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 »

Wow, the celebs have been pulling out all the stops on the baby names lately, huh? Just this week we’ve had Sunday Rose Kidman-Urban and Levi Alves McConaughey. I think this latest round of the unusual was precipitated by Gwyneth Paltrow & Coldplay’s Chris Martin naming their daughter “Apple.” Yes, Apple Martin, who you just know is going to be called “Apple Martini” when she gets to be a teenager.

Jason Lee’s “Pilot Inspektor” and Penn Jillette’s “Moxie Crimefighter” are silly in the realm of “Moon Unit Zappa.” David Duchovny and Tea Leoni naming their kid “Kyd” and Rob Morrow choosing the name “Tu” (get it? Tu Morrow) makes you wonder if heavy doses of Demerol were involved.

I kind of like Honor (Jessica Alba) and Harlowe (Nicole Richie). A recent celebrity trend is the name “Jagger,” which has been used four times this year alone and I think is totally going to be my next Starbucks name. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally. Some good news.

I read a lot of newspapers online everyday, and the headlines have not been pretty lately. “US Diplomats Attacked in Zimbabwe” “Continental Airlines to Cut Jobs” “Boy Drowns While Napping in Carolina” Don’t even get me started on the local crime report. Or OMG! Gas prices! And then I stumbled upon this: “Risky Behavior Declines Among Teens.”

As the mother of a boy who will be 15 this summer, this comes as very welcome news. The report, which comes from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), says that fewer adolescents are drinking, smoking and having sex than their counterparts did in 1991. The report actually said that TEENS ARE STARTING TO ACT MORE REPSONSIBLY. Which I’m pretty sure is one of the first signs of the apocalypse. Read the rest of this entry »

You’d think I’d be getting use to it by now: The lurch in our lives that happens at the end of each school year, when schedules change and books get put away. Here’s my take on the end of third grade. What’s the most difficult for you as you look at the end of your kid’s school year? What has gotten easier?

There’s a new pill on the market. It was created especially for kids. For when they need a little more than a kiss to make their owie go away. It’s called “Obecalp.” That’s “placebo” spelled backwards.

I think I took these once. They came in my Fisher Price doctors set.  I downed the entire bottle immediately upon opening the packaging. Was that dangerous? I don’t think so. No one promised me anything with my sugar-pill prescription. I knew it was really just candy.

The mom who created Obecalp says that she cares about our children and the future of children around our world. Which seems a bit grandiose considering we’re talking about sugar pills. She’s not exactly curing cancer here. And anyway, is it possible she’s doing more harm than good?

I have to wonder, is it ever ethical to use a placebo? Isn’t that kind of like…LYING? Or is it one of those innocent lies we tell kids - like Santa Claus? Does the end justify the means as long as everyone just STOPS CRYING OMG WOULD YOU JUST STOP CRYING!!!!

Is sending kids the message that a pill can cure all that ails them a good message in today’s world? (Let’s not forget, someone once thought it was a good idea to sell candy cigarettes to kids, too.) Call me crazy, but I think it’s important for kids to learn that some hurts do actually heal all on their own.

“I don’t buy the argument that a placebo pill is just like putting a ‘Band-Aid on a boo-boo,’” says Douglas Kamerow, a family physician and former Assistant Surgeon General. ”We know it doesn’t make any difference, but we tell the kids that it does. Sure, there are kids who end up wanting a Band-Aid for every possible problem, but I have never seen an adult Band-Aid addict.”

What say you? A good idea or a disaster in the making? Would you give them to your child?