Stan Berenstain, the popular co-author and illustrator of over 200 books in the Berenstain Bears series, died on Saturday. He was 82. He and his wife Jan met in art school and began their career as cartoonists. They were inspired to write childrens books after their sons were born and published their first Berenstain Bears book in 1962 for the Beginner Books series, edited by Dr. Seuss.

I loved the Berenstain Bears books as a child, but, like Sarah, I think parents appreciate their books even more. No matter what the issue - new siblings, eating too much candy, or even school violence - the Berenstains have a book for it.

Got any favorite Berenstain moments you'd like to share?

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Researchers from the University of Wisconsin found that some children who spent their infancy in an orphanage have lower levels of two hormones that would help them bond to others. The research involved one group of 4-year-old children who had been adopted after spending a good deal of time in an orphanage, and another group of 4-year-olds who were not adopted. The children played video games sitting on their mother's laps, while their mothers gently cuddled with them. After their cuddle time, the children who were adopted showed lower levels of oxytocin and vasopressin than their non-adopted counterparts.

The study involved a very small group of children (less than 50), and the group of adopted children were born in one of two countries (Russia and Romania). The study also involved a relatively new method of measuring hormones via urine, so the results need to be confirmed by other scientists. Researchers would need to do more work on a greater sample to determine exactly what influences the hormone levels. They hope additional studies will find ways to help children who were neglected as babies.

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The Washington Post profiled two sisters who got into trouble at their high school for being involved in a fight at a bus stop. The school suspended them for five days, but the five days were hardly a punishment. The girls shopped, talked on their cell phones, watched TV, and hung out in their pajamas. The school didn't allow the girls to do any schoolwork - either make-up lessons or homework - during their suspension.

It's unclear what exactly the school wanted the girls to do. Since they didn't have any work for school, the "punishment" aspect of the suspension was left totally up to their parents, who felt the girls didn't deserve any, since they said that they didn't start the fight and were only defending themselves. With security concerns, some schools don't feel that violent kids can be given in-school suspensions, but I fail to see how not giving them any work serves as a sufficient punishment.

How does your school handle suspensions? Are kids given schoolwork to do during suspensions? Would you add any additional punishment on top of the suspension?

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Thanksgiving is a time when many families gather together and remember how fortunate they are. Some families spend a little bit of their holiday helping those less fortunate. While it isn't easy to volunteer, especially when you have young children, here are a few ideas on how to incorporate volunteering into your Thanksgiving.

The most common volunteer activity is serving food at a communal Thanksgiving meal sponsored by a soup kitchen. This is great for older kids, and it's usually organized in shifts so that you can still have a family meal together. If you have outgoing children, many Meals on Wheels chapters also need drivers to deliver hot Thanksgiving meals to shut-ins. Your children could make drawings, paintings, or other crafts to deliver along with the meal.

If you can't volunteer on the day itself, but still want to help, some food pantries or community organizations give out turkeys and fixings before Thanksgiving. Those sponsoring Thanksgiving meals might also need help before the big day in setting up tables or afterwards in cleaning up. If you have younger children, setting up for a meal (putting tablecloths on tables, organizing utensils) can be a good way for them to help others. Your local food bank is a good resource to find out about Thanksgiving volunteer opportunities in your area.

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The publishers of Goodnight Moon felt that their latest run of the popular children's book needed a change. The jacket photograph of the illustrator, Clement Hurd, showed him with a cigarette in his hand. Since Goodnight Moon is a children's book, they didn't want to encourage smoking. So they digitally removed the cigarette from the picture, with the permission of the illustrator's son. So now the new edition features a bizarre picture of a man with his hand in front of him as if he were caught in the middle of imitating Marlon Brando in The Godfather.

But I really don't get the guy who started the website Goodnight Reality, which says that "Harper Collins has changed our collective history" by digitally altering the photo. I'm not sure that a photo of Clement Hurd with a cigarette is part of anyone's childhood memories, but I do think the new picture's a bit odd. The publisher, Harper Collins, seems to agree with me, and they're thinking about using a different photograph entirely. While there's no word yet about how that will affect our collective history, it does mean that the book sans cigarette could become a collector's item.

(As a side note, this isn't the first time Goodnight Moon has been altered; the udder of the cow jumping over the moon was blurred so it wouldn't offend some librarians.)

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Nick Anderson lost a leg in a car accident. He also lost feeling in his arm and hand. Today, in an extremely rare operation, doctors at Johns Hopkins will perform a nerve transplant from Nick's mother, Frankie, into Nick's arm and hand. Frankie had nerve segments removed from both of her arms and both of her legs on Tuesday. The spots where her nerves were removed would be permanently numb.

The surgery has a 50-50 chance of success. Nick will need to take drugs so that his body doesn't reject his mother's nerves, but he also had a brain tumor two years ago. The anti-rejection drugs might also prevent his body from fighting off a recurrence of his brain tumor. Here's hoping everything goes well for Nick and his mom, who said, "If they had a way of cutting off my arm and putting it on him, I would have done that."

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The New York Times had an article about the growing movement to tell pre-schoolers about the birds and the bees. Some of the educators they talked with said that parents should start using the correct terms for private parts when children learn the names of their body parts. They warned that parents shouldn't lie to children - so, the stork story would be out - and that answers you give should be as correct as possible. They also said that you shouldn't give overly complicated answers; if a child asks what a tampon is, you don't necessarily need to go into an hour-long discussion of female cycles.

My son's a little over a year old, and, well, I thought I'd have a little more than a year or two before I had to worry about the sex talk.  On one hand, I don't want him learning everything in graphic detail on the playground.  But, on the other, I wonder if this is part of an increasing sexualization of childhood (i.e., low-rider jeans and belly shirts for six year olds) or if it signals that parents are being more open with their kids in general.

Is three years old too early to start learning about sex? How proactive should you be? Should you buy books before your child asks any questions? Are there any questions you would hold off on answering until the child's older?

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Les Knight is on a mission. He's the founder of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, which is dedicated to phasing out the human race for the betterment of the planet. Unlike most population growth movements, Knight feels that the planet would be better off with no humans whatsoever. The way to do that, of course, is to stop "breeding." If everyone stopped having children, the world would ultimately be a better place.

While his ideas are a bit extreme, he does seem to have a point. Until I had a baby, I didn't realize quite how much waste one person could create in the course of a day, never mind a lifetime. We try to do our part for the environment - recycle, use cloth diapers, and keep a compost pile - but, well, three people still generate more trash than two. (We won't even get into the waste that our four dogs generate.)  Is having a baby the environmental equivalent of driving a Hummer (as Knight says)? Can someone be both an environmentalist and a "breeder"? 

[Previously on BB: Confessions of a Breeder]

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Rainbow Rumpus is an online magazine geared towards young children with LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered) parents. They've just put up their first issue, which includes a clip from the infamous Postcards from Buster episode and an essay by Emma Riesner, the girl featured in the episode.  It also includes a recommended list of books for children of different ages.

The website, which also features a cartoon strip and stories, will begin publishing issues in full force beginning in March. They are planning on putting up a bulletin board for children and featuring more artwork, stories, and reviews by and for children. You can sign up for their mailing list or give them more input on what you'd like to see here. [link via cluttergirl]

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The Indianapolis Star had a great article about how many couples don't discuss parenting before they marry.

While some couples have premarital counseling (through a place of worship, for instance) where parenting styles are discussed, many don't talk about parenting at all before they get married. Or, if they do, they often discuss things in general terms ("We're going to be strict parents") as opposed to discussing specific situations ("What will we do if our child does poorly in school?") The initial lack of communication can cause conflicts later on, when one partner's definition of strict might mean permissive to the other.

I'm a bit Type-A, so my husband and I talked about becoming parents for years before we were married.  But I had a friend whose sole discussion with her fiance before they married was "OK, we're going to have kids."  How much did you discuss parenting before you married or before you had children?  How important do you think it is?

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Just in time for Children's Book Week (and, of course, the holiday season), the New York Times published its biannual Children's Book Review on Sunday. 

There are three new alphabet books, all based on a traditional rhyme. Books that address introducing a new sibling are reviewed, including one book that discusses international adoption. There are books about chickens, books about being different, and bedtime books. There are also a couple of suggestions for fans of Harry Potter.

The website also includes a slideshow of their picks for Best Illustrated Books and another slideshow of one of the authors reading from his book.

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PBS has just announced a new five-year initiative to improve their programming. For preschoolers, It's a Big, Big World, featuring the character Snook, will be beginning in January.  An animated Curious George series will also begin next fall. Since a Curious George movie is planned for this February, PBS is probably hoping that the movie will bring a bigger audience for the show.

PBS Kids Go! (the afternoon block) will be spun off into a separate 24-hour channel dedicated to 5- to 8-year-olds, beginning next fall. Let's hope they take some of the concerns parents had about PBS KIDS Sprout into consideration when they develop the new channel.

Does any of this sound exciting?  Or have the changes with PBS Kids put you off?

link via TVSquad

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The Boston Globe had a great article last week on Do-Over Dads: fathers who were married, had children, and then, when they're much older, marry again and have more kids. One of the dads profiled was J. Allan Hobson, a 72-year-old father of five. He had three children, in their 30s and 40s, from his first marriage. His second wife had six children from two previous relationships. But, says Hobson, "I had always wanted four children," so he and his second wife decided to have another child, and they ended up having twin boys, who are now eight years old.

When my in-laws married, they had eight children between them (and only two bathrooms) so they decided against having any children together. For the couple in the article, having nine children from previous relationships didn't affect their decision to have more children together.

How important is it to have children with a new spouse? Do you think it brings you closer together? Do you think it breeds resentment between much-older children and their younger siblings? (I'm not even getting into the issue of having children when you're in your late 60s. The mere thought of it exhausts me.)

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According to an article in the Boston Globe, fertility doctors say they're seeing a slowing in the growth rate of IVF. Dr. Michael Alper of Boston IVF, the largest fertility clinic in the US, has heard that the overall IVF market is down as much as ten percent compared to last year.

Joseph C. Isaacs, the president of Resolve, the national infertility association, says that the number of infertile people is still growing, but that the rate of IVF may be slowing due to a few factors. Baby boomers are aging. IVF has gotten more efficient, so patients often become parents after just a few cycles. The more successful fertility clinics are, the less patients they'll ultimately have. And, with IVF not covered by insurance in most states, people are less likely to spend money on it, especially if they're uncertain about the economy.

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The Supreme Court ruled today that parents who challenge a special education program for their child have the burden of proof when they say that the program is insufficient. In the case, Schaffer v. Weast, Maryland parents had contested the IEP (individualized education program) for their son, who had ADHD. The school district felt that the program was appropriate for the child. The parents argued that the school district had to prove that the program was good enough for their son.

The Supreme Court disagreed, 6-2. Sandra Day O'Connor, writing for the majority, said that if parents challenge the program, they must prove that the program is inadequate. Similarly, if the school challenges the program, the burden of proof rests with them. So, in this case, since the parents challenged the program, they would have to prove why it was inappropriate.

Do you think this is fair? Do you think parents will be less likely to speak up for their children because of the ruling?

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Normally, my husband doesn't allow me to watch the Discovery Health channel.  This is because I usually ask him questions like "Do you think the dogs would raise Arthur if we died?" and "Do you think Arthur is his own twin?" after I watch a couple of programs.  I don't think he regrets letting me watch "Woman with Half a Body," which broadcast on Friday night and will be on again on Wednesday night. 

It's the story of Rosemarie Siggins, who was born with a genetic condition that caused deformities in her legs and had to have them amputated at a young age. (She gets around by "walking" with her arms or using a skateboard.)  She married her husband in 1999. When she became pregnant, doctors told her she should abort him, as no one with sacral agenesis had ever given birth to a baby. She chose not to terminate the pregnancy, and her son was born without any defects.   

The documentary shows, among other things, how she taught her son how to ice skate by attaching blades onto one of her old skateboards, and how she addresses the kids who make fun of her son because his mother doesn't have legs.  Siggins seems like a wonderful mom, and it's a program that's well worth watching.

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Researchers say they now have proof that there's truth to what your mother's warnings about dressing warmly in the cold. According to a study in the journal Family Practice, a cold nose could be one of the main reasons why colds are more common in the winter.

Professor Ronald Eccles, director of the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University, said that during the height of cold season, many people are infected with a cold but show no symptoms. When one of these people feels cold, the blood vessels in the nose constrict and warm blood (with white blood cells) flows poorly.

You can read more about the study - which provides the perfect reason to encourage your kids to wear hats and scarves - here.

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Debbie and Darren Wyatt, the parents of Baby Charlotte, have welcomed their fourth child, Christina Hayley, into the world. Christina weighed 4lb., 7oz. at birth and was born premature. She is currently in the intensive care unit of St. Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth, England, the same hospital her sister is in. Charlotte has not yet seen her new sister because she has a bit of a cold.

Charlotte and her parents were previously in the news last month, when a judge ruled that doctors have to act in the best interests of Baby Charlotte, even if it means resuscitating her. She was born prematurely two years ago, and has severe brain, lung, and kidney damage. Her parents have been advocates for Charlotte, insisting that her condition continues to improve.  

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In what seems to be the most shameless way to exploit a pregnancy since a woman auctioned advertising space on her pregnant belly, a man has set up a website to help him and his wife pick a name for their baby. While his wife briefly stopped scarfing down more pickles and ice cream, she came up with the idea of starting a website where people could suggest names and they "could build the world's largest database of baby names and happily make it available to all pregnant parents."

Because, you know, people who were expecting a child were previously in the dark about baby names - it's not like there are any books devoted to baby names, or you can just type "baby name" into a search engine and come back with 5 million websites to help you out.

They are, of course, looking for sponsors for their website, and they'll give away $100 a week to one of the people who submits a name. In addition, they'll give $1000 on the day of the baby's birth to the person who refers the most people to their website. Do you think this website is legitimate - how exactly is this guy able to give away $100 a week - or is this just a marketing ploy for a new baby name site?

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A police force in Lincolnshire, England, has developed a unique way to fight youth crime: they've started a knight school.  The eight-week program is designed for children between ages six and eight.  The children are nominated by their teachers, who consider them to be disruptive or anti-social.  The goal of the program is to teach kids old-fashioned values so that they don't continue their behavior into their teen years.

Medieval experts say that some of the values the kids will learn include generosity, humility, and loyalty.  Police say youth crime has decreased since the program has started.

I know that if I'd been seven years old, I would've probably misbehaved on purpose in order to go through the program and get the reward at the end: a set of armor, a wooden shield, and a wooden sword.

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