in the past, so it was no longer allowed, and that, had Heather not informed them at the time of booking that Alice had Down Syndrome, she would not have been allowed on the plane when she arrived at the gate.

British Airways told the Daily Mail that it is not actually against company policy to allow Down Syndrome children to fly alone.  ”We will carry any child over five years old as an unaccompanied minor provided they can go to the toilet unassisted, feed themselves, and behave in a socially acceptable manner,” their spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

According to the same spokesperson the airline has “apologized unreservedly” to the Saunders and offered them two return tickets.

Published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, the study too into account the responses of 3,793 women and found that thirty one percent of those who lost their virginity as teens divorced within five years of marriage, and forty seven percent divorced within ten years. On the other hand, the divorce rate for women who had waited to have sex was only fifteen percent at the five year mark, and twenty seven percent at ten.

Sex of any kind, completely wanted or not, before the age of sixteen or seventeen seems to affect divorce potential later in life.  But, not surprisingly, if the first time a woman had sex was unwanted, or the woman had mixed feelings about the act, the chance that she would divorce was even higher.  Since forty two percent of participants who had their first sexual experience before the age of eighteen told researchers that the encounter wasn’t completely wanted, it’s not so surprising that sex in the teenage years is an indicator, or perhaps a cause, of ongoing emotional instability.

The study’s author, Anthony Paik, said in a press release that one explanation for his findings, “If the sex was not completely wanted or occurred in a traumatic context, it’s easy to imagine how that could have a negative impact on how women might feel about relationships, or on relationship skills. The experience could point people on a path toward less stable relationships.”

Common sense might suggest that other factors in a girls life that might push her into situations where she’s having sex before she’s ready also contribute to a lifetime of unstable relationship choices.  But this study does give parents another tool to talk to their daughter about making safe choices.

Do you believe that losing your virginity at a young age may affect the chances of getting divorced later in life?

We all know we’re busy, stressed.  Tired.  We forget things every day.  I can see all too easily how you could strap your baby in, jump in the car and drive to work on autopilot, completely forgetting that the peacefully sleeping child was there and needed to be dropped off at daycare.  Or how you could be on an emergency call for work and run into the grocery store, mind completely blanking on the fact that you’ve got your baby with you today, particularly if you’re not used to having your children with you.

As if being a parent wasn’t terrifying enough.

“They think of the people this happened to as monsters, and they don’t put in place the safeguards you should,” Janette Fennell of Kids and Cars tells the Free Press. “If you have the ability to forget your cell phone, you can forget your child.”

Kids and Cars is trying to help, printing up “Look Before You Lock” warning tags to distribute to new parents when they check out of the hospital.  Whether you have a pre-printed version or not, leaving yourself a little note, on the steering wheel, your key ring, your phone, anywhere you’ll check as you leave the car, might save your baby’s life.

Would you be able to reach out, grab the wheel and steer a car to the side of a busy freeway if the person driving the car suddenly had a seizure?  I’m not sure I could think that calmly and cooly, and I’m almost thirty.  Kadie Christy is nine, and she did just that, most likely saving her own life and the lives of her siblings and her uncle, who was driving the car, not to mention the lives of the other drivers around them.

Kadie was in the front seat of her uncle’s truck, traveling a full speed down the U.S. 60 freeway in Mesa Arizona, when her uncle, who was driving, had a seizure and lost control of the car.

Speaking to a local Fox station, Kadie described what happened next: “I just got the steering wheel because I knew that’s what I had to do, or we would get in a crash.”

Thankfully, Kadie happens to drive all-terrain vehicles as a hobby.  She added: “I was able to get control of the truck and pull it over hit the brakes and shift the gear to park and get out of the truck.”

Meanwhile, her cousin Kolby, also 9, who was in the backseat, called 911 and then his grandmother.  The kids received an award from the Mesa Fire Department on Tuesday.  Kadie mentioned that she was still “kind of shaking” after their brush with death.  We don’t blame her!

‘I could not care less what people think about me. People think of the pole as a sexual object, but does this mean kids are not allowed to slide down a pole on a climbing frame? There are bad people out there who will have dirty thoughts about what Poppy is doing, but I will always protect her from men like that. ‘There are no paedophiles while she’s pole dancing, there’s no risk.,” said The Human Barbie.

But what if Poppy is naturally blessed with big boobs?

“If she develops naturally big boobs, she can have something else done with it,” said Sarah.

Oh, and because no kid wants just a piece of paper for her birthday, Poppy also received a new computer, pink Swarovski crystal ring and necklace set and a $6,500 day at a luxury day spa.  Wow.  That’s more than I think I’ve gotten in all my birthdays combined.  I don’t need to know this girl to already know that she is a spoiled brat being exploited by her mother for a continuing 15 minutes of fame. 

So this girl is only 7-years-old and she already has an affinity for fake breasts, day spas, expensive jewelry and pole dancing?  Way to go on that one mom.

All American Girl Crafts Pearly Beads & Ribbon Bracelet Kits with the SKU number of 30-585331 are affected by this recall.  The SKU number is located on the back of the package in the lower right corner. The kit contains 56 pieces. The beads in the jewelry kit are pink, blue, orange and white. Some pink beads have darker pink butterflies imprinted on them. The ribbons in the kit are orange, red, blue and purple.  These products were sold at Michael’s Stores and other stores nationwide from September 2009 – June 2011 for around $18.

Anyone who purchased one of these products should immediatly stop using, take away from children and contact the company or place of purchase for a full refund.  You can contact EKSuccess Brands at 855-535-2099 or visit their website for more information.

Students completely disrespecting teachers to the point where violence is the teachers only recourse.  Do you think the teacher was right to resort to hitting her student or did the student deserve it?  How would you feel if your child attended a school where not only students physically confronted teachers but teachers also physically confronted students? 

Our nation’s educational system is already low compared to other nations and this does nothing to enhance our image.  What can be done?

Next time your kids complain about having to do their history homework, you can just pull up this video and point out that, whether you’re right or wrong, at least SOUNDING like you know what you’re talking about when it comes to history is important.  You never know when an annoying reporter is going to ask you about Paul Revere.

The internet has been aflutter for days over how dumb Sarah Palin’s response when questioned about the famous American folk hero, Paul Revere.  Even if you remember nothing about Revere, it’s hard to forget, “the British are coming, the British are coming,” Revere’s famous (but totally fictional) line from Longfellow’s famous poem about Revere’s part in warning the American revolutionary forces that the British were coming to arrest them.  Palin, however, couldn’t come up with the famous lines when put on the spot, and stammered something about Revere warning the British that the American militias were armed and would not stand for the British trying to stop them from practicing their right to bear arms.  A right which, of course, they didn’t have at the time because they were still British citizens.

True to form, rather than admitting that she was wrong, Palin and her supporters have stubbornly defended her version of events.  In fact, some of them have been attempting to edit Wikipedia’s page on Revere to include her version of events.  Even digging out the fact that apparently Revere was captured by the British and did, in fact, tell them that there were armed militants in Boston.  But, that information was shared at gunpoint, under threat of death.  It hardly qualifies as the purpose of Revere’s ride, which was actually to quietly warn the leaders like Samuel Adams and John Hancock that they were going to be arrested.  According to “Paul Revere’s Ride” by David Hackett Fischer, Revere was trying to lead his captors away from Lexington (where Sam Adams and John Hancock were hidden) by telling them danger awaited them there.

Whether Palin really knew about this nuance of American history or not is anyone’s guess (we’re guessing not) but we’re hoping that incidents like this will help to erode the attitudes that some public figures, like Palin, have demonstrated towards education by pointing out how important it is to have a basic understanding of American history.

“It was awesome. It was amazing. I loved it,” he told the AP.

More than fifty friends, family and classmates gathered at five a.m. in Albuquerque to drive to the remote field that the Bradley’s had chosen for the test flight.  Take off was shortly before seven a.m..  Bradley’s balloon launched along with three other balloons holding experts including designated examiners for the Federal Aviation Administration and the balloonist who helped make Bradley’s special ultra light balloon.

“I didn’t want to land,” Bradley said afterward. “I wanted to keep going. It’s fun out there.”

Bradley’s family doesn’t recommend solo balloon flights for the average nine year old, but, as his mom told the AP, her son is “not your normal 9-year-old.”

Bobby is a fourth-generation balloonist and he’s been flying for more than half his life with his parents and other expert balloonists.  He has nearly 30 hours of flight time with his father in a standard hot air balloon.  He can’t get his pilot’s license until he’s sixteen though, which is why his friends and family built his mini-balloon, which classifies as an ultra-light aircraft, which he is allowed to fly.

After the flight, he hugged his grandmother and asked, “Were you scared?”

“I have to admit I was,” she said.

According to experts, more than one-third of children and more than two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese.  This new Food Plate will help people understand better just exactly what they should be putting on their and their children’s meal plates.  This new design makes it easier to see that half out plates should be filled with fruit and vegetables while the other quarters should be proteins and grains, all washed down with a glass of milk for dairy.

The Plate also helps reflect the new Dietary Guidlinesreleased back in January.  For more information you can visit the USDA’s newest site www.ChooseMyPlate.gov setup specifically for this new icon.   There you can find more details about the categories as well as recipes, tips and other useful information to get you and your family eating better.

“It’s an opportunity for Americans to understand quickly how to have a balanced and nutritious meal,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “It’s a constant reminder as you look at your own plate whether your portion sizes are right, whether you’ve got enough fruits and vegetables on that plate.”

The biggest change is that grains are no longer as prominent in our daily diet.  But that in no way means we should put less emphasis on carbohydrates.

“Nutrition-wise, carbs make up the bulk of our diet,” said Marisa Moore, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “Fruits are a source of carbohydrates and most starchy vegetables are carb sources in addition to pasta and rice. They’ll still be represented. It’s more of an emphasis on fruits and veggies.”

It turns out, according to a new study, that nursing moms are more responsive to their baby’s cries than non-breast feeding moms and that their brains show an increase in activities in areas related to mothering.

Researcher Pilyoung Kim of the National Institute of Mental Health tells MSNBC that the study serves as another example of why it’s important to support mothers who breast-feed their children.

“I understand the challenges mothers have,” Kim tells MSNBC. “Regardless of their decision, I think it is critical during this early postpartum period that they seek support and encouragement from others, especially when they feel very stressed and challenged by the new demands because of the new parenting experience.”

But this doesn’t mean that non-breast feeding mothers are bad moms.  Like so many other things about parenting, it seems as though how connected and empathetic you are to your baby depends on how much love and care you give them.

Brain activity in the superior frontal gyrus, striatum and amygdala is associated with empathy.  These areas spike when one is engaged in parenting activities.  This mirrors studies in animals.  Whether or not mothers in the study breast-fed their babies, increased activity in the mothers’ superior frontal gyrus and amygdala was connected with the level of affection they showed their babies.  Breast feeding intensifies the process, but being a loving mom is the important part.  How you love them comes second.

Well, as sports games related entertainment glitches go, this one seems fairly mild.  There may be a few parents out there explaining what some new words mean… words that will NEVER be used in front of grandma, but most of the youngun’s seem unlikely to have been paying too much attention.  Avril is no longer the teenage pop queen she once was, which is probably why she was playing stadium concerts at all.

We can sympathize with her frustration with rudeness, as she pointed out, stadium concerts often suffer from technical problems and being obnoxious about them doesn’t make anyone have a better time.  But patience is required of performers as well as audience members.  A little good humor would have solved the problem with a lot less drama than the curse words!