About Cafe Cynthia

Photo by 3gifts.from.god

Michelle Obama breastfed both her daughters. Wow, I never knew that. The First Lady rarely talks about her personal experience with, much less publicly endorses, nursing. Breastfeeding advocates hope that will change, if not with today's announcement of Michelle Obama's big childhood obesity initiative, then in the near future.

"Lactivists" such as Best for Babes and MamaTotoMatema are trying to make inroads to Obama to get her include breastfeeding as a vital part of her plan. They'd love her to become the new "public symbol" for breastfeeding.

Every First Lady has their "cause." Hillary's was health care. Laura Bush promoted literacy. For Obama it's childhood obesity, affecting 1 out of every 3 children.

Responding to a recent post on a teacher organizing a fight club in middle school, some CafeMom users had no problem with letting boys duke it out in a supervised, safe school setting.

Now I'm curious what moms think about Russian Roulette for kids. The game Kaba Kick has been available in Japan for a while. Surprise surprise it hasn't found its way across US borders yet.

That advertisement at left has to win some kind of WTF award. Terrified kid holding a pink gun hippo to his temple like he's seen the actors do in all those R-rated movies his parents let him watch. Yes, this "gadget" is shaped like a hippo instead of a weapon ... so that makes it okay, right?

Boba Baby Carrier; $99

When you talk about baby items moms can't live without, here's one of my tops: baby carrier. With an active toddler and an infant who didn't like to be in a stroller, it would have been tough going without one.

Now there's a carrier with foot holds! It's called the Boba Baby Carrier and we're giving you the chance to win one today.

Some details about Boba:

Photo by rootbeermom

Books are the best. I could whittle away the rest of my days curled up with one. The benefits of starting read to your kids at their littlest go on and on. I just can't run out of good things to say about books.

Here's another one -- books can actually help overweight adolescent girls shed pounds.

A study in the journal Pediatrics tested this out on 81 obese girls.

Some girls were given a book featuring an overweight girl who, through her adventures, improves her self-esteem and learns about nutrition and physical activity.

Other girls were given a book with similar characters that did not address these issues. A third group of girls were not given a book as part of their counseling.

Photo by Amber727

I could watch the Beyonce Baby Sling Video over and over. I wish slings were as popular when I had my babies as they are now, or that someone had suggested one to me. I so would have been out on the dance floor with these amazing model moms, or at least secretly practicing the moves in my living room.

But I had other ways of holding and comforting my baby that were just as effective and memorable. My husband and I invented our own names for some of them.

My son's favorite position was "the leg stretch."

I'm married to a teacher. I always get the inside scoop. I thought I'd heard it all.

Then I read that two New York City teachers organized a fight club for two of their bickering middle schoolers, and I think, well, at least I'll be able to one-up my husband at the dinner table tonight.

Unbelievable!

The 10 year olds were reportedly fighting over a pencil, according to the Daily News. Instead of trying to help the kids resolve the matter peacefully, like, um, any teacher who wants to keep his job would, he and his aid locked the classroom door, asks the other kids to stand aside, and tells the boys to duke it out gladiator style in the center of the room.

Photo by cajunjenn

Recently a study helped to pinpoint why smoking during pregnancy -- either first- or secondhand smoke -- raises the risk of SIDS: It suggested that babies exposed to smoke in the womb have improperly functioning hearts that actually get worse over the first year of life.

Now a landmark study out of Harvard and Children's Hospital Boston has put a different twist on the SIDS mystery: That crib death is due to a chemical imbalance of serotonin, a hormone that regulates vital functions during sleep as well as breathing and heart rate.

Um, is this kid even thinking about college yet? Since he's obviously an amazing quarterback, I guess 13 year old David Sills must appreciate the immensity of being offered a football scholarship to the University of Southern California, an awesome Division 1 school.

Still, that's five years away. That's like 50 in teen years.

The way I see it, the Bear, Delaware 7th grader should appreciate the benefits he stands to gain from this right now. Most important: dates with any girl of his choosing through the rest of his secondary education. Of course, he's also made the majority of boys in his class jealous beyond belief, so that also comes with potential complications.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the good looking blond kid made a verbal commitment to accept a football scholarship Thursday night to new USC coach Lane Kiffin. 

Toys "R" Us Baby Wipes; $13

If you shop a lot at Toys "R" Us or Babies "R" Us, you might already know that the toy store has introduced its own line of branded baby essentials: formula, diapers, wipes, laundry detergent, and even purified water for mixing the formula.

The baby items that we typically spend the most money on each month are up to 50 percent cheaper than the big brand names.

$13-$16 for a tin of powdered formula

$11-$25 for a box of diapers

$1 for a gallon of purified water

$1 (travel pack) to $13 (value box) for baby wipes