About a month ago my husband was playing around with one of our son's toys and realized it was censored. The toy in question is a Leap Frog brand caterpillar called an Alphabet Pal with letters on each of its twenty-six legs. Among the things you can do with the caterpillar are set it to play different kinds of music (each leg plays a different song) and say the letters on the legs. You can also set it to pronounce the sound the letter makes when it is spoken. So, if you hit the leg with the letter "B" on it, you hear "Buh." As a joke my husband tried to sound out a dirty word. The caterpillar denied him! Instead, if you, say, try to sound out "fff" then "ugh" you get a "heh heh, that tickles!" before the caterpillar will pronounce the "kuh."

Now, I can assume my kiddo isn't going to be using this caterpillar to sound out dirty words. Most children who are the age the caterpillar is designed for--between one and two years of age--don't even know what those are. But it still brings up an interesting point: Isn't that censorship? I mean, whoever designed this toy, which is a lot of fun and a great educational tool (it also says the colors of each letter on each leg in another setting), had to think that someone like my husband would try some funny business and came up with a plan to avoid the caterpillar saying bad things.

I'm starting to wonder if this was a one-time thing or if all toys of this nature are set to ensure they don't spell or say dirty words. Also, who decides such things? And does that person get to decide what constitutes a dirty word and what doesn't? At home with television and the Internet, for example, parents can set their own standards for what their children are allowed to watch and read or look at. The maker of this toy did that for us. Thoughts??? Should companies be censoring toys for us or are they doing the job of the parents?

Pic of caterpillar by j / f / photo.

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I've never been much of a fan of reality TV. Putting ordinary people (who are always prettier or meaner or whinier than anyone person I've ever met) in weird circumstances to show what happens just isn't entertaining to me. I've got kids, I deal with weird circumstances ALL DAY LONG!

Apparently, I'm not the only one who isn't crazy about at least one reality TV show. The Washington D.C. based nonprofit group Zero to Three is upset with the new NBC television series "Baby Borrowers". The group's spokesperson told Page Six, "We're concerned about the fact that these babies are being separated from their parents and placed with strangers. On the first episode, the babies were separated for about 12 hours and were clearly in distress. Typically they will cry and cling and search for their parents, which they were doing. They should be with someone they've had the opportunity to get to know."

I'm all for educating teens on child care getting rid of the notion that parenting is one big ball of baby powdery fun, but there ARE better ways than dumping a baby off with complete strangers for a television show. Working at a childcare center, volunteering at a church nursery or preschool, or even babysitting are all good ways to get a small idea of what life as a parent is like.

There is no way I'd ever, ever, ever have agreed to let my babies be on a television show like this, even with a nanny stationed nearby in case she's needed. What exactly is going on with our society that makes babies fair game for a reality series, anyway?

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When he was younger, my nephew managed to shove a pea so far up his nostril that he ended up spending several hours in the emergency room while the doctors and nurses tried to get it out. Eventually, they did. Not long after, however, he did it again. Luckily, this time, his mom was able to get it out and avoid another trip to the ER.

Apparently, my nephew isn't the only one to have tried this stunt. MomLogic has a list of the top ten things kids stick up their noses, along with the dangers and what to do about them. French fries are not one I would have expected to see on the list, but Crayons -- the same shape and size -- certainly are. Scarily, Kleenex is on the list, since young children may not quite get it that the tissue is supposed to stay on the outside.

Of course, the classic pea is there, along with its cousin the bean. Interestingly, jelly beans are not on the list -- I know my sister once came to the revelation that jelly beans would fit perfectly in her dog's nostrils; luckily she never actually tested her theory. The important thing here, I guess, is that you always have to keep a close eye on your kids -- and their noses.

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Lesley Porcelli over at Gourmet isn't a mom yet, but she's well on her way and pondering what kind of eater her kid will be. Like a lot of non-parents, she readily admits that she has strong opinions about successful parenting, particularly when it comes to feeding the child. And when it comes to picky eaters, Porcelli is pretty sure that parents are to blame.

Her theory goes something like this: If the whole family sits down to eat together and nobody makes a big deal out of what is on the plate, the kid will happily chow down without complaint. If a parent assumes the kid wouldn't touch a lasagna with a ten foot pole and therefore doesn't bother to offer it, chances are good that the kid will subsist on nuggets and fries until maturity.

I think Porcelli has it only partly right. Kids aren't blank slates waiting to be molded into actual people. Even as they try their first bites of solid food, they are individuals with their own likes and dislikes. From her first bite of pureed chicken as a baby, my Ellie disliked meat. She gobbled up the fruits and veggies, but spat out anything that tasted of animal. I don't know if her aversion was about texture or taste, but to this day she would sooner eat a plate of green beans than a bite of chicken. For Ellie, it isn't about not wanting to try new foods (she loves crab cakes and calamari), she just doesn't like meat.

That said, I do think parents can - and should - influence what foods their child will consume. The old "just take one bite" routine works well for us and is the reason we can all enjoy a plate of calamari together. But in the end, I don't worry too much about my picky eater. After all, I lived off bologna and mustard sandwiches as a kid and I survived just fine.

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It's a common parental complaint: "My child is SO PICKY!" Picky eaters come in all forms -- those who will only eat a certain color food, or who choose fruits over vegetables, or who insist on having the same thing for lunch every day. No matter what picky profile a child fits, parents worry.

But here's an extreme case: two-year-old Bobby Glarvey eats ONLY yogurt. That's it; nothing else. In a day he will consume 14 pots of yogurt (five for breakfast, three for lunch, four at supper, two or three more before bed). Bobby has been diagnosed with a food phobia that makes it impossible for him to bear lumpy food in his mouth.

Bobby's parents have consulted with medical professionals who have advised them not to make Bobby eat anything else; they have been told that he will outgrow his phobia but that forcing him to try other foods will only make things worse. His mother confirms this: "We have tried all ways to get him to eat other food but he just spits it out. He's never had a hot meal in his life."

But what concerns me is this: according to Bobby's father, "Bobby is really lively and bright but he is under weight and very tiny and it's because he won't eat other food." Yogurt is a fairly healthy food, but it would seem that an all-yogurt diet can't be good for a growing toddler.

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It's not uncommon to be on a plane with a crying child. However, having the plane actually TURN AROUND and return to the terminal because of a kid's tantrum isn't typical, but that is what happened to a North Carolina mother and her two-and-a-half- year old son with autism.

According to his mother, little Jared Farrell started getting anxious as the plane was taxiing down the runway, and the flight attendant didn't help matters.

"She kept coming over and tugging his seat belt to make it tighter, 'This has to stay tight'. And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seat belt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him," Janice Farrell, the boy's mother said.

Eventually, one of the pilots left the cockpit to see what the ruckus was about, and tensions between the adults rose, which caused Jared's behavior to get even worse and he started rolling around on the floor. As soon as the pilot returned to his seat, the plane turned back to the terminal.

"The pilot made an announcement that there was a woman and her child on the plane and the child is uncontrollable. And at that point I just broke down," Farrell said.

While it is true that "rules are rules" and Jared was not following the seat belt rule if he was having a fit on the floor, a disorder affecting 1 out of 150 kids just might warrant some training on how best to handle those with autism and making flying the friendly skies...........well, just a little friendlier.

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Teaching your child to call 9-1-1 in an emergency is an important part of house safety rules. For Jessica Eaves, 24, however, it was crucial that her child know how to contact help on her own. Jessica has a medical condition called vasovogal syncope, which can cause her to faint.

Since her daughter Madelyn is only three, Jessica made up a song to teach her how to call for help on Jessica's Blackberry phone -- "9-1-1 green." That song made all the difference in the world last week when Jessica fainted and Madelyn was able to use the phone to call for an ambulance.

Madelyn called for help last year as well, when Jessica had taught her the song "green, green, green." By pushing the green button on the phone, Madelyn called the last number dialed and that adult called for help.

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We've got a road trip planned for this weekend, a 7+ hour drive from Seattle to the southern Oregon coast to visit family. I've done this drive so many times I have the landmarks memorized: there's the right-wing billboard in rural Washington which typically marks the point when we've run through our repertoire of festive family sing-alongs, there's the rest stop where we had the World's Most Stressful Two-Kid Diaper Change, there's the quaint little coffee shop in the Willamette Valley where we can no longer stop and relax and have an adult conversation because we've got two children dear GOD TWO CHILDREN HOW DID THIS HAPPEN.

My husband likes to act like he doesn't understand why I dread these drives so much, until I cheerily announce that this time, I'd like to spend the majority of the trip in the relative comfort of the driver's chair while he sits in the cramped backseat, wedged between bags of food and diapers and toys, entertaining the baby with dangly plastic things while pointing out cows to the toddler. For SEVEN HOURS.

It seems like traveling with the kids will get easier when they're a little older, but maybe not. I cringe to think back on all the road trips my mother took me on when I was a school-age kid, where we would drive across the entire country from our home in Virginia in order to visit all sorts of amazing, beautiful places -- and how I would whine and complain and repeatedly get carsick and generally was probably such a pain in her ass I have no idea how she managed not to resist leaving me on the side of a road somewhere.

For this trip, I plan to bring our usual accoutrements: snacks, bag of distracting new toys from the dollar store, DVD player, drawing pad. You know what I'd really like, though? If I'm being totally honest? A soundproof glass divider between the front and back seat, like you see in limousines. Wouldn't that be great? When the kids start whining, you just push a button and bzzzzzzzt -- blissful silence.

Alternately, I'd like the option of FedExing my children to our destination ahead of time, so my husband and I could spend the drive BSing and taking turns napping. Oh, don't look at me like that: I'd put holes in the shipping container, I'm not a monster.

What do you guys think, is it easier to travel with older kids -- or does it just get HARDER?

Chances are, your kids have feet and those feet are, more often than not, enclosed in shoes when they go to the playground or park. The question is, what exactly are they wearing? Soon, they may be wearing Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and Elmo on their feet, thanks to a new line of shoes coming from New Balance. The deal is a first for both New Balance and Sesame Street. The shoes will sell for more than forty dollars a pair.

I'm not a big fan of shoes on kids, but if they're going to wear them, I'd like them to be good shoes -- light and flexible and easy to put on. That's why I've been a fan of Tsukihoshi shoes for a long time. Now, however, companies like New Balance and Reebok are vying for a share of the toddler shoe market. But are these shoes worth it when the kids will outgrow them in a matter of months?

It's a tough call, of course. Do you spend the money for good shoes over and over again, or buy less expensive ones knowing that they'll only be worn a short while? And now, part of that decision is given to the kids who will undoubtedly be clamoring to see their furry friends on their feet.

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"She went straight from Disney princess to High School Musical," complains one mom in an article titled "Parents fret as as tots love 'High School Musical."

As Disney shows such as Hannah Montana and High School Musical (HSM) predictably make their way down the marketing food chain, there is growing concern among parents that adolescent themes like boyfriends and break-ups are now being digested by two and three-year olds. Today, it's not unusual for a four year-old to have a High School Musical birthday party or to proclaim Sharpay, HSM's superficial, Jimmy Choo wearing mean girl to be her "favorite character." So long Cinderella.

I have sounded off on this disturbing trend often in my blogs and I stand by my position that the sexualization of childhood via entertainment, toys, and clothes is one of the most insidious forces facing young kids -- especially young girls.

It's not easy to safeguard childhood given the corporate marketing onslaught and the fact that so many kids are steeped in what now passes for "kid culture."

So what's a mom to do? My strategy is to stick to my guns. If I can postpone a premature adolescence by even a couple of years, it will be worth it. I set age-appropriate boundaries and explain them in a way that my children can understand and explain to their peers if questioned about it.

Of course, they want to know why their friends can watch these shows when they can't. I simply tell them that all families have different rules. This won't be the first time where ours differs from those of other families. In our home, I explain, kids watch and play with kid stuff because being a kid is FUN and there is no need to rush it. I assure them that there will be plenty of time for tween and teen things in the future. So far, this explanation has been satisfactory. I used a similar tact with the Bratz Dolls: "I want you to play with a doll that looks like you. This doll looks kind of mean and wears so much make-up. She doesn't look very fun."

This year our 8 year-old daughter attended a party where High School Musical was shown. She informed the girls that she isn't allowed to watch "teenager movies" and an animated G-rated film was played instead. She also left the room when the conversation turned to things she recognized that we would not like her to be part of. I didn't expect that to happen, but it did and I was proud of her. It happened to be the day before Mother's Day and I told her it was the best present she could have ever given me.

This weekend, she attended Girl Scout camp by herself for the first time. Initially, I had flashbacks of all those "camp" movies where the bad girls talk the other girls into compromising dares and rites of initiation involving boys. Luckily, camp came on the heels of her very commendable (and courageous) conduct at the birthday party. I let her go.

As the bus drove off, I thought to myself, "First Girl Scouts, then college." It goes so fast. That's precisely why she should be a little girl as long as she can.

Depending on who you talk to, Summer officially started yesterday evening. In short order, the street fairs and other summer festivals are set to make their debuts, if they haven't already. Amidst all the fun, thrills and excitement, the lights and sounds--and smells--of the fairs, there's another main reason people of all ages travel to such things: The food. It's deep-fried, a lot of it, it's greasy, and it sure is tasty. It also presents some precariousness for a parent of a child with a serious food allergy. After all, who knows what exactly is in that stuff? Most of the time, we'd rather enjoy it and not know.

Dr. Amal H. Assa'ad, a member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology warns parents to inspect every molecule of food their children may come in contact with, and recommends children with severe allergies such as peanuts and tree nuts carry an Epi-pen with then at all times. I would add to that, from personal experience (I have one of these life-threatening allergies) that you SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR YOUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY ID BRACELET. As my CPR instructor noted, if my throat is closed up and I can't speak, and I'm not wearing my bracelet, no one is going to know I have a nut allergy and to give me the Epi-pen shot.

I hate to say this too, but parents should consider packing and bringing snacks they know are safe to any event, whether it be a potluck or a street fair. Sure, the food is tempting, but most of the people selling it didn't make it, don't know what's in it--oils, for example, are known to be terrible allergens but most servers don't know if what they're serving was made with peanut oil or soy oil--and don't understand how severe the consequences can be when the provide misinformation. Bringing your own food is sure to be healthier, too. Dr. Assa'ad also recommends that parents who suspect a child may have any sort of allergy get it checked out immediately. Honestly, as a kid, I never did. I just had the reaction and we thought, ok, we'll avoid that FOREVER. It's not a great way to navigate through the endless purveyors of things that smell delicious, but could be deadly.

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Parenthood is definitely an ongoing lesson in generosity. As the parent of two small children -- one who is only 4 months old, one who will be three in August -- my days at home with them revolve entirely around their needs and their schedules. I sometimes think it's the most challenging aspect of motherhood: the fact that I often can no longer do what I want, when I want. Like when I want to lie on the couch and flip through a magazine and instead I have to "feed" and "care for" the kids, GOD.

I feel like I'm getting fairly adept at striking a good balance between my own pursuits and child-wrangling -- catching up on freelance work during naptimes, hitting the gym when Daddy can take over for a while, reading books during that one solitary minute between when my head hits the pillow at night and I fall into a slack-jawed, drooling coma -- and while I may sometimes begrudge the unexpected intrusions on such beloved activities as watching Battlestar Galactica without interruption (I tried to introduce a diaper-pooping and bottle-demanding moratorium between 9 and 10 PM on Fridays but the baby totally blew me off) I have to confess there's one particular aspect of parenthood where I have not been able to find my reserves of motherly selflessness, and that is this:

I hate sharing my meals.

There! I said it. I hate sharing my meals with my toddler. I know, could I BE more greedy and selfish and downright miserly? Next I'll be saying how I hate sharing my precious, precious oxygen, and could he breathe somewhere else, that'd be super.

Really, though, I prepare specific diet-friendly amounts of food for my meals, and when my kid gleefully ignores his delicious fattening macaroni and cheese that I would dearly LOVE to eat with my bare hands in favor of picking pieces of tofu out of my low-cal stir fry -- the very same tofu he flat-out refuses to touch if it's offered to him on his own plate -- well, what can I say, I HATE THAT. Ditto: the banana slices in my cereal, pieces of my rice cake, spoonfuls of my yogurt. I love my kid and honestly I would and do give him anything within reason but still: DUDE STOP BOGARTING MY FOOD.

Does your kid do this too? Or do you not notice, because why would you care if your sweet child wanted some of your food, it's not like you're some kind of SELFISH HAG.

A little boy found alone in a Frankfort, Indianapolis Wal Mart is believed to have been abandoned by his mother. The boy, who appears to be about 2-years-old, was found alone in the store on Tuesday clutching a note and a backpack containing toys, diapers and a bottle. The note was written in Spanish and translated by Rosa Martinez, who found what she read to be very upsetting. According to the note, the child's name is Martin and his family emigrated from Guatemala about a year ago. "She has no food, no place to live and no job and her son was starving," said Rosa Martinez.

Martinez also spoke with the boy who was unresponsive when asked where his mother was. "I said, 'Where's mommy?' in Spanish and he looked at me. He didn't move or nothing," Martinez said. "I've seen 2-year-olds. They communicate and they're very active. He was not even moving, not making facial (expressions) -- nothing."

While this appears to be a case of child abandonment, Frankfurt police aren't ruling out other possible explanations, such as kidnapping. They are checking the missing persons database, reviewing surveillance video of the store and working closely with the area's Hispanic community.

If what the note revealed is in fact true, it is likely that this child's mother has already left the area and the child is essentially alone. Looking at his sad face makes me just want to grab him up and bring him home with me. How desperate must a mother be to do such a thing?

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This weekend we discovered that the baby is officially upright enough to ride in the backpack carrier -- huzzah! LOVE the backpack carrier! -- and we embarked on a leisurely walk around our neighborhood, glorying in the Seattle sunshine that we haven't seen for several rain-soaked weeks. Riley, our 3-year-old, galloped ahead of us shouting "FOLLOW RIWWY" and stopping to inspect and blow on any seed-headed dandelions (which he calls "candle flowers", could you just die).

When we got to a nearby small park, there was a gigantic tortoise in the grass. Really! A tortoise. Its owner, a man we've encountered before, was standing nearby as the tortoise slowly traversed a hill, smiling with what I can only describe as paternal turtle pride. He informed us the tortoise's name was Timmy, and that she was a female.

Timmy is maybe the biggest damn specimen of her kind I have ever seen. Her armored shell is wide enough for an adult to have a seat, her prehistoric legs are massive and sturdy and covered in giant scales. She cruised along the lawn, snacking on leaves, and I held Riley's hand as we approached to get a closer look.

I expected him to FREAK. OUT. I expected squeals of excitement, loud exclamations over the exotic beast, possibly even fear and cries of NO LIKE IT MOMMY. Instead, he informed Timmy's owner with a matter-of-fact-air that hey, there was a TUTTLE right there, and then he pointed out our Labrador and announced that right THERE was our DOGGIE!

And that was about it. No particular surprise whatsoever that there was an insanely huge turtle trudging along like some sort of living fossil, just . . . hey, there's a tuttle.

I sort of love this about little kids, that their worldview is so unpredictable -- where on one hand, things like tricycle-sized turtles make perfect sense, and on the other, woe to all of mankind if you serve up their milk in the GWEEN cup instead of the BYOO one.

Has your kid ever reacted to something in a way you never would have guessed, either by being under- or overwhelmed?

Hey moms and dads -- give yourself a pat on the back. The NPD group recently found that fruit is now the number one snack food for kids under the age of 6, bumping cookies -- a longtime favorite -- out of their number one slot.

They also found that, in general, parents are making subtle changes to feed their children healthier foods at snack times. Compared to moms who participated in the survey in 1987, today's moms are less likely to serve their kids soft drinks, cookies, cake and fruit juice. Because kids are often grazers, snacks make up a large portion of their daily calories, so what they're eating at snack time is important.

Popular snacks today include yogurt, fruit, granola bars, bottled water, and fruit snacks. Health experts say that while snack food choices are improving, we still clearly have a lot of work to do, because nearly everything on that list is highly processed. Some nutritionists would like to see parents re-think snack foods altogether, and feed more meal-like foods at snack time instead.

For a few healthy snack ideas, check out the gallery below. What's your child's favorite snack time food?

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