Seems Tom Cruise has reversed his opinion about post partum depression. He's also gone public with his change of mind and heart. In a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, for whom you'll recall he jumped all over a couch as he professed his love for now-wife Katie Holmes, Cruise admits what he said about Brooke Shields in his other most-famous moment back in 2006. His harsh comments about Brooke Shields turning to medication--specifically anti-depressants--to treat her post partum depression came under fire from all sides.

Now Cruise confirms that what he said came out the wrong way, that he was raised by four women with babies and that he doesn't want to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't be doing or believing in. He insists what he said about Shields "came out wrong, it's just not true." Cruise has since apologized to Shields several times.

The damage, however, seems to have been done. Cruise was attacked by the media, mothers and feminists everywhere. His career seems to have taken a back seat to his rantings. In the interview Cruise comments that he regrets saying a lot of what he did and talking about Shields at all. Say what you will about Tom Cruise, and perhaps he's just trying to save face, but it does take some guts to come out and say you're wrong about something, especially when you admit it to the whole world.

By the way, remember the Tom Cruise from the pic? The young cutie? Hrd to believe how far he--and we--have come after all these years!

So, the children of Iran don't get to play with Barbie dolls because they undermine their Muslim culture. American kids, meanwhile, are apparently eschewing the dolls because of the environmentally unfriendly packaging. There's probably not much Mattel can do about the former, but they're turning the latter into a profit center.

Barbie BCause is a new line of "eco-friendly accessories for girls." And what exactly makes it so eco-friendly? The product line "repurposes excess fabric and trimmings from other Barbie® doll fashions and products which would otherwise be discarded, offering eco-conscious girls a way to make an environmentally-friendly fashion statement with cool, patchwork-style accessories."

Barbie dolls come packaged in a huge amount of plastic packaging; I'm not sure that making some bags out of leftover fabric makes up for that. Certainly, from a business point of view, it makes sense -- why waste all that perfectly decent fabric when you can sell it and rack up some Brownie points for being "green" at the same time? From an environmental point of view, I think that picking up an equivalent product at the local thrift shop makes more sense. While I'm no expert on women's fashion accessories, I have to say I don't find the pictured items very attractive. What do you think?

via Eco Child's Play

Actually, it's my former neighborhood. Apparently--and please pardon me, as there may be just a teensy little bit of bile forming in the back of my throat (and it's NOT morning sickness)--the creator of Melrose Place are considering another such type show set in, gag, Park Slope. For those of you unfamiliar with the Slope, it's in Brooklyn, New York. The people who live there think it's the bomb--the epitome of making it in, well, at least Brooklyn if not New York.

People move from Manhattan to Brooklyn, specifically, to have their babies and clog the sidewalks with their OBNOXIOUS (note, I didn't use the word annoying--it's not annoying; it is, in fact, OBNOXIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!) double-wide strollers and brag to each other and anyone else endlessly about how wonderful they are from all their righteousness and do-gooding. None of which is mixed with an ounce of altruism.

And I used to be one of them. Well, sort of. I fled to Windsor Terrace (sort of like the older cousin of the Slope whose been around the block and knows better) long before I thought about babies--my own, anyway. See, you can't live in the Slope without at least one kid. They'll scorn you otherwise. Seriously. And regardless of cost, they must have the best of everything--you will be snubbed for a simple Maclaren umbrella style stroller like the one I have when you could have shelled out $800 for whatever Euro design is hot this week. I'm basically considered a bad parent by these people because I don't have one. But mine folds up. Easily. With one hand.

It looks like Canadians are on the bandwagon with several states in the U.S. in the war against smoking. Authorities in Ontario are moving to ban smoking in cars when children are present.

Offenders will be fined $247 if caught in the act of smoking with a child present in the car, even if the windows are rolled down. The law was presented Wednesday and is under consideration.

According to California's Air Resources Board, second-hand smoke can be as many as 27 times more concentrated than in the home. Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Maine and Puerto Rico, among others, already have similar bans in place.

This past weekend, I took the kids camping (didja miss me?). We went with five other families we'd met through Jared's preschool. All told, there were eleven adults and thirteen kids in our group. We all had adjoining or nearby campsites and shared the kitchen area and fire ring of the central-most site.

Both Jared and Sara had a grand old time running around the woods of Samuel P. Taylor State Park with their friends. They found a log bridge that crossed the stream, hid in a hollowed-out hole in a redwood tree, chased lizards and banana slugs, and generally ran themselves ragged getting in touch with nature.

Camping is a wonderful activity for families. First off, it's a cheap vacation -- we paid $20 a night for our site and that could accommodate two families. There are no fancy restaurants to splurge on, so your food costs are pretty much what they would be at home. Once you have some basic gear -- a tent, sleeping bags, a stove, and flashlights -- your costs really are minimal. And camping is a great way for families to have wonderful shared experiences.

So with that in mind, I thought I'd share some tips I've learned over the years as well as this last weekend.

Looking for a way to educate and entertain this Earth Day? Why not take your kids on the trash trail? A trash trail tour simply follows your garbage from your kitchen garbage can to its final resting place. Visit the transfer station, the dump, or the regional waste facility where your community's garbage is stored.

It might not sound like a lot of fun for you -- who wants to spend their Saturday at the dump? But kids love to learn how things work, and the lesson that when you throw something away, it isn't "gone" is a powerful one for teaching about environmental issues. Family Education has two other tours as well, Flushed With Pride and The Power Trip.

If a trash trail isn't for you, you can still educate your kids this Earth Day. Here are 10 easy ways to teach kids to go green.

Ann Arbor cookie lovers may find themselves short of Girl Scout cookies this year. Michigan 12-year-olds Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen have decided not to sell the popular fund-raising cookies. That's because they learned during an award project that the production of palm oil, which is used in Girl Scout cookies, is threatening the natural territory of orangutans.

Palm oil production is a serious environmental issue, because it requires that rain forests be cut down and burned so that the plants can grow.

The girls are working to raise funds and bring awareness to the issue and thought that it didn't make much sense for them to sell a product that creates yet more demand for palm oil. I like their free-thinking style -- way to go girls!

I recently learned that kitchen counters generally have more fecal matter on them than toilet seats. And ever since then, I've been uncharacteristically paranoid about not placing my purse on floors in public places. And I've also been more diligent about washing our produce carefully, because who knows where they might have languished before ending up in our grocery carts.

But a recent article says that washing produce is not enough to prevent food poisoning -- even if you're washing with a chlorine disinfectant.

Why? Scientists say that certain disease-causing microbes can worm their way into the canal leaves of lettuce, spinach, and other veggies and fruit, where surface treatments cannot always reach.

The answer to truly cleaning your food and negating risk of bacteria and the risk of food disease may be a process called irradiation -- a process currently being investigated by the US Department or Agriculture. Irradiation sounds slightly futuristic: food is exposed to a source of electron beams, creating positive and negative charges and disrupting the genetic material of living cells -- including parasites, pathogens, and insects. It could potentially eradicate E. Coli an Salmonella from our spinach and our canteloupe for good.

There is some controversy around the process -- as there always is when humans get involved in plant mutation -- but researchers say 60--90% of consumers indicate that they would buy irradiated food. I am still angst-filled that water is apparently no longer enough, and will be following this irradiation business closely.

Pre-marriage and bambino, I spent a lot of time in the frozen foods aisle of the grocery store. Now, the whopping majority is spent in the produce section, which is great for my health. However, although the produce is good for me, the tons of plastic produce bags aren't so healthy for the environment.

These Reusable Produce Bags for grocery shopping on Etsy solve that dilemma. Super lightweight and see-through, they are perfect for fruits and veggies. Say goodbye to those reels of plastic bags and make a positive impact on the environment with a couple of these bags!

$4.25 at Etsy.

Someone asked blog site Babble the other day a question that has been humming around in my mind like a lost hummingbird for a long time: What is the deal with the vitamin K shots given to newborns, and are they really necessary?

I remember when Mr. Pickles was born. it was truly the most defining, glorious moment of my life. I couldn't see him, but I could hear him. Then, magically, he was whisked over to a table behind me where they cleaned him up, gave him a shot of vitamin K and then put some drops in his eyes before attaching that cute little hat to his head and passing him over to me.

I know this because they told me what they were going to do as they were doing it. I had no advance notice this child would receive a vitamin K shot, nor did I know what it was for. Nor did I know I might have had an opinion about whether or not he received one.

There are few things as fun to a kid as a house made out of a refrigerator box, but the creative minds at the Australian architecture firm Super Colossal turned ordinary hunks of cardboard into an amazing structure (complete with skylights!) that is sure to be the envy of all cardboard structure aficionados worldwide.

The Super Colossal Cardboard Cubby was created as an entry for a trade show contest and although people are clamoring for purchasing information, it isn't ready for market just yet. However, for the handy with access to giant hunks of cardboard, the directions are available on the website.

As I gather up broken or outgrown toys for donation and/or a huge garage sale, recyclable playthings seem especially brilliant to me.

Living a greener lifestyle is a huge part of daily life in Southern California. I recently read a great article in one of my local parenting magazines about the importance of modeling eco-friendly behavior to your children. We all know that children learn by example, so here are some tips for growing green kids.

• Wash and reuse glass jars and plastic containers for leftover storage.
• Buy reusable grocery bags and start using them (many local stores offer them for sale; or use old tote bags or beach bags you have around the house; keep a few in different sizes in the car for easy access).
• If you are only buying one or two items at the grocery store, start requesting "no bag,
  please".
• Use plastic bags to line your trash cans at home, to store wet swim suits and muddy shoes in transit, or as your car litter bag.
• Teach your children to draw on both sides of art paper, or better yet, on the back of used printer paper.
• Save toilet paper and paper towel rolls as well as empty dry food packages for craft projects.
• Use empty yogurt cups for paint and glue.
• Skip purchasing cheap plastic squirt guns-empty plastic ketchup bottles, spray cleaner and water bottles are just as much fun on hot summer days.

Parenting Orange County has several more eco-friendly tips involving the home, eating and recreation. Check out the article here.

This week the U.S Food and Drug Administration released a new oral vaccine for the prevention of rotavirus. The vaccine, the second of its kind, is alleged to prevent the diarrhea and vomiting-causing infection in infants and children.

As many as 2.7 million cases of gastroenteritis are diagnosed in the U.S each year. Between 55,000and 77,000 children require hospitalization from it., annually. It is estimated that anywhere from 20 to 60 deaths a year are the result of the infection. The FDA alleges that without the vaccination, every child would get rotavirus at least once by the time he or she hits age five.

It should be noted there are multiple strains of rotavirus; this vaccine is set to prevent some of them: G1, G3, G4, and G9. Studies, of course, have been conducted, one involving more than 24,000 infants. Rotarix, as the drug is called, was effective in treating both severe and moderate cases of gastroenteritis.

Another study was conducted with over 63,000 infants to monitor intestinal folding with Rotarix's use, a result from the first vaccine which caused it to be pulled from the market in 1999. The new study found no increase in risk of intestinal folding (known as intussusception) but did note increased rates of convulsion and death related to pneumonia although such events were not observed in other studies conducted by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, the manufacturer.

Although the FDA has not come out and said the results mentioned above were directly related to the vaccine, post-market testing of 40,000 will be conducted. Post-market? I feel like I'd want results on that before the drug was made available to the general public!

Pic by venkane.

High Fructose Corn Syrup or HFCS is almost everywhere. It's in kids' "juices" and candy and a fair percentage of the products in the average grocery store. But it just ain't natural. At least not according to the Food and Drug Administration. The decision came about in response to an inquiry from the website Food Navigator USA.

The FDA noted that HFCS is made from a high dextrose equivalent corn starch hydrolysate by partial enzymatic conversion of glucose (dextrose) to fructose using an insoluble glucose isomerase enzyme preparation. (No, I don't know what that means either.) "The use of synthetic fixing agents in the enzyme preparation, which is then used to produce HFCS, would not be consistent with our ... policy regarding the use of the term 'natural'," said Geraldine June, Supervisor of Product Evaluation and Labeling in the Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements.

The Corn Refiners Association, however, would disagree. According to their HFCS Facts website, HFCS "is nearly identical to table sugar," and offers a number of benefits over regular sugar. On the other hand, the Sugar Association, as well as various consumer groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest say that HFCS is not natural because its chemical bonds are broken and rearranged.

All I know is that I try to avoid products that contain a lot of HFCS and it's nice to know that I can trust that products labelled "natural" fit in with that policy.

The "Levenshulme Public Baths and Washhouse" was built more than a hundred years ago, some time in the late 1800's. I know that it's only in the USA that it would be considered old, but I can't help being impressed. Sunny Lowry, the first British woman to swim the English Channel used it as a training pool during the late 1920's and early 1930's. Naturally, it's popular with kids who want to learn to swim or just have a good time.

At least, it used to be. Now, some parents are keeping their kids home because they've learned that one of the facility's two pools has been rented by a private group of men who swim naked. "I'm all for people having their own get-togethers, but why do they have to be naked? It just doesn't seem right," said local mum Elaine Howarth. "It's horrible to think about," she added.

Lynne Mills, whose son had been taking lessons at the pool, didn't believe it at first. "I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it," she said. "This is a community pool that is used by OAP sessions and children. I am concerned about the hygiene aspect - they don't let children in pools without wearing clothes, so why should it be different for adults?"

Surely, anyone who's ever been in a pool knows that a typical swimsuit does not keep one's naughty bits dry; they're just as much in the water as they would be sans suit. A spokeswoman for the Manchester City Council agreed. "The public can be reassured there are no issues surrounding hygiene or privacy. This is no less sanitary than bathing with a swimsuit and our pools are well maintained, filtered and chlorinated to maintain high standards of cleanliness for all swimming sessions."

I don't see what the big deal is; I never took a swimsuit along when I went backpacking, even if the destination was a swimmable lake or river. When I swam competitively, I wore a Speedo to help streamline the less aerodynamic (or aquadynamic?) parts, but for just fooling around, I'd rather go without a suit, if it were allowed. I certainly wouldn't have a problem letting my kids swim in a pool where someone else had previously swum naked. Would you?