OK, moms, you know we get scary e-mails all the time about dangers to our kids, recalled products, etc., etc. But this one is real, and given that Halloween and Hanukkah are coming up, really scary. Seems that the Sherwood brand Pirate’s Gold milk chocolate foil-covered coins come from China, and contain the melamine that has been sickening (and killing) Chinese babies this summer and fall. These coins are sold in bulk and individually at dollar stores and variety stores, mostly in Canada, but also in the US. Find more details here at Snopes (a favorite rumor-debunking site). And look through that Halloween candy with an extra-careful eye.

It seems like the only political story breaking to me, but how important is John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, to you, and what parts of her story have affected you most?

I have to say that I’m particularly focused on her family choices. Since she (and the McCain campaign) brought them up — her infant with Down syndrome, her eldest son shipping out for Iraq, her status as a “hockey mom,” and (eventually) her pregnant teenage daughter — what do you think? Can you raise five kids and have enough time to be Vice President? Leaving aside her experience and political views for a moment (we can talk about them later), does the shape of Sarah Palin’s family, and the attention it requires, affect your opinion of how much time she can/should spend on politics?

I’m still thinking about whether it’s a good idea to buy Boy Wonder (maybe I should just call him BW) a Nerf Longshot, the brightly colored gun that shoots foam bullets I wrote about in my column this weekend. What I’m REALLY wondering about, though, is how an Airsoft gun is good for any kid. Thoughts?

Sometimes you come across a story that you just can’t believe, and here is my gasp-inducing story for today: From the Today show (hat tip to poynter.org, every journalist’s must-read) comes an amazing story about increasing trend of pre-teen girls getting BIKINI WAXES! OMG, it’s bad enough when you’re a grown-up to have to worry about “unwanted hair,” but how many ways can we come up with to make our daughters feel bad about themselves? There’s even someone quoted in the story about how if you wax “virgin hair” (can’t believe I’m even typing those words), you can get rid of it permanently in 2-6 treatments. That means waxing has to start at 8. Gawd.

I know that the place I get my pedicures has “Little Ms. Diva” manicures, and though I get why they are fun, it still seems like trying to make little girls into big girls too soon. But this? Can you imagine letting your tween daughter get a bikini wax? Maybe I’m just out of the loop … what do you think?

As you read in my column Sunday, my son and a baseball had an unfortunate collision. More traumatic for Mom than for him, and it looks like he won’t lose any teeth. At the end of the column I asked readers to share a time they hurt for their kids … this from Vickie Sweeney … Read the rest of this entry »