WebProNews

Tag: Parenting

  • Michelle Duggar Has A Hard Time Coping With Cancellation Of ’19 Kids And Counting’

    Michelle Duggar is hitting hard times after their show, 19 Kids and Counting got canceled by TLC.

    According to a report by InTouch, Michelle has been experiencing exhaustion from all the negative reports plus the cancellation of their show that resulted from the sexual molestation scandal that made the rounds on the internet just a few months ago.

    Michelle expressed her thoughts on the family’s website. She wrote, “Feelings of being overwhelmed flooded my mind. I cried aloud, ‘LORD I NEED YOUR HELP, I can’t do it all! I feel so inadequate!’ Diapers, dishes, laundry, meals, clean up, school lessons, baths, hugs, kisses, correction…My list seemed to go on and on.”

    Facing hardship, Michelle believes that God is not abandoning her. She leans on her faith even more. In her post, she recalled a scripture that encouraged her to praise God and rejoice even in difficult times. After that, she said she went to bed feeling like the weight was lifted off her chest.

    In May, police records showed that Michelle Duggar’s eldest son, Josh Duggar, fondled five minors, including his two young sisters, when he was a teenager. Soon after the molestation scandal made headlines, the Duggar family lost their TV show sponsors and eventually their income. However, the 48-year-old matriarch believes all hope is not lost. Duggar’s children are also helping to make ends meet. Some of the members of the Duggar family made appeals for donations while Ben Seewald and Jessa Duggar are overseas working on documentaries that show their life as missionaries.

    Michelle is thankful for the people who are helping them right now, believing God has sent them angels to help them get back up. She said even her children’s piano teacher offered to help her do the laundry.

  • Natalie Portman Talks About Juggling Career And Parenting In Harper’s Bazaar

    Natalie Portman, mother of 4-year-old Aleph Portman-Millepied, discusses balancing motherhood and a career Harper’s Bazaar’s August issue. The actress also talks about embracing French culture, saying, “It’s magical!”

    “But the cultures are different in ways you don’t even realize. And there’s stuff you don’t know you’ll miss until you’re away,” the Black Swan star continues. “Like indoor gyms where kids can just run around and jump. They don’t have those there.”

    “[In Paris], if you’re running around on the playground chasing your kid and playing a game, people think you’re nuts.”

    Portman, 34, made her debut as a director for the drama film A Tale of Love and Darkness which was released earlier this year.

    She will also be starring in the upcoming action-western movie Jane Got a Gun to be released this September.

    Juggling a busy career and a growing toddler can be very hard for a mother. In fact, she admitted to have taken Parenting 101 from a fellow Academy Award winner, Cate Blanchett.

    Portman tells Harper’s Bazaar, “Very early on, I asked [Cate Blanchett] about being a parent. I said, ‘How do you do it? You’re a mom. You’re the best at what you do.’”

    “She said, ‘You just do. Stressing about it doesn’t help.’”

    Apparently, Portman’s husband, Benjamin Millepied, whom she co-starred with in Black Swan, admitted to feeling the same as his wife, saying, “Most men I know are dealing with the same issues. They say they feel like if they work too hard they won’t have enough time with their families.

    “Maybe those questions need to be asked of men, too. Maybe the men need better questions,” the 38-year-old French choreographer added.

  • Sherrie Shepherd Disavowed Her Child Since Birth, Judge Rules That She Needs To Pay Child Support

    The View host and The Less Than Perfect star Sherrie Shepherd’s lengthy legal battle against estranged husband Lamar Sally ended last April.

    Shepherd, 48, insists that she was “tricked into having a baby” in order for Sally to collect child support from her.

    “That is one of the reasons we married after only a year – because she was ready to have a child” Sally said in defense to Shepherd’s fraud claim.

    Sally also claims that Shepherd merely changed her mind about wanting a child after they got separated. They had already impregnated a surrogate via IVF.

    Shepherd has not spent time with the 9-month-old Lamar Sally Jr. who she’s “disavowed since birth”.

    However, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that she is, in indeed, responsible for Sally Jr. as she is listed as the mother on the child’s birth certificate.

    In addition, the court ordered that she pay $4,100 per month for child support. That amount will increase to $4600 when the child reaches 13.

    Shepherd claims that she has “no connection” with the child but is said to agree to pay child support – with a catch.

    According to the agreement they signed, Shepherd will be allowed to pursue her fraud claim against Sally. If the court rules in her favor, then the child support stops.

    Another part of the catch is that Shepherd wants all the frozen embryos that remain in storage to be destroyed, to which Sally contested. Sally suggests that he might want to bring another baby into the world.

    However, TMZ reports that the recent settlement between the two states that for future children that will come via surrogacy, Shepherd will not be held financially responsible.

  • Kate Gosselin Tries To Be A Cooler Mom, Gets Tested At Sextuplet’s Birthday Party

    TLC’s Kate Plus 8 star Kate Gosselin’s who is known for completely losing it on her eight children reportedly kept her cool during her sextuplet’s 11th birthday celebration.

    Gosselin, 40, has been known to spank her brood in anger over minor mishaps.

    Surprisingly though, Gosselin stayed true to her promise to her fans that she will change.

    Truly a “Monster Mom No More”, Gosellin never showed any breakdown as they celebrated Aaden, Collin, Joel, Leah, Alexis and Hannah’s 11th birthday together with their 14-year-old twin sisters, and EIGHT friends in a nearly 24-hour celebration.

    “I’m not running around trying to find this and that, I got to watch and enjoy them having fun,” she said when asked about how she changed her behavior.

    After managing to maintain her composure at the Pennsylvania roller skating rink where they first went, Gosellin took the kids to a pizza dinner at Caruso’s in Lancaster where she, admittedly felt strangely normal. “Just more noise and more kids,” she said.

    The huge group’s last stop was the hotel where the kids’ self-decorated cakes were served. Despite the fact that they behaved the whole time during dessert, the biggest test for Gosselin was putting the kids to bed.

    Chaos erupted after dessert when the girls realized that the suite they were given for their slumber party was not exactly as promised. It had only one bed whereas the boys’ had four. The  girls started crying about their sleeping arragements, while the boys were being unruly in their room.

    “I think you’re all over-tired, over-sugared, and overdone,” Gosselin told her whining daughters.

    Finally, she had to put her foot down. “Ask me again next time you’re gonna have a sleepover! Never. Trust me, it’s never happening again.”

    You be the judge, has Kate Gosselin really changed her behavior already? Or was it all for the camera?

  • Chrissy Teigen And Hubby John Legend Looking Forward To Having Kids Soon

    Chrissy Tiegen and husband John Legend might have full schedules, but that’s not stopping them from wanting to have kids. And the sooner the better, it seems.

    The 29-year-old model answered “soon!” when People magazine asked about their plans on starting a family.

    “Not super soon, but definitely,” she added. “We love kids. I picture us with three or four.”

    Interestingly, Teigen’s husband more or less said the same thing in an interview earlier this year.

    The 36-year-old crooner has said that it was “only a matter of time” before he and Teigen have their own little bundle of joy.

    “We want to have kids,” the “Ordinary People” hit maker said. “Whenever it happens, we’ll be excited.”

    While the couple does try to be together as often as they can, they’re also very busy with their careers.

    Legend is flying high with the Golden Globe victory he shares with rapper Common for the movie Selma. He’s also busy with the HBO documentary Southern Rites which looks into racism in Georgia.

    Teigen herself is in the same boat. The Sports Illustrated swimsuit model is juggling being a wife, a food blogger, model and Lip Sync Battle host.

    She’s also working on her cookbook and will be co-hosting the Billboard Music Awards with Ludacris on Sunday.

    So how will the two manage having children in their already full lives?

    “John and I go hard in everything we do,” Teigen explains. “And we like a bit of chaos.”

    And since she and Legend don’t have to worry about changing diapers yet, she’s free to focus on her marriage which she describes as “beautiful and fun.”

    “It’s sort of effortless – for now at least,” she gushes. “People must think I’m lying when I talk about how good my husband is, but by all definitions he really is perfect.”

  • Jimmy Fallon Talks Puke, Poop, and Pics

    Jimmy Fallon has taken to the job of being a dad even faster than the job of being a late night talk show host. The former SNL cast member and current king of late night has a new book coming out called Baby’s First Word Will Be Dada. He tells Parents Magazine that reading to his daughter is a big thing for him.

    “I loved reading to Winnie, and at the time I came up with the book it was important to me that her first word be ‘Dada.’ I went as far as to try to trick her into saying ‘Dada’ by calling everything ‘Dada’ from her bottle to diapers to strawberries.”

    But despite his best efforts, Jimmy Fallon’s daughter’s first word was not “Dada.” It was “Mama.”

    “I just thought it would be a cute story when people asked, ‘What was the baby’s first word?’ I wanted to say, ‘It was “Dada”. She loves her Dada.’ And everyone would go ‘aww.’ But sadly, ‘Mama’ was her first word. That’s why I invented this book, so hopefully other dads can trick their kids.”

    Being a parent means talking a lot about things that people usually don’t talk about before they have kids. Like puke. And crap.

    “They vomit a lot. For a second I thought I needed to rename my first Linda Blair and hire a priest, because she was spitting up so much. And people think they can talk to you about poop. ‘Oh, you have a new baby? Is she sleeping? Is she pooping?’ Normally I’d be blushing, but as a parent you just get used to it, and pooping is just another verb in your vocabulary.”

    The other thing that parents are notorious for, besides talking about puke and poop, is showing off baby pictures. Jimmy Fallon is no exception.

    “I thought I’d never be that annoying person, but as soon as Winnie was born I was showing iPhone snaps to a cab driver.”

  • Sherri Shepherd Doesn’t Want Her Baby, Court Forces Her To Take Responsibility

    Sherri Shepherd is a mother once more.

    A Pennsylvania judge ruled that Sherri Shepherd is the legal mother of a baby boy who was born via surrogate after she filed for divorce from husband Lamar Sally.

    The 8-month-old baby, who’s named after his father, was conceived with Sally’s sperm and a donor egg, with Shepherd’s consent. However, Shepherd had a change of heart midway into the surrogate’s pregnancy and refused to claim the baby.

    The former The View co-host had also filed papers asking to be relieved of her parental rights and responsibilities for the baby.

    Records show that 47-year-old Shepherd had paid the surrogate $30,000 for carrying and delivering the baby. At one point, she even offered $150,000 to her estranged husband which he refused.

    “I want her to co-parent with me like we agreed,” he said. “Sherri is the one who initiated the surrogacy and we agreed to do this together, she wanted this child more than anything.”

    Legal representatives for the child also presented video evidence of Shepherd obviously happy and “expressing excitement over her and Lamar going to have a baby through the help of a surrogate carrier with no genetic connection.”

    With the court ruling, Shepherd can be ordered to pay for child support.

    His victory is a “bittersweet” one, according to Sally but says that Shepherd still owes him an apology, adding that the apology should go to “me, Jessica and [baby] LJ. At some point she is going to have to look into his face and say, ‘I’m sorry. You were conceived out of love.’”

    Jessica is Jessica Bartholomew, the surrogate that Shepherd and Sally chose. She has since spoken out against Shepherd for refusing to claim the child.

    The case is groundbreaking one for surrogates and gives them protection in the event that one or both of the intended parents decides to renege on the contract.

  • Scarlett Johansson Hates Loudmouth Celeb Parents

    Scarlett Johansson seems to think know-it-all celebrity parents need to shut up and sit down.

    “I’m such a newbie at this. I always really hate it when actors or people in the spotlight make giant grandiose statements about parenthood because it’s so, so personal. And I don’t profess to know anything more about parenting than anybody else.” she says.

    Scarlett Johansson is raising new baby girl Rose Dorothy with her second husband Romain Dauriac. The couple divide their time between Paris and New York City.

    While Scarlett Johansson may not recognize other celebrity authorities on parenting, she does recognize her own personal responsibility for the new life she is raising.

    “I have a greater responsibility now so that will definitely affect my schedule. Before (Rose), I just made the choices that were affecting me but now I’m responsible for somebody else. Eventually I will have to work less and it might even make me more discerning,” she says.

    Even her thoughts about the future with a new baby in it are only expressed as possibilities, not even fully-formed opinions.

    “We’ll see, but I think having any kind of huge life-changing event happen to you, such as having children, and it’s such a different life now in the best possible way, is very, very inspiring,” she says. “I think it will hopefully enrich my work as well as my understanding of myself. That’s the hope anyway, you never know.”

    Scarlett Johansson has a twin brother, Hunter. She credits her mother for raising her in such as way as to be individual.

    “I think my mom, really more than anything, shaped me in many ways. She was very, very encouraging of our separate interests growing up. She just made us feel that you could do whatever you wanted to do, as long as you really wanted to do it, and that’s why I got into acting.”

  • Annegret Raunigk, 65, Is Pregnant With Quadruplets; Already Has 13 Kids

    How old is too old when it comes to having children? For Annegret Raunigk, it would seem that you’re never too old to become a mother.

    The 65-year-old Berlin native is reported to be pregnant with quadruplets. She is also mother to 13 children already, with ages ranging from 44 to 9.

    Raunigk claims that it was her youngest daughter’s wish to have a brother or a sister that prodded her to try and have more children.

    According to the mother of 13, this pregnancy is the result of several rounds of artificial insemination, using donated sperm and egg cells.

    The German pensioner has downplayed the issue of her age, but she has consistently been fielding comments and criticisms about her decision to still have and raise children.

    Most concerns were centered on her health at this stage of her life. Her doctor, Kai Hertwig, gave assurances that Raunigk is a “very strong, very fit woman” but does admit that “quadruplet pregnancies are always a high burden.”

    Doctors have suggested selective reduction to the new mother but Raunigk said it’s something that she has never considered.

    RTL TV network has been documenting her journey and will continue to follow her though the pregnancy up until delivery.

    Raugnigk is no stranger to controversy, or to the media reporting her pregnancy. Several years ago, she broke records as the oldest woman to become a mother at 55. Now, if all goes well, she’ll again be breaking records as the oldest mother of quadruplets at 65.

    Despite the attention, the fearless woman is going about this new pregnancy the same way she has gone through the others.

    “I simply assume I’ll remain healthy and fit. In matters of organization I have enough experience, that’s not new for me,” she explained.

    Raunigk is expected to deliver the quadruplets in the summer.

  • Hot Car Death: Mom of Toddler Passes Polygraph Test

    Every summer, it’s the same thing–no matter how many awareness videos are shared, we hear of hot car deaths involving young children. When the tragic news broke that 22-month-old Cooper Harris from Georgia died on June 18 after being left in a car all day long, many people assumed it was a horrible accident, as no parent would do such a cruel thing on purpose, right?

    Unfortunately, an investigation revealed that may not be the case, as dad Justin Ross Harris researched hot car deaths and how to survive in prison in the days before his son’s death, plus he and wife Leanna Harris had two life insurance policies on Cooper. Leanna also reportedly asked her husband whether he had said “too much” during the initial investigation, which led many people to question whether she had taken part in the plot that allowed her son to die such an agonizing death.

    See a picture of young Cooper below.

    Harris has eight charges against him, including two murder charges. Leanna hasn’t been charged with anything related to the hot car death yet, but she did hire criminal defense attorney Lawrence Zimmerman, who is attempting to clear his client’s name. A polygraph test was administered to Leanna, and according to her lawyer, she passed.

    Leanna reportedly answered “no” to the following questions, and she passed the test with “no indication of deception.”

    — Prior to June 18th, did you know that your husband would leave your son in that vehicle?

    — Did you plan or arrange with your husband to leave your son in that vehicle?

    — Did your husband tell you that he was going to leave your son in that vehicle?

    As you can see from the tweets below, the news that Leanna Harris passed the polygraph test was met with shock and suspicion.

    Even though Leanna Harris hasn’t been charged in the hot car death, Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds indicated that the investigation is ongoing. “Whether or not it leads us to anyone else remains to be answered,” Reynolds said earlier this month.

  • Shoppers Break Out Window to Free Kids From Hot Car

    We have seen far too many headlines this summer about kids who were hospitalized or died after being left behind in a hot car. Despite all of these headlines, some parents and caregivers still haven’t gotten the wake-up call, as a Texas mom left her two small children behind in a car while she got a haircut on Monday. While such a situation could have had a sad ending, the kids are all right thanks to a group of shoppers that took matters into their own hands.

    Shoppers at a strip mall in Katy, Texas noticed a small boy and girl crying in a Jeep in the parking lot on Monday, with the parents nowhere in sight. Temperatures can reach well into the nineties in Texas during the summer, and being locked in a vehicle for a period of time can become fatal for anyone, particularly children. As such, the shoppers wasted no time in breaking out one of the windows of the car to retrieve the kids.

    One of the shoppers took a video of the incident with his cell phone, which you can view below.

    As you saw in the video, one person used a hammer to break out a window. After the shopper broke the window, it took a bit of effort to get the door opened to get the kids out.

    “It was a crazy situation,” said Gabriel Del Valle, the man who took the video. “The kids were in there crying. I mean, you would understand; it’s real hot.”

    Del Valle says that the mother came out a few minutes later and that she begged them not to call the police on her. No one did, but considering that such cases are become more prevalent, there is little doubt that she would have faced child neglect charges.

    As stories of children being left in cars continues to make headlines, some people are doing everything they can to try to make others more aware of the dangers, including locking themselves in hot cars to make a point. The “Hot Car Challenge” started earlier this month where people post videos of themselves sweating it out in their cars during the hottest part of the day to show how dangerous it can be to leave kids in the car. Check out more about the Hot Car Challenge below.

    Image via YouTube

  • Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas “Very Close”

    Catherine Zeta-Jones and husband Michael Douglas are still going strong after their reunion. They are “very close and everything is going great,” according to Douglas, who has spoken out more about the couples’ struggles in the last couple of months.

    In August of last year, the couple announced that they were going to split in order to take some time to think and reset. They had a lot to deal with at the time. The pressures of dealing with Douglas’ throat cancer and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ battle with bipolar disorder was very taxing on their marriage.

    But now, the two are stronger than ever, and they have a new outlook on their lives together.

    Douglas said of their reunion, “When you are younger you care what other people think. And you take the person closest to you for granted. You waste a lot of energy on strangers to make a good impression. When you’re older you focus that energy on the people closest to you, on your family. And you’re courteous.”

    It’s very good to be courteous to your spouse, and that’s not all that Douglas has figured out about the trials of marriage. He knows not to take his wife for granted.

    “Like a lovely orchid, or anything else that’s nurtured, marriage prospers and grows, but if it’s ignored, it withers.” he said.

    It’s a good thing this couple knows what they’re doing! They are stronger now than ever thanks to their little breather. Will other Hollywood couples follow their lead so that they, too can enjoy the rare long-term Hollywood marriage? Who knows, but it’s good advice.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjQ_C9qrPT8

    As far as his children with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dylan, 13, and Carys, 11, go, they knew absolutely everything that was happening from the beginning.

    Douglas stated about parenting,”I’m more and more prone to tell kids just about everything.”

    “There’s been a whole school of thought about things you should not tell children –- if there’s a problem in a relationship, [people say], ‘Let’s not let the kids know.’ Kids know,” he said. “They know everything. I would err on the side of pretty much sharing everything. They can digest it, you know? It’s life.”

    Luckily for the family, things turned out the way they did and each member can learn from this situation.

    Image via YouTube

  • Chaining 6-Year-Old Son: Man Accused of of Child Abuse

    A Utah man has been accused of child abuse after it was discovered that he had chained his 6-year-old son to a bed. Police in Logan City arrested 28-year-old Sammie Lee Hodges on four charges of child abuse after the child was found chained.

    Someone called the police and made an anonymous complaint that the 6-year-old son was regularly chained to his bed when his father was at work. When police went out to investigate, they unfortunately found that the accusations were true. The young boy was shackled using what Logan City Police Chief Gary Jensen described as a chain you would use to tow a vehicle or for logging.

    “They found the six-year-old boy in his bedroom,” said Jensen. “He was chained to a kind of metal pedestal, where a box springs and mattress would be put on top of this pedestal, with wheels on it. The chain was around that with a padlock and then chained to his ankle and padlocked.”

    Hodges (mugshot above) reportedly gave his son a chain long enough to allow him to move around. Police haven’t stated exactly how long the chain that was attached to the bed was, but it was long enough for the child to go to a nearby bathroom. The 6-year-old son was also given food and water before his father left for work. The police chief suspects that the boy had been chained to his bed for up to 10 days–since school let out for the summer–but isn’t positive.

    There were other children living in the home, but it isn’t clear whether they were also being abused or if it was just the 6-year-old. According to KUTV, a 10-year-old boy and 8-year-old twin girls were also living in the house. A neighbor told KUTV that the kids would frequently stop by his house and ask for treats and that they didn’t appear to be abused.

    Hodges is in Cache County Jail for the time being. If he is found guilty on at least one of the misdemeanor Class A child abuse charges, he could face up to one year in jail as well as a $2,500 fine.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Teen Sues Parents for Tuition and Living Expenses

    A teen in New Jersey decided that she no longer wanted to follow her parents’ household rules, so she did what other teens of age do in similar situations–she ran away. While most teens who decide they want to live by their own rules eventually get a job to support themselves (before ultimately deciding to go back home), 18-year-old Rachel Canning decided to sue her parents.

    It didn’t work.

    Judge Peter Bogaard denied Rachel’s request today, which included $650 per week for support, back pay, future college tuition and other expenses. The judge says he will reconsider Rachel’s request for college tuition after she submits her FAFSA paperwork, but for now, the teen doesn’t get a dime.

    Rachel, who is an honor student and already has a $20,000 scholarship, claims that her parents kicked her out late last year, which is why she says she is entitled to the funds. Rachel is living with relatives of her best friend, the Inglesinos, and this family is paying for the lawsuit.

    Tanya Helfand, Rachel’s attorney, accuses the Cannings of not doing enough to rectify the situation.

    “Any reasonable, caring parent would be so devastated and embarrassed by this situation, and they would reach out to the Inglesinos and they would reach out to their daughter, either through therapy, working with the Inglesinos to try and wrangle in this situation and make it right,” Helfand said.

    Rachel’s parents, however, paint a very different picture of the events. Sean Canning, Rachel’s father and a retired police chief, says that Rachel left on her own after refusing to follow several household rules, including keeping curfew, doing chores and being respectful.

    “Living in our house, there’s rules,” Canning said. “There’s minor chores. There’s curfews–when I say curfew, it’s usually after 11 o’clock at night.”

    Further, Canning says that Rachel is welcome to move home whenever she decides she is ready to comply with their rules. “This whole thing is just destroying our family,” Canning said. “We love our daughter. She’s our pride and joy. The door is wide open. We want her to come home.”

    Even though Canning hasn’t paid for any of Rachel’s private school tuition since she left, he does say that he never refused to pay for college tuition. Regardless, the judge did say that Rachel’s parents have to keep the status quo on her college savings fund.

    Do you think that the judge made the right decision with the teen’s lawsuit against her parents or should the parents provide financial support even though their daughter moved out? Add your comments below.

    Image via YouTube

  • ADHD Risk Factors Include Acetaminophen and Aging Dads

    Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that affects around five percent of children. ADHD can cause difficulty learning and inattentiveness, among other issues. There is no known single cause of ADHD, but researchers are continually trying to pinpoint factors that increase the likelihood of a child having ADHD. This week two studies were released that say acetaminophen taken during pregnancy and the age of the father can increase the chances of a child having ADHD.

    ACETAMINOPHEN

    Acetaminophen, the active ingredient found in the pain reliever Tylenol, has long been considered one of the safer drugs for women to take during pregnancy, but pregnant women may want to think twice before taking a dose of Tylenol for a mild headache. A study published earlier this week by JAMA Pediatrics found that taking acetaminophen during pregnancy is linked to ADHD.

    Dr. Jorn Olsen, one of the study’s authors, is quick to say that acetaminophen doesn’t directly cause ADHD, but he also notes that the use of acetaminophen increased the risk of ADHD from around five percent to seven percent in the study. “It’s still a modest increase,” Olsen said. “For the women that are taking these drugs there are no special reasons for concern….for women who are pregnant and who have not taken these drugs, I think that the take-home message would be a lot of the use of these particular drugs during pregnancy is not really necessary.”

    Olsen also notes that should further studies yield similar results, he would recommend removing acetaminophen from the safe list.

    PATERNAL AGE

    Most people know that the older a woman is, the more likely she is to give birth to a child that has a chromosomal abnormality or other birth defects, but what about the dad? A study from Indiana University that was released this week shows that a father’s age is linked to “higher rates of psychiatric and academic problems in offspring.” ADHD is included in the conditions linked to aging fathers, and the study found that a child who was conceived when the father was 45 is 13 times more likely to have ADHD.

    “We were shocked by the findings,” said Brian D’Onofrio, lead author and associate professor at IU Bloomington. “The specific associations with paternal age were much, much larger than in previous studies. In fact, we found that advancing paternal age was associated with greater risk for several problems, such as ADHD, suicide attempts and substance use problems, whereas traditional research designs suggested advancing paternal age may have diminished the rate at which these problems occur.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Waterboarding Daughter: Doctor Accused of Torturing Stepdaughter

    The trial for a former doctor from Delaware who is accused of torturing his stepdaughter began Tuesday. Melvin Morse, 60, is accused of using several methods to torture his stepdaughter, including waterboarding. Morse, who denies the allegations, is a well-known pediatrician and author who has appeared on Larry King Live and The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss his research on near-death experiences involving kids.

    According to the prosecutor in the waterboarding case, Morse has terrorized his daughter for years. “The defendant controlled every single aspect of that child’s life, including whether she had the right to draw breath,” deputy attorney general Melanie Withers told jurors.

    Morse was first arrested in July of 2012 on misdemeanor charges of assault and endangering the welfare of a child after a neighbor reported Morse. He allegedly made the girl stay in a hot car for five hours and later dragged her across gravel. The girl went to a neighbor’s house the next day and the neighbor called the police and took her to the hospital. Morse told police that he didn’t really drag her across the gravel, but that he was attempting to carry her while she had a temper tantrum and dropped her.

    The former doctor was released on bail on the misdemeanor charge, only to be arrested the next month on felony charges of child endangerment. Morse’s then 11-year-old stepdaughter told authorities that Morse had waterboarded her multiple times since 2009.

    Joseph Hurley, Morse’s attorney, said that the waterboarding accusation is a misunderstanding. Hurley says that Morse was simply washing the girl’s hair, something she didn’t like, and insists “there was no water on her face cutting off her breath.” The defense attorney also maintains that there are too many inaccuracies in the girl’s story to believe her. As an example, Hurley provided a time in 2010 when the girl told Delaware Family Services that her “dad and mom are good people.”

    The girl also says that Morse would sometimes force-feed her until she vomited and would refuse to allow her to use the bathroom, which would result in her wetting herself. Pauline Morse, the girl’s mother, has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment charges and plans to testify against Morse during the trial.

    Image via YouTube

  • Apple Pays $32.5 Mil. To Parents Who Didn’t Consent

    Unintentional (or intentional) digital purchases have been a rising epidemic for parents who’ve allowed their offspring free reign over their iTunes login and credit card.

    Last Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced that Apple Inc. will refund at least $32.5 million to U.S. consumers after ongoing complaints were made about charges concerning children purchasing mobile apps without their parents’ consent.

    “In all, we received 37,000 claims and we will be reimbursing each one as promised,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a letter to his employees.

    The terms of the settlement also state that Apple will be required to alter its billing practices in order to obtain a form of parental consent before transactions of in-app content are made.

    “Whether you’re doing business in the mobile arena or the mall down the street, fundamental consumer protections apply,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “You cannot charge consumers for purchases they did not authorize.”

    Ramirez estimated that children wind up spending millions of dollars in in-app purchases without their parents’ knowledge. One mother told the agency that her daughter, while playing the game “Tap Pet Hotel”, ended up spending $2,600.

    According to Ramirez, the FTC received “tens of thousands of complaints” from consumers who incurred charges racked up by their children who, unbeknownst to them, made in-app/game purchases.

    According to the FTC complaint, Apple does not inform account holders that entering their password in the App Store opens a 15-minute time slot for children to be able to incur unlimited charges.

    “To be clear, the issue is not that Apple opens a 15-minute window for in-app purchases,” Ramirez said. “What we challenge is the fact that Apple does not inform users of the existence of the window. When parents enter a password, they do not know the full scope of charges they could incur.”

    Wording for new Apple app disclosures haven’t been finalized, but refunds will be available for purchases through kid marketed apps; if you’ve made an accidental purchase, you’ll have the ability to get an immediate refund.

    This isn’t the first time parents didn’t know their kids were buying apps without their agreement. In June, Apple wound up paying $100 million to parents who had no idea their kids were spending their money.

    Picture via YouTube


  • Children May Not Affect Life Satisfaction, Shows Study

    Though parents around the world are likely to believe their lives have been enhanced by their children, studies have found that the stress of parenting can put a strain on marriages. Now, a new study has found that having children may not affect life satisfaction one way of the other.

    The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that children are not a large factor in the self-reported life satisfaction of Americans aged 34 yo 46. Though parents are more likely to rate their life satisfaction higher, the studies authors found that factors such as education, income, health, and religiosity are more likely to affect life satisfaction than having children.

    “It is simply a mistake to presume that because people deliberately want children and deliberately bring them into being that those people with children should have better lives,” said Angus Deaton, lead author of the study and an economist at Princeton University. “Non-parents are not ‘failed’ parents, and parents are not ‘failed’ non-parents. Some people like oranges, and some like apples, and we do not think that orange eaters should have better or worse lives than apple eaters.”

    Though children may not increase life satisfaction for parents, it does seem that they do have a significant effect on their parents’ emotional lives. Deaton and his colleagues found that parents are more likely to experience emotional highs, but are also susceptible to extreme emotional lows as well. The study revealed that emotions of happiness, worry, enjoyment, stress, anger, and “smiling” were all experienced more by parents, though their overall life satisfaction was similar to that of non-parents.

    “Life evaluation is not the same as experienced emotions, such as happiness, enjoyment, sadness, worry or stress,” said Deaton. “The results show that, no matter what else is taken into account, parents experience more of all of these than nonparents. There are good days and bad, ups and downs.”

  • Pope Francis Encourages Breastfeeding at Mass

    It has been less than one year since Pope Francis was inaugurated, but in that time he has been hailed as one of the more liberal popes in recent history. After causing much uproar for refusing to judge homosexuals back in July, the Pope has now raised a few eyebrows by encouraging breastfeeding at the Sistine Chapel. While that probably shouldn’t be considered a controversial stance, breastfeeding is often discouraged in public spaces.

    Pope Francis had 32 babies to baptize during Mass yesterday at the Sistine Chapel. With so many babies to baptize, it’s easy to see how things could have gotten hectic very quickly, especially if some of the babies needed to be fed. This could have posed a problem for breastfeeding moms since they are often told not to breastfeed in public. No worries at the Sistine Chapel, though–during the service, Pope Francis told mothers not to let their babies go hungry and to feel welcome to breastfeed.

    “Today the choir will sing but the most beautiful choir of all is the choir of the infants who will make a noise. Some will cry because they are not comfortable or because they are hungry,” Pope Francis said. “If they are hungry, mothers, let them eat, no worries, because here, they are the main focus.”

    This isn’t the first time the Pope has encouraged public breastfeeding, although it is may be the most publicized. Back in December, Pope Francis was discussing children suffering from hunger in an interview with La Stampa, and he shared a time when he told a woman it was okay to breastfeed in his presence.

    “At the Wednesday General Audience the other day there was a young mother behind one of the barriers with a baby that was just a few months old,” the Pope said. “The child was crying its eyes out as I came past…I said to her: ‘madam, I think the child’s hungry.’ ‘Yes, it’s probably time…’ she replied. ‘Please give it something to eat!’ I said. She was shy and didn’t want to breastfeed in public, while the Pope was passing. I wish to say the same to humanity: give people something to eat! That woman had milk to give to her child; we have enough food in the world to feed everyone.”

    The Pope’s endorsement of public breastfeeding means a lot for the breastfeeding moms that often find themselves under scrutiny for nourishing their babies in public. “I think that even if you aren’t a religious person it has tremendous meaning. The fact he openly accepts breastfeeding mothers at his services is a big deal because of the stature he holds” breastfeeding mom Lindsey Musgrave commented. “If someone that is so against sin and impurity openly encourages and accepts breastfeeding mothers at his services, who could be against it?”

    That certainly makes a lot of sense, but some people are still sounding off against public breastfeeding on Twitter.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Cursing Toddler Video Shocks the Web

    Cursing Toddler Video Shocks the Web

    If you have kids, you know all too well about how tough it can be to control your language sometimes. While most parents or caregivers are actively trying to watch their language so the little ones don’t pick up any bad words, a video has surfaced that shows a toddler being encouraged to curse. Not only does the diapered youngster drop quite a few select words, he has mastered the art of using his middle finger as well. The child has since been removed from the home, but sadly, the bad language only scratches the surface of the toddler’s troubled life.

    The cursing toddler video went viral after it was posted to the Omaha Police Officers Association website under the title The Thug Cycle. The video was found on Facebook and the OPOA notes that they shared the video because they “have an obligation to share it to continue to educate the law abiding public about the terrible cycle of violence and thuggery that some young innocent children find themselves helplessly trapped in.”

    Check out the uncensored video of the cursing toddler below. Since the video contains a lot of profanities, make sure you don’t have the volume up if you’re at work or around kids.

    Authorities in Omaha, Nebraska reportedly took the cursing toddler and two other children from their home on Wednesday, and from the sound of things, the bad language is the least of the child’s troubles. The family is associated with gangs and the toddler was hit by shrapnel from a gun fired in the home back in October.

    The toddler has a 16-year-old mother, and both of his grandparents have been locked up. Ennis Devers, Sr., the grandfather, is in prison on drug and gun charges. Kim Devers, the grandmother, was arrested in December on a weapons charge. The children were left in the care of a 19-year-old, but were removed from the home after the teen complained to the caseworker and the video went viral.

    Mugshots of the grandparents the OPOA posted to their Facebook page are below.

    Post by Omaha Police Officers Association.

    Image via Facebook

  • Marla Sokoloff Blogs About Mommy Guilt

    Marla Sokoloff Blogs About Mommy Guilt

    Actress and singer Marla Sokoloff is tackling the subject of mommy guilt on her People celebrity blog.

    In her December 11 blog post titled “Searching for the Mommy Guilt Handbook“, Sokoloff told readers about a recent nine day work trip to Chicago, and how hard it was to leave her 21 month-old daughter Elliotte behind in Los Angeles.

    Sokoloff described weighing the decision of whether to take her daughter to Chicago or leave her home in Los Angeles with Sokoloff’s husband and Elliotte’s father, Alec Puro and the family’s nanny.

    The couple’s mothers, who both live nearby, would also be on hand to assist if needed. In fact, Sokoloff said, both grandmas were “chomping at the bit to steal Elliotte for a sleepover.”

    Even knowing her daughter would be in the best of hands, Sokoloff reported feeling “intense” mommy guilt at the thought of leaving Elliotte. She said that guilt is what has kept her working close to home in LA since Elliotte’s birth.

    Based on a desire to keep Elliotte’s routine as normal as possible, and the knowledge that long days on set would mean not seeing each other during Elliotte’s waking hours even if she did tag along to Chicago, Sokoloff decided to leave her daughter home.

    Sokoloff described doing a lot of sobbing in the moments leading up to her departure from LA, and feeling intense mommy guilt even as she felt challenged and excited by her work in Chicago.

    So she’s looking for a mommy guilt handbook. In the absence of one, she interviewed a few mommy friends and shared their thoughts on the subject in her blog post.

    Sokoloff has been acting for over 20 years.

    She started her career as Gia Mahan in the television sitcom Full House. From there she went on to play Jody Lynch on Party of Five and then to her most notable and long-lasting role: receptionist Lucy Hatcher on The Practice.

    Sokoloff has also done stints on television series such as Friends and Desperate Housewives and starred in several movies including Whatever It Takes, The Climb, and Dude, Where’s My Car?

    The multi-talented Sokoloff also sings and plays guitar. She released a solo album, Grateful, in 2005.

    Sokoloff married Puro, a film and television composer and one-time drummer for the band Deadsy, in 2009.

    Sokoloff joins other celebrity moms such as Josie Maran, Jenna von Oy, and Elisabeth Röhm to blog about all things motherhood related at People.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons